One of our readers asked why we hadn’t listed this famous cycling race in our Best Bets. Good question. Would you believe the answer is that I was waiting for the tournament to move to home turf, and shift from England to France for Stage 4, as it does tonight?

2014

Jul

DRUNK HISTORY By David Bianculli

It may be a failing that I enjoy this series even as I cringe at it, and that I learn from it even as it makes me uncomfortable. Try it, as it settles into Season 2, and decide for yourself.

2014

Jul

TYRANT By David Bianculli

The story of Tyrant is getting more complex, and much more nuanced, than it may have seemed when judging only from the series premiere. It’s worth staying with this show for a few more episodes, as it reveals what it is it really intends to attempt with this drama set in the Middle East. And for that alone, it deserves some special attention.

2014

Jul

FINDING CARTER By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: In this new MTV drama series, Kathryn Prescott stars as a 16-year-old who discovers, suddenly that her parents aren’t really related to her. It sounds like almost every rebellious 16-year-old’s fantasy, but this story line is taken seriously. It has to do with a very different birth family, some intrigue from the past, and other plot points better left unexplained.

2014

Jul

'EXTANT' GIVES CBS ANOTHER 13-EPISODE SCI-FI SUMMER SPLASH By Ed Bark

As did Under the Dome at this time last year, CBS’s second big summertime splash opens with an impressive and involving first chapter... Extant, a futuristic, 13-episode drama starring Halle Berry as a very vexed astronaut, looks to be more firmly grounded...

2014

Jul

SHOW BOAT By David Bianculli

Oscar Hammerstein II musicals are showcased tonight on TCM – including, to lead off prime time, this 1951 movie version of his classic Show Boat musical, written with Jerome Kern. Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner star.

2014

Jul

24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY By David Bianculli

We’ve gotten to the point in this truncated day of Jack Bauer’s that this is billed as the penultimate episode. The improbabilities have continued to stack up along with the hours, so maybe it’s good that this rebooted version of 24 is more like a 12.

2014

Jul

UNDER THE DOME By David Bianculli

Is this Stephen King drama making any more sense in Season 2 than it did in Season 1? Not so far – but this series continues to work, and succeed, as the TV equivalent of a summer beach read. Just don’t think about it too long. The writers certainly aren’t.

2014

Jul

CAROUSEL By David Bianculli

This Oscar Hammerstein II collaboration with Richard Rogers was staged for the screen in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae as Billy Bigelow, Shirley Jones as Julie, and Cameron Mitchell as Jigger. TCM will show this film in its proper widescreen format –which, since it was filmed in CinemaScope 55, makes quite a difference.

2014

Jul

MURDER IN THE FIRST By David Bianculli

The more hours of this serialized murder mystery go by, the easier it is to evaluate whether it’s worth the time and trouble to watch, and whether it’s adding anything new to the genre or the form. And though the jury will continue to be out for another few weeks, the preliminary verdict is, in respective order, no, no and no.

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