SATURDAY

JULY 11

2020

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

BroadwayHD, 3:00 a.m. ET

It might be either reassuring or depressing, under present circumstances, to hear the lyric “No one is alone,” but I highly recommend this weekend’s special offering of a double dose of TV versions of stage presentations of the brilliant Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical. Today and tomorrow, the BroadwayHD website presents access, with its regular subscription fee (but you can opt for a one-week free trial) to two deep dives into the Woods. The first to watch is the 1990 American Playhouse version, featuring the original Broadway cast, including Bernadette Peters as the Witch (pictured) and Joanna Gleason as the Baker’s Wife. Then you can watch the 2010 London revival, staged by Regent Park’s Open Air Theatre, which won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.

THE SHINING

Showtime Beyond, 8:00 p.m. ET

Only two Saturdays ago, HBO premiered the 2019 movie Dr. Sleep, a movie based on Stephen King’s sequel to his own horror novel The Shining. So it’s an opportune time, tonight, to revisit Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of The Shining itself. King didn’t like much of what Kubrick did – but I love it. Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall star. And Lisa and Louise Burns, in very small roles, make a huge impact. They played the twin girls who invited little Danny Torrance to come play with them…

DR. STRANGELOVE, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

A government out of control. A president helpless to act in the face of imminent danger. Madness and unpredictability everywhere you turn. A sick feeling that our government and way of life may be at risk, and there’s little to be done to stop it. Substitute the word “Virus” for “Bomb” in the subtitle of this 1964 classic Stanley Kubrick film (yes, him again), and you may get a sense of why this very dark comedy is more vital and pertinent than ever. Peter Sellers stars, in several different roles.

THE MOUSE THAT ROARED

TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET

Peter Sellers (yes, him again) stars – playing several roles, as he would do later in Dr. Strangelove – in this 1959 comedy, which predates and politicizes the general concept of Mel Brooks’ The Producers. In that Sixties classic, Broadway producers schemed to mount an intentional flop so they could profit from all the unrecoverable losses. In The Mouse That Roared, a tiny country declares war on the United States, so it can lose quickly and benefit from postwar reparations. But as would happen later in The Producers, things don’t exactly go according to plan.

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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.

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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

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