SUNDAY
DECEMBER 10
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

The most popular animated film in history, made in 2013, gets a prime-time airing tonight on ABC – which is owned by Disney, which released the super-popular cartoon musical in the first place. And since then, the company, like its young audience base, hasn’t… let it go.

 
  
 
 

Cinemax, 8:00 p.m. ET

I recommended this 1989 Australian movie recently – and, as I often do with my Best Bet recommendations, find myself ensnared all over again by own traps. (Just last Monday, after pointing out the special showing of All the President’s Men on HBO, I watched it again from start to finish – for about the 50th time.) But Dead Calm, whether you’ve seen it or not, is worth a visit, too. It’s beautifully photographed, intensely edited, and the two male leads, Sam Neill and Billy Zane, are equally intense, but in very different ways. And as the woman who finds herself between them, on a sea voyage that soon turns sinister and deadly, the very young Nicole Kidman is almost unbelievably strong, vulnerable, and unforgettable.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM is noting, and celebrating, the 40th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking sci-fi film, 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Just think of how much artistry and enthusiasm, and a sense of wonder and drama, Spielberg brought to this film, just as he had with Jaws two years earlier. Then think about how both Close Encounters and Jaws would be very different – and, most likely, very inferior – if not for the crucial musical contributions by composer John Williams.

 
  
 
 

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

The midseason finale is presented tonight, bringing to a head – finally – the various battles and wars that, in a wider view, add up to this two-year Rick vs. Negan cage match.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: I love this idea, and expect it to carry on to a series. Kristen Bell, one of the vocal stars of Frozen, hosts, and the idea of this program is to reunite members of a high school musical theater group, from 20 years or so earlier, and give them one week (with some professional help) to mount, once again, one of the musicals they performed in their salad days. For this special, it’s Into the Woods. And if a future show would open up the concept to a high school troupe that was closer to 50 years old (sigh), I can recommend one from personal experience…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.