Hats off to Francesca Eastwood, who played heart-of-stone actress Vivian Lord in the extended Seventies flashbacks on last week’s Fargo (which, for a change, was set entirely in Los Angeles, past and present). In the present-day scenes, Carrie Coons, as former police chief Gloria Burgle, tracks down Vivian, now working in obscurity as a waitress in an L.A. diner. The elder Vivian was played by Frances Fisher – who, in real life, happens to be the mother of Francesca Eastwood, who pla

2017

May

BROCKMIRE By David Bianculli

Tonight’s episode is called “Old Timer’s Day.” Given Brockmire’s personality and vanity, that already seems like a bad idea.

2017

May

FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE By David Bianculli

After her triumphant special, Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Samantha Bee returns to remark on very recent current events. And oh, my – with the unexpected presidential firing of FBI director James Comey, Bee’s comic outrage ought to be dialed way past 11.

2017

May

NORM MACDONALD: HITLER'S DOG, GOSSIP & TRICKERY By David Bianculli

SPECIAL PREMIERE: I had listed this in Sunday’s Best bets by mistake. Netflix actually premieres this special today – so I’ll repeat what I wrote a few days ago. Netflix continues its bumper crop of standup comedy specials by presenting the very dry, very clever Norm Macdonald in a new standup special. The promo for it consists of the former anchor for “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live musing about how weird it is that the accepted abbreviation for “iden

2017

May

THE MIDDLE By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: Just as I’m picking up my cap and gown for college graduation ceremonies, so is Axl. The difference is, I’m a professor, so there’s no pressure, whereas Axl is so thrown by the thought of entering the “real world” for good that he assents to a heart-to-heart talk – with his mom (Patricia Heaton). And Sue, halfway through her own college experience, is a bit depressed by it all, but not for long, as her day, and the season for The Middle, ends wi

2017

May

THE VOICE By David Bianculli

Tonight’s the elimination night, when the Top 10 becomes the Top 9. That’s good news for 90 percent of this season’s surviving contestants – but for the Bottom 10 percent, it’ll hurt a lot.

2017

May

IZOMBIE By David Bianculli

Tonight, Liv (Rose McIver), whose brain-eating survival habits lead her to temporarily absorb the memories and personalities of the corpses upon whom she feasts, isn’t so much snacking on brains, as on scatterbrains. She eats the brains of a woman best described as a “hot mess” – which has Liv, before long, acting like a warmed-over mess.

2017

May

MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. By David Bianculli

The heroes of S.H.I.E.L.D. have made their way out of the Framework alternate reality, and back into the “real world.” But their problems don’t end there. In fact, with one of the main villains in the Framework having survived and escaped along with them, those problems could indeed get worse. Aida (Mallory Jansen) has succeeded in becoming human now, and has taken Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) with her on her new journey… whether he wants to go or not.

2017

May

THE AMERICANS By David Bianculli

Last week’s episode had the American sleeper agents questioning and investigating themselves – not Elizabeth and Philip (Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys), who are closer than ever, but their fellow-spy fake adopted son Tuan (Ivan Mok), whose movements had become suspicious. For now, they’re accepting his story and trusting him – but this week, another suspicious revelation comes to light. And this time, the one who discovers it is Elizabeth and Philip’s daughter, Paige (

2017

May

ABC GOES BACK TO BASICS TO REVIVE ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ By Alex Strachan

Hindsight is 20/20 — pun intended in this case since we’re talking about ABC. The Alphabet network’s decision to revive American Idol is both timely and, in this correspondent’s opinion, shrewd...

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