SUNDAY

JULY 12

2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

2015 WIMBLEDON TENNIS MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

ESPN, 9:00 a.m. ET

Today’s championship Wimbledon match between top seed Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Roger Federer is a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, which Djokovic won. Federer played so spectacularly against Andy Murray, he seems in a better place to challenge Djokovic than a year ago – but expect a tough one. And Neil, when I mistyped Djokovic’s first name, in my Best Bet on Friday’s semifinal, it was just early morning mistake-making. Though I’d like to say I was only Djoking…

TRUE DETECTIVE

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

So the character played by Colin Farrell didn’t die from that short-range shotgun blast – and, in last week’s episode, walked around just a little gingerly as a result. The hangover from that misleading cliffhanger, though, has this second season of True Detective limping more than a little. This week, the show follows its investigative team to a pawn shop, where the latest clues suggest that many of these characters, as Dylan used to sing, are only a pawn in their game.

RAY DONOVAN

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: The opening episode of this new season makes great use of Jon Voight as Ray’s loose-cannon father, but also establishes two new characters with brief but attention-getting performances, and great new foils against which Liev Schreiber, as Ray, can play. One is former Deadwood villain (or anti-hero) Ian McShane, as a multi-millionaire seeking Ray’s services – and the other is Katie Holmes, as the businessman’s flinty daughter. Neither McShane nor Holmes get a great deal of screen time in the opener, but they make the most of it: McShane with his droll line delivery, Holmes with some withering glances and aggressively attitudinal body language.

THE STRAIN

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: The rules have changed a bit this season, because the presence of the vampiric creatures has been covered by the media. New York and its various boroughs are dangerous stomping grounds, with hidden headquarters for both the creatures and their determined hunters. The bad guys are hiding behind corporate walls, literally, making this new season of The Strain a companion of sorts to the evil vampire corporate executives of Angel. But here, there’s also a little heartbreak, a lot of creepiness, and some clarifying flashbacks. For a full review, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.

MASTERS OF SEX

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: There’s a big time shift as this series begins its new season, pushing us all the way to mid-decade, when William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Kaplan) are wading their way through 1966. That’s the year that groundbreaking study on sexual relations was published – and, on the home front, it’s also a time when Masters and his wife Libby (Caitlin FitzGerald) have made room not only for the divorced Virginia, but her children as well as theirs – who are more grown up now, and more of an unwelcome diversion, to viewers as well as to the adult characters. Sheen, Kaplan and FitzGerald always are worth watching here, but not their respective TV offspring. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes.

THE BRINK

HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET

The global military duel continues – with leaders on both sides of the conflict acting irrationally. And that’s on a good day… which these aren’t. Tim Robbins stars.

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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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