SEASON PREMIERE: Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein return tonight with the first episode of Season 4 of Portlandia, playing, as always, several loopy characters running around Portland. And Armisen, in addition to all the double-duty acting and writing on this show, also is doing double duty by simultaneously serving as the bandleader on his fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus’ new NBC series, Late Night with Seth Meyers.

2014

Feb

DO THE RIGHT THING By David Bianculli

The Movie Channel is presenting a Spike Lee double feature in prime time, which means it’s handing out a free pair of Joints. The first Spike Lee Joint, at 8 p.m. ET, is 1989’s Do the Right Thing, in which he co-stars as Mookie. The second, at 10 p.m. ET, is 1991’s Jungle Fever, in which he co-stars as Cyrus. Watch, in the latter, for an impressive array of talent, including Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Wesley Snipes and Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Quinn and John Turturro, and Hall

2014

Feb

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE By David Bianculli

One of my favorite movies of all time, perhaps the all-time favorite. Stanley Kubrick directs Malcolm McDowell stars, and the music of Beethoven propels the drama throughout. Made in 1971, it still feels, and looks, cutting-edge.

2014

Feb

THE AMERICANS By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Season 1 of The Americans ended with undercover Soviet spies Philip and Elizabeth (Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell) getting closer than ever, after a rough patch of separation and mutual distrust. But now that they’ve bonded together, the rest of their family – specifically, their daughter – begins to question, and probe, the apparently innocent façade they project as a normal American family.

2014

Feb

ALI G: REZURECTION By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: No, Sacha Baron Cohen hasn’t made new episodes of The Ali G Show. But if we haven’t seen them, they’re new to us – and this new compendium is a mixture of familiar skits and episodes from the old Ali G Show seen on HBO, and a half-dozen installments that were televised only in Great Britain, and thus are available here as U.S. “premieres.”

2014

Feb

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON By David Bianculli

Tonight’s guests include Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, who starred together in the romantic comedies The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates, and team up again in the upcoming movie Blended (see photo). But there’s another reason to tune in tonight, besides the Drew and Adam reunion. When Jimmy Fallon auditioned for Saturday Night Live, he had the nerve to imitate SNL cast member Adam Sandler – and got a big laugh from executive producer Lorne Michaels for doing so. He also go

2014

Feb

GLEE By David Bianculli

This series returns from its winter hiatus with the primary focus not on the New Directions glee club, but on two of its graduates, now employed by a Broadway show preparing to open. One is Lea Michele’s Rachel, who has scored the lead role, once played by Barbra Streisand, in a revival of Funny Girl. And the other is Naya Rivera’s Santana, who has just been hired as Rachel’s understudy. All About Eve, anyone?

2014

Feb

ABOUT A BOY By David Bianculli

After its sneak preview launch following Saturday night’s Olympic Games, About a Boy presents its second episode. It’s a warmer, better sitcom than most NBC efforts the past few years – but whether viewers will give NBC the benefit of the doubt, much less a half hour of their time, is at this point an open question. But series creator Jason Katims, with his TV versions of Parenthood and Friday Night Lights, has earned the right to some viewer loyalty. David Walton, Minnie Drive

2014

Feb

FRONTLINE: "SECRETS OF THE VATICAN" By David Bianculli

This new edition of Frontline examines the almost unprecedented transfer of power that led to a living Pope stepping down and abdicating his power as head of the Catholic church. What were the issues behind the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and how is the inner circle at the Vatican reacting to the new trail being blazed by his successor, Pope Francis? The question, in this case, is this: Where there's white smoke, is there fire? Check local listings.

2014

Feb

JUSTIFIED By David Bianculli

Justified took last week off, after an episode in which there were so many showdowns and confrontations, it felt like watching a boxing match with several juicy undercards. And tonight, the various plots put several characters on the move: Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) on the trail of a con artist, and Boyd and the Crowes heading towards Florida, continuing their very unlikely, positively incendiary association by expedience.

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