MONDAY
MAY 12
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s miniseries relaunch hit all the right notes. It brought back the best characters (Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer and Mary Lynn Rajskub’s Chloe), established power figures (William Devane as the new President) and female leads (the returning Kim Raver and the new-to-24 Yvonne Strahovski), and made smartly relevant plot points involving drone strikes and Internet spreaders of government secrets. The momentum is strong, too, so here comes hour number three of Jack’s newest (and, eventually, shortened) very bad day.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

This new documentary presents mostly everyday people who talk of losing their mothers at a young age – hence the show’s title – and how that affected them. There are some celebrities, too, who speak candidly and movingly of their own private early losses: Jane Fonda, Rosie O’Donnell, Molly Shannon. But there are very few male voices here, which is a missed opportunity. Perhaps I expected more from this particular program, in both context and impact, because my own mother died when I was 10. So I’m not only a viewer of The (Dead Mothers) Club – I’m also a member.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

This new documentary by Jason Osder is an archival study of a literally incendiary moment in Philadelphia history. It’s the moment when Philadelphia police, in a standoff with members of the radical urban group MOVE, surrounded the group’s West Philly townhouse to evict them – and when the MOVE members refused, the police dropped an “incendiary device” on the roof by helicopter and, as was admitted afterward, “let the fire burn,” resulting in 11 deaths, including those of five children. Osder doesn’t conduct any new interviews for this Lens report. Instead, he scoured archives to find, and put together, footage from the period, shown on live local TV stations as the standoff built and climaxed. I was a TV critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer then, and watching it on television was one of the most unbelievable live stories I ever covered. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s double dose of Louie should have erased any fears that Louis C.K. may have lost some edge during his long hiatus. If anything, he’s returned more refreshed, and refreshing, than ever. (Who else would have concocted the plot twist in last week’s second episode that turned a one-night stand into an emergency room visit?) So strap in and enjoy the ride, because two more fresh episodes are shown tonight.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:01 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: We now know that Berlin, in the context of this show, is a person, not a place – and specifically, is the person who has had Red [James Spader] in his sights for a while. All the people on “the Blacklist,” as well as some of the people around Liz (Megan Boone), Red’s off-again, on-again agency handler, are stuck somehow in Berlin’s spider web. Tonight, series producer Jon Bokenkamp promises “a game changer,” but the series already has changed the game for NBC, and helped drag the network out of its multi-year ratings slump.

 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
OGUCF
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 208  | Go to page: 
4150 Comments
 
 
I got too much interesting stuff on your blog. I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here! Keep up the good work
Jul 8, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Wow! Such an amazing and helpful post this is. I really really love it. It's so good and so awesome. I am just amazed. I hope that you continue to do your work like this in the future also
Jul 8, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Efficiently written information. It will be profitable to anybody who utilizes it, counting me. Keep up the good work. For certain I will review out more posts day in and day out
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that I'm interested in, but I'm most definately interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.
"
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thank you for such a well written article. It’s full of insightful information and entertaining descriptions. Your point of view is the best
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Hey, this day is too much good for me, since this time I am reading this enormous informative article here at my home. Thanks a lot for massive hard work
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The appearance positively wonderful. All of these miniature info are fashioned utilizing massive amount historical past experience. I want it all significantly
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. This is very nice one and gives indepth information. Thanks for this nice article
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Everything has its own value, but this is really precious information shared by Author
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Very likely I’m going to bookmark your blog . You absolutely have wonderful stories. Cheers for sharing with us your blo
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Pretty good post. I have just stumbled upon your blog and enjoyed reading your blog posts very much. I am looking for new posts to get more precious info. Big thanks for the useful info.
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
don't forget, keep sharing useful infoSo grab a drink, roll the dice, and let’s get began! With an LLC, you will have to file paperwork with the Secretary of State (or different company) to type the organization.
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Hey! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and amazing design.| You reported this exceptionally well! fda kratom
Jul 7, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Excellent analysis! Your perspective on this matter provides a lot of value to the community. I recently saved for future reference, and your points align perfectly with their updated guidelines. Thanks for putting this together.
Jul 6, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The majority of coach bags labeling tend to be steel although not all are.
Jul 6, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The appearance positively wonderful. All of these miniature info are fashioned utilizing massive amount historical past experience. I want it all significantly
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Sialan para penipu ini karena telah mencuri uang dan kepercayaan orang lain.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ???? ??????. ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????. ?? ??? ?????. ? ???? ??? ?? ?????.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ? ?? ?? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ? ?? ?? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 208  | Go to page: 
 
 

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.