FRIDAY
DECEMBER 13
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 2:00 a.m. ET

2013 was the year of Netflix, when it received an unavoidable amount of attention and acclaim by mounting its own original TV productions of House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and a revival of Arrested Development. (No, I’m not counting Hemlock Grove; neither should anyone else.)  But in 2012, before any of those series, Netflix launched what was its first original TV series: Lilyhammer, which returns today with a full complement of Season 2 episodes (all of which are available beginning at 2 a.m. ET). Steven Van Zandt stars as Frank, a mob fixer who enters the witness protection program and is transplanted from New York to Norway. In this new season, the new crime operation Frank has built in his new snow-covered home town attracts the attention of some greedy British mobsters. Oh, and in the pilot, there’s a high-speed run-in between a moose and a muscle car.

 
  
 
 

AMC, 7:00 p.m. ET

Bing Crosby already had made this title song a major radio and holiday hit – but that just meant the Irving Berlin song was ripe for even more commercialization, as he stars here again, with Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen and George Clooney’s musical hit-making relative, Rosemary Clooney.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

This movie musical is now 45 years old. It was released in 1968, earning Barbra Streisand an Oscar for reprising her Broadway role of Fanny Brice. This was one of the musicals my high school performing group staged a year or two later, when it was still “fresh” – showcasing the truly arresting vocal talents of a young Dara Norman. Fun times.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

In tonight’s holiday episode, Burt is given some special responsibilities at work, and more than the usual amount of authority – which, during the holiday sales season, translates to the predictable abuse of power.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

The subtitle of this new concert documentary is Celebrating the Music of ‘Inside Llewyn Davis.’ And while more people may be in a mood to celebrate after seeing the new Coen Brothers film, which opens later this month, recording tonight’s special about this tribute concert (taped in New York in September) is a smart move in advance. After all, T Bone Burnett, who oversaw all the music for this new movie, did the same for the unforgettably inspiring O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. The movie’s stars, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, perform, but so do Jack White, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch and others.

 

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.