TUESDAY
MARCH 14
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

The contestants continue, this season, to both surprise and impress with their song choices, and especially with their individual interpretations of those songs. From last week, one case in point whose originality lingers as a sterling example: Taylor Alexander, doing a very country, very male version of Cher’s “Believe.” It was good enough, and unusual enough, to land him on Adam Levine’s team. This is the final week of the audition round, and last night, once again, provided lots of entertainment, talent, and, yes, emotional moments.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Actually, they should have called this 1971 movie Bree – because Bree Daniels, the call girl played by Jane Fonda, is the real center of this Alan J. Pakula film. Fonda won the Oscar, and deserved to, as the prostitute who is among the targets of a killer of ladies of the night. Klute is the name of the detective, John Klute, assigned to solve the case and protect Bree – he’s played by Donald Sutherland, who’s excellent here, too, but Klute is Fonda’s movie all the way. Three years after playing the space-age vixen in Barbarella, she wowed everyone with her Klute role as a prostitute so jaded, she glances at her watch even as she fakes the sounds of pleasure.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: This series, the NBC spiritual predecessor to such heartwarming family dramas as Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, concludes its first season with an episode that manages to wrest emotion even out of its flashback scenes, though we know how they will, and won’t, turn out. Credit the writing… and the acting, including that of singer Mandy Moore.
 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX sent out the first three episodes of this fifth season for preview – and they’re really, really good. Tonight’s episode explores more of the central couple’s new cover identities as an airline pilot and hostess, getting into some amazingly relevant discussions about Russian and American ideals. It also unveils what I suspect will be the year’s dominant story arc, and also greets a few familiar returning faces, while elevating the dramatic ante in personal stories set in both the U.S. and Russia. And by spending more time in Russia this season, The Americans gets to explore new territory, emotionally as well as geographically.

 
  
 
 

Spike, 10:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: On my book tour a few months ago, one of my stops in Los Angeles was Adam Carolla’s podcast. I wasn’t surprised by how much fun I had there, but I was surprised by two things. One, how many people I told afterward were fans of Carolla’s podcast, from the waiter at Rao’s to my own son. And two, how Carolla’s home-base headquarters looked as much like a carpentry warehouse as anything else. Now I know why. And Carolla is so comfortable and honest when performing live, the idea of a live show about construction – and has anyone attempted that before? – should really be in his wheelhouse. Maybe he’ll even build a wheelhouse. But whatever he builds live, I expect him to nail it…

 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:01 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This is not a recommendation. I love John Lithgow, and the premise for this show, sight unseen, sounds like a home run: In this faux crime documentary, Lithgow plays a Robert Durst-type accused murderer, surrounded by a somewhat incompetent legal team. But that’s sight unseen. Once you’ve seen it, as I have, it’s no longer promising. It breaks that promise, by being way too obvious, and nowhere near funny enough. I blame the writing and direction much more than the cast – but if you’re planning to watch this, don’t bother. For full reviews, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes and David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

Showtime, 12:00 a.m. ET

As we ramp up to the return of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks this summer, I recommend soaking up many of his other, later efforts – including this haunting but baffling 1997 film, in which Patricia Arquette plays two roles – a femme fatale blonde, and, in another sort of reality, a femme fatale brunette. And Robert Blake plays… well, I don’t know who or what the hell he plays, but he sure does commit to it…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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2690 Comments
 
 
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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.