THURSDAY
JUNE 1
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Setting the stage for tonight’s NBA Championships kickoff game, Jimmy Kimmel takes his late-night ABC talk show to prime time, for a 30-minute, basketball-themed setup show. Consider it a tipoff for a tipoff – and, for Kimmel, a network reward for many years of hard work, well done. And regarding this particular Best Bet – consider it, if you like, a tipoff for a tipoff for a tipoff.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET

The Princess Bride is William Goldman’s movie adaptation of his own delightful fantasy novel, directed for the screen with comic perfection by Rob Reiner. This movie, believe it or not – and I barely believe it myself – is now 30 years old. But like The Wizard of Oz, with which I compare it as the classic family film of its generation, The Princess Bride seems to only get even better with time, and with repeated viewings. This is a movie that ought to be given the annual holiday treatment, or marathon TV showing, even though it has nothing to do with a given holiday. When extended families are together, it ought to be available. And this time, why not pay particular attention to Buttercup, the title character? She’s played by Robin Wright – who, three decades later, has grown up to be the First Lady on Netflix’s House of Cards.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

This really has turned out to be a rivalry for the ages. This is the third straight year that the Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, have met for the NBA Championship Finals. Curry and the Warriors won in 2015, James and the Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit in games to win it all last year – and now, in 2017, here we are again. Game 1 is broadcast live from Oakland, with the Warriors starting with home-court advantage. Arguably the two biggest and most influential stars in the game right now, James and Curry, take on each other – again.

 
  
 
 

CMT, 9:00 p.m. ET

MIDSEASON PREMIERE: Nashville returns on CMT for the second half of its season, with action that picks up 10 weeks after the cliffhanger that ended the first half of Season 5. The seismic shakeup there is that Rayna Jaymes, the veteran country star played by Connie Britton, died in a car crash, and her friends and lovers and colleagues now must go on without her – as must Nashville. But Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) continues to fight her demons in considering a return to the stage – while a new character, a high-powered publicist, comes to town, as played by Rachel Bilson (pictured) of The O.C. fame. For his take on a Rayna-less Nashville, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

CBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: It’s the 29th cycle for this very long-running reality competition show. I used to watch, and recommend it, eagerly, but even the most worthwhile competition shows tend to get numbingly repetitive after a while – even with a change of scenery, which is what this show offers more than anything else. But the bickering and back-biting and manipulative reality-show casting of oil-and-water contestants, that’s gotten too old over the years. At least for me. But tonight’s finale takes the final contestants to Wrigley Field… so that’s something.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.