FRIDAY
APRIL 1
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: The Fox network has gotten plenty of cooking shows out of Gordon Ramsay already – but after a series of such shows, including Hell’s Kitchen, the network and the TV celebrity have branched out into other areas. And tonight, we see the results of this latest limited six-part spinoff series, Hell’s Bathroom, in which contestants are given copious amounts of food and drink, then dispatched simultaneously to a row of randomly chosen bathroom stalls. Every contestant must go about his or her business as Ramsay yells at them from outside the stalls – while inside, they endure such Hell’s Bathroom obstacles as a lack of toilet paper, stall doors that won’t lock, or toilet seats that won’t open. Tonight, the three finalists compete one last time, after a round of diuretic mimosas.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: Part 1 of 21. Ken Burns has another documentary series, Jackie Robinson, arriving later this month – but his other ongoing nonfiction series, Ken Burns’ Encyclopedia, will continue weekly for another five months. In each installment, Burns presents mini-films about his favorite entries in his family’s old 1960s print-edition reference book set of The Encyclopedia Britannica. Tonight is Part 1, focusing on Volume I, which means we can look forward to short video essays on, among other things, Louis Armstrong, Antietam, and the Atlanta Braves. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Martin Scorsese had such fun teaming with Mick Jagger to concoct Vinyl, HBO’s colorful dramatic time trip back to the rock scene of the early 1970s, it was natural HBO and Scorsese would embark on a spinoff series while the iron, and the series, was hot. Actually, Shellac is a prequel series, because before there were the 33 1/3 rpm 12-inch records made of vinyl, there were the 78 rpm 10-inch records made of brittle shellac. Those were the days, my friend, and Shellac starts midway through the era, in the late 1930s, when Victrolas were all the rage. Watch, in the opener, for American Idol winner Ruben Studdard as Fats Waller, recording his raucous version of “Your Feet’s Too Big” in 1939.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: Part 1 of 3. With the concluding episode of The People v. O.J. Simpson just days away, FX already is rolling out a follow-up of sorts. This is a three-part special telling the full behind-the-scenes story of the day in 2004 that Saturday Night Live guest Ashlee Simpson was caught trying to lip-sync her “live” vocal performance, and was instantly found guilty of her crime by a viewing public that ridiculed her mercilessly over the Internet. Spoiler Alert: The Simpson camp blames it on inflamed vocal cords due to acid reflux disease. But as with The People v. O.J. Simpson, knowing the ending doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of this well-researched, cleverly paced examination of the time a national audience instantly rejected a wannabe pop star.
 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: As with many of the shows premiering on this particular date, HBO’s new Game of Thorns is all about cashing in on an existing success. Game of Thrones is one of the network’s biggest successes, but even doing a spinoff with supporting characters would be prohibitively expensive. So ultimately, HBO decided on this 10-part competitive reality series about amateur rose-garden gardeners from around the country – hoping, clearly, that the title might draw in a few extra viewers, whether they be fantasy fans, horticulturists, or dyslexics.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.