SATURDAY
OCTOBER 11
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TBS, 4:00 p.m. ET

Last night’s Game 1 between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles went extra innings – what else did you expect, from this particular contest? – and resulted in the Chiefs scrapping and scraping to emerge, after 10 innings, with an 8-6 victory and a 1-0 lead in the ALCS series. That game went late. This one begins early, and is played in daylight – the way all baseball games used to be played, when I was a kid. Sigh. And I’m not sighing because I’m nostalgic, or because night games are somehow inferior. I’m sighing because I’m old. But hey – it beats the alternative.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

The National League Championship Series begins tonight, with game coverage moving to the broadcast networks. Fox presents San Francisco Giants vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, in a battle of All-Star pitching aces: Madison Bumgarner (18-10 in the regular season) for the Giants and Adam Wainwright (20-9) for the Cardinals.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 9:00 p.m. ET

I think Jenna Coleman’s Clara is still mad at the Doctor, because she doesn’t appear in any of the promos or publicity photos for tonight’s new show. But it ought to be a memorable voyage anyway, because tonight, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) suits up in a tuxedo instead of a spacesuit or his normal duds, and climbs aboard the intergalactic Orient Express. And naturally, before long, there’s a murder mystery to solve…

 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET

NBC could make a last-minute substitution for tonight’s episode, in deference of this week’s death of former Saturday Night Live cast member Jan Hooks – but I hope the network proceeds as planned. That’s because this long-scheduled prime-time SNL Encore show, originally broadcast in late night (and in longer form) on April 21, 1990, featured Hooks prominently, and very effectively, with her playing not only Greta Garbo, but a sassy waitress who serves Baldwin at a diner. It’s also the first appearance as host by Alec Baldwin, who currently holds the SNL record, having hosted 16 times to date. The B-52’s are the musical guests, and if NBC doesn’t cut him out, watch for then-staff writer Conan O’Brien in a cameo appearance.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 11:00 p.m. ET

Last week, this fast-moving, effortlessly watchable talk show launched Season 16, with another unpredictably entertaining hour: Washington revealed the secret of his “magic finger,” and Capaldi talked of giving a young Doctor Who fan in Budapest a gift he wouldn’t fully appreciate for months. This week, the guests include Emma Thompson, who was hilarious last time she visited Norton’s show, and Hugh Grant, whose self-deprecating humor is perfectly attuned to Norton’s.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET

Last week’s installment, hosted by Sarah Silverman and featuring Maroon 5, was one of the flattest SNL shows in years. Usually, after sliding off the rails like that, SNL rebounds strongly with its next episode – and it’ll probably happen again tonight, because the guest host is the slyly hilarious former repertory cast regular, Bill Hader. The musical guest is Hozier – but the person I’m most waiting to see is Hader’s Stefon.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.