When you are the only Indian-American female lead in a television show, you seem to be making sweeping statements about that person simply because you are that person and the only one whereas, for instance, Steve Carell — he’s not making sweeping generalizations about white American men on his show because there’s so many different white American men on different shows. …

So I get worried by doing this character that people think that I’m saying that about all those people. And I just have the weight of that on my shoulders, which is something that I do envy other performers for not having.

Mindy Kaling on being an Indian-American actress on TV

Game of Thrones starts up again on Sunday night. Peter Dinklage returns to the Lannister clan more influential than ever, thanks to a scroll that gives him power by proxy.

(via ‘Thrones,’ ‘Killing’ Return — And Revert To Old Habits : NPR)

David Bianculli reviews the new Keifer Sutherland drama Touch which premieres tonight on Fox: Touch is created by Tim Kring, whose last TV series was NBC’s Heroes. That program, also, focused on seemingly ordinary people who turned out to possess extraordinary gifts — and whose gifts, in turn, tied them to some sort of important destiny. … Touch, though, is less like the story of Peter Parker turning into Spider-Man than of Helen Keller finding a way to communicate.”

David Bianculli's 'TV Dinner' Menu

David Bianculli’s making a menu inspired by TV shows which was inspired by our donut post last Friday. If you have any suggestions, let him know.

Even at this early point in the latest, very welcome comeback by Bill Moyers, only one nagging question remains: How long will it be before he books Stephen Colbert?

— David Bianculli talks about Bill Moyers’ appearance on The Colbert Report and his return to TV.

If there are water coolers and if there are offices, one person goes up and says, ‘Did you see Dexter?’ And they’re like, ‘No, shut up, I didn’t see it. Tell me in a year.’ This is not the way to have a conversation.

— David Bianculli, on spoiler-culture.

Tomorrow: David Bianculli’s best and worst TV picks for 2011. [His complete archive]

TV critic David Bianculli talks up some of the twists and turns presented recently in some of his favorite shows — including Dexter, Homeland and The Walking Dead.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP ON THESE SHOWS PLEASE SKIP THIS REVIEW SO I DON’T GET 10,000 EMAILS TELLING ME OUR RADIO SHOW RUINED YOUR TV VIEWING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. YOU ARE WARNED, INTERNET. Thank you. :)

Fresh Air Offices 10:52AM

Mel: I might need your help on webbifying your piece today because I haven't seen any of these TV shows.
David Bianculli: Then what is it exactly you do at night?

Reege on his day: ”In the morning, you wake up at 7:30, you take a shower, a shave, jump into your suit, make a little breakfast for yourself, look at the paper and then come across the street at 8:20, check whatever’s in the papers you didn’t see, [Michael] Gelman [the show’s executive producer,] comes in at 9:00, at ten to 9:00 we get made up, at 30 seconds to 9:00 they knock on our door, out she comes, we walk down the hallway and we do the show. It’s as simple as that.” [complete interview here]

David Bianculli explains why the new four-part documentary series called America in Primetime, which premieres this Sunday on PBS, is “the smartest TV show about television I’ve seen in about 20 years.”

On today’s Fresh Air, actress Laura Dern and writer/Amazing Race participant Mike White talk about their new HBO show, Enlightened.

paradisenull:

Jesse Pinkman Shows Up To The Office

Today: Jesse Pinkman Show Up To Fresh Air (our guests are Aaron Paul and Vince Gilligan.)

Will Arnett on Gob Bluth’s magic tricks: “We used to have magicians come in to work on these tricks to actually get them wrong. But they still had to work. We had to bring magicians on to make magic not work.” [complete interview here]

High-profile changes in returning shows —Two and a Half Men and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — offer the most excitement in broadcast TV this fall. But critic David Bianculli says the new shows mostly disappoint, though you may be intrigued by Sarah Michelle Gellar in CW’s Ringer.