FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 10
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Amazon Prime Video, 3:00 a.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: In this new series about a Paris fashion house trying to build a reputation in postwar WWII, Richard Coyle and Tom Riley star as brothers working together, and sometimes in opposition, to achieve that goal. They’re the stars, but I have more fun watching the other members of this show’s first fashion family. Mamie Gummer, who played Nancy the intrepid lawyer on The Good Wife, is intriguing – and Frances de la Tour, as the matriarch, is a scene-stealer. And I’ve enjoyed her ever since she starred opposite Bob Hoskins in Flickers, a miniseries about the early film industry. And that was way back in 1980…

 
  
 
 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

This one-off telemovie sequel to The Office – the Ricky Gervais original British version – has him playing David Brent again. But instead of working at a paper company, this time David is doing a lot of traveling. He’s a traveling salesman for toiletries, condoms and other things, but his real Life on the Road mission has him spending more pension money to, once again, chase his dream of rock stardom by putting together a band, putting on a “tour,” and playing his songs. The band’s name is Foregone Conclusion, and the title song of this movie, while name-checking such British cities as Millbank, Sidcup and Ipswich, also includes the lyric: “Foot down to the floor – 70 miles an hour, but no more.” But since he’s driving down an English highway, shouldn’t that be “112.654 kilometers, but no more”? Just asking.

 
  
 
 

NPR, Check local listings

I know, this isn‘t TV. But it’s related to TV – and unless I launch a website called Radio Worth Hearing (don’t hold your breath), this is as close as I get. Today on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the show is featuring a long 50th anniversary piece on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It’s one of the longest and most complex pieces I’ve ever done for Fresh Air, and special thanks to my producer, Phyllis Myers, for crafting it so skillfully – and to Terry, and to executive producer Danny Miller, for suggesting and making room for it in the first place. Please listen – and Tom and Dick, happy anniversary week!

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

John Steinbeck’s novel swept the nation as a blistering depiction of, and reaction to, the Great Depression – and this 1940 movie, starring Henry Fonda, certainly bears another viewing these days, when joblessness, corporate financial heartlessness and environmental abuse are anything but ancient news. But also watch to admire the work of John Ford, the most celebrated director in Hollywood history, whose reputation needs and deserves to be established anew for the present generation. Ford not only won an Oscar as Best Director for 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath, but he also won for 1941’s How Green Was My Valley, and for his two wartime documentaries, 1942’s The Battle of Midway, and for 1943’s December 7th: The Movie.  That’s four directorial Oscars in as many years, which is nothing short of amazing.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: This year’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song special goes to Smokey Robinson, who really has written an amazing number of memorable hit songs. When it comes to giving him this honor, I second that emotion. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

Can’t miss this one: This week’s scheduled guests include Minnesota Sen. Al Franken (pictured in an earlier appearance with Maher), comic Jim Jefferies, and, as the roundtable panelists, activist Karine Jean-Pierre, talk-show host Piers Morgan, and filmmaker John Waters.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.