SUNDAY
JANUARY 12
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 1:00 p.m. ET

There’s so much exciting TV today, this installment of Bianculli’s Best Bets is Super-Sized, with twice as many entries as usual. It begins with the first of today’s two postseason football games – featuring 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick against Panthers QB Cam Newton. The 49ers are 13-4, the Panthers 12-4 – and both QBs are tall, young and mobile.
 
  
 
 

CBS, 4:30 p.m. ET

Peyton Manning and the Broncos are the team getting most of the attention for this game, but in previous years, the Chargers have won their two postseason games against the Broncos – though the lineups for both teams are significantly different. Game-time temperature is predicted to be 40 degrees, which is quite warm for Denver in January. The wind, however, is estimated to be 20 mph and up, so that might have quite an impact on the passing game.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

The awards mean nothing here – let’s not kid ourselves – but as an entertaining awards show, the Golden Globes certainly has upped its game the past few years. Credit first Ricky Gervais, and now returning hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, with that. It’s the one awards show where irreverence, and even disdain, makes perfect sense.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Fortunes change as quickly as moods on this series, and there are some significant reversals of both in tonight’s episode. And for those who missed last week’s two-hour Season 4 premiere, it’s repeated at 7 p.m. ET to give viewers an extra chance to catch up. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast television’s best show continues, presenting a new episode in which a couple is defended in a drug-smuggling case – and all around them, of course, loom larger issues involving Alicia’s past and present associates.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey star as two very different, equally troubled detectives, newly partnered when they happen to field a gruesome murder case with ritual overtones and suggestions of being the work of a serial killer. The performances are excellent, the story and dialogue intelligent, and the structure – which shifts among various time lines, from 1995 to 2012 – unusual and intriguing. All in all, it’s HBO’s best drama series since The Wire. For a full review, see Bianculli’s Blog.

 


 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: For the Season 4 premiere, the missing Frank (William H. Macy) returns to the fold. (He had to, or there’s no show, really.) But his return, predictably, is anything but smooth. Meanwhile, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) continues to experience a better quality of life, and work, while the other Gallaghers try their own hand at entrepreneurship – some in legal ventures, others less so.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Season 3 begins with a doubleheader, introducing a welcome pattern of brief but entertaining appearances by familiar guest stars. In the first of tonight’s two episodes, Shiri Appleby (remember her all the way back from Roswell?) reprises her role as Adam’s ex-girlfriend, Natalia, confronting Adam (Adam Driver) and Hannah (Lena Dunham) with angry assistance from Natalia’s new friend, played by Amy Schumer. In both, Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is confronting people at rehab, and one of them – played by Richard E. Grant – eventually pushes back.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Like The Good Wife, this series blew itself apart, intentionally, by taking its core workplace family and splitting it into separate, now hostile, groups. What’s interesting here is that Marty (Don Cheadle) and Jeannie (Kristen Bell) are now adversaries, and Marty’s lunatic ex-wife, Monica (Dawn Oliviera), is now a power player in the workplace arena as well. It’s a strong start to Season 3, with Bell, especially, rising to the occasion.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:30 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: One of television’s best and most underrated comedies, this series, now starting Season 3, continues to impress, surprise, and, unexpectedly, touch real emotional nerves. It’s a rare comedy that can make you laugh out loud and feel the characters’ emotional pain, especially at the same time – think of the Ricky Gervais British version of The Office as the nearest modern parallel. Matt LeBlanc, playing an exaggerated version of himself, is giving the performance of his career, and playing himself the way he does isn’t as easy as it might sound. And British actors Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan, as the U.K. writers embroiled in the indignities of writing for a dumbed-down Hollywood sitcom version of their overseas hit, are fabulous – some of my favorite characters, and actors, on television right now. And as Hollywood satires go, Episodes remains one of the all-time best.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.