THURSDAY

AUGUST 14

2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

THE SIXTIES: "SEX, DRUGS & ROCK N' ROLL"

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES FINALE: For the second time, because of breaking news and resultant rescheduling, I’ve been premature in describing specific installments of this series. But unless more breaking stories intervene, this is the final installment of The Sixties, and this last installment includes, as it should, one of the defining, and last, iconic events of that decade: the August 1969 three-day music and arts festival known as Woodstock. “The New York State Thruway is closed, man!”

NY MED

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: The stories in tonight’s season finale are, as always, an engrossing mixture of life-and-death and routine procedures, throwing light on both patients and caregivers to tell true stories that are as inspiring as they are worthwhile. Viewers should be given credit for making this nonfiction series a summer hit. ABC should be given credit for making it in the first place: In the summer, it’s a rare and welcome oasis of intelligence in a very vapid landscape.

GARFUNKEL AND OATES

IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s premiere episode revealed this new comedy series to be a very smart, intentionally unusual series – with doses of everything from Louie and Curb Your Enthusiasm to Inside Amy Schumer and Flight of the Conchords. Smart, smart series. And tonight, “Garfunkel and Oates,” otherwise known as Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, are shown struggling to write a new song – as are their porn-star doppelgangers. (Say, what rhymes with doppelgangers? Paper hangers?)

THE HONORABLE WOMAN

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

It’s Episode 3 of this complex new eight-part series, almost the halfway point – yet the more we learn about Nessa (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her past, the more questions are unearthed about her true intentions in the present. Don’t expect that to change, by the way. Expect the unexpected. In tonight’s episode, especially, because some of the dramatic scenes in this week’s installment are ruthless.

7 DEADLY SINS

Showtime, 11:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s episode focuses on Envy, including some examples of wanting to either be or look like other people, or other genders. Morgan Spurlock managed to make a very interesting show out of last week’s series premiere, on Gluttony – but trying to do justice to this week’s subject? I don’t envy him.

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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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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

Showtime, 11:00 p.m. ET

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