DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Series creator Beau Willimon has departed this show as of the start of the current season, Season 5, which is unveiled today on Netflix. House of Cards is now overseen by Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson, but they have fine TV pedigrees: She was a writer on The Americans, and he worked with Tom Fontana as a writer on both Copper and The Borgias. And this season, so long as Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright continue at the epicenter as this show’s ultimate power couple,
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
SPECIAL PREMIERE: Sarah Silverman presents her latest standup special, this one presented by Netflix. She says it’s occasionally political – and in this day and age, has to be – but also warns viewers not to expect as pointedly political barrage as she unleashes on Twitter.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
Part 3 of 3. This concluding episode, “The Golden Age of Gospel,” includes segments on singer and guitarist Rosetta Tharpe (pictured), singer Mahalia Jackson, and others. You’ll hear, and see, some great stuff here, on what amounts to a Listener’s Digest of classic gospel music. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
This episode is called “Twenty Sided, Die,” and is set in the geek world of Dungeons and Dragons – wherein Liv (Rose McIver), after consuming the brains of a game-playing victim, assumes both the personality and responsibilities of a game-ruling Dungeon Master.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Jennifer Lopez is one of the executive producers, as well as the best-known celebrity judge, on this dance-competition series, which promises a prize of $1 million to the most jaw-dropping dance talent, whether solo or group, and in whatever discipline or genre. And on American Idol for years, Lopez honed her ability to sound genuinely excited, while seeming to care genuinely, about the talent performing before her. That skill is evident even in the promos for this series &ndash
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
30
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This final episode of the season has to resolve some cliffhangers, but probably not others. Will the attempted suicide by one character be successful, or will Elizabeth and Philip (Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys) intervene in time? Will Stan’s future with the FBI be imperiled by his latest operation? Will Elizabeth and Philip opt to return to the Soviet Union with their now-grown children, or will the kids be allowed to pursue their respective paths as a mathematician and a spy?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
29
 
 
There are plenty of Memorial Day marathons scattered over the TV landscapes, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one with more laughs per hour than this one. Beginning at 9 a.m. ET, and running until almost 5 a.m. Tuesday, Comedy Central is showing a marathon of the 2001-2010 medical sitcom Scrubs, starring Zach Braff. It begins with the very first episode, and continues by showing dozens of what the network feels are its best episodes ever. So my Memorial Day prescription for good humor is:
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
29
 
 
TCM is showing war-related films all weekend for Memorial Day, but I want to point out this one for special mention. Kelley’s Heroes is a comedy, war drama and heist movie all in one, set in WWII and starring Clint Eastwood. It was released in 1970, the same year as Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, and pulls one of the same neat tricks, of setting a story in a previous war while commenting, at least in terms of attitude, on the Vietnam War currently raging. With M*A*S*H, the setting was the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
29
 
 
Taking a break from showing an original episode, AMC instead uses the holiday to recap viewers on all of the show’s current season. Every Season 3 episode shown to date is repeated in a mini-marathon, beginning at 5 p.m. ET and running until about 1 a.m. ET. And so far this season, the standout new addition to the cast has been Giancarlo Esposito, reprising his Breaking Bad role as fast-food chicken magnate Gus Fring. He’s scary when he speaks slowly and very deliberately – and
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
29
 
 
The Nashville Predators have had such an easy time of it, getting to this year’s hockey championship series, that the team's been resting since winning the Western Conference title on May 22 – a full week ago. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins had to play all the way through Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, and emerge with a fiercely fought double-overtime victory just to get to this point. The Penguins are the defending champions from last year, so they have experience &ndas