THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 11
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

Some of the contestants are voted out in tonight’s show – but others get the benefit of the experience of some previous Idol survivors, as previous contestants show up to mentor the new folks. And sing with them, too, as part of this final-season stroll down Idol memory lane. Note that, for this final season, interactive home voting has been removed from the equation for this Top 24 elimination round. Idol wants to do everything it can to stack the deck with someone worthy of bookending the Kelly Clarkson-launching opening season – and if that means cutting viewers out of the mix for another week or two, that’s show biz.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Let this serve as notice that all three ABC Thursday dramas are making their midseason returns tonight: Grey’s Anatomy at 8 p.m. ET, Scandal at 9 ET, and How to Get Away with Murder at 10 ET. But I point out Grey’s Anatomy, in particular, because this is an unusually dramatic episode even for this show – and because it marks the TV directorial debut of Denzel Washington. It’s a fitting debut, too, because his career was launched on a TV medical show, way back in the early 1980s, when he played a Boston medical resident on NBC’s St. Elsewhere.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

This latest Democratic presidential debate, the last one scheduled for the month of February, is the second one in which Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debate one another solely. After last week’s debate, Sanders won the New Hampshire primary – and this debate, live from Milwaukee, comes as a prelude to Tuesday’s Nevada Democratic caucus and the perhaps pivotal South Carolina primary on Feb. 27. Tonight’s debate is hosted by PBS NewsHour in partnership with Facebook, and will be simulcast on CNN. NewsHour co-anchors and managing editors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff moderate.
 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s episode is titled “Easter in Bakersfield,” and Baskets (Zach Galifianakis) celebrates the holiday with a family Easter brunch – though, with his family, and his demeanor, “celebrate” is far from the right word. At a family celebration, most of the family isn’t driven from the table. Louie Anderson, as Baskets’ mother, is a standout here.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET

This 1933 musical is a staple of my Film Appreciation class at Rowan University – and every year, it bowls over some of my students because of its Depression-era cynicism, humor and, with its stunning between-the-wars climax, topicality. And Ginger Rogers singing the opening number, “We’re in the Money,” in Pig Latin – well, that throws them, too. The Busby Berkeley numbers, especially the finale, are the real reason to watch, but the comedy’s very strong, too. Joan Blondell (pictured), Ruby Keeler co-star.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.