SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 14
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: Ken Burns, writer Geoffrey C. Ward and the rest of Burns’ eager and talented collaborators present what emerges, ultimately, as the finest Ken Burns epic to date: a joint biography of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The voices of those formidable historical figures are provided, respectively, by Paul Giamatti, Edward Herrmann and Meryl Streep, with narration by Peter Coyote and on-camera observations by, among others, Ward himself. Tonight’s Part 1, while we hear all three Roosevelt voices, focuses on Teddy, who takes tonight’s entire program to ascend to the U.S. Presidency. Watch this entire series, which unspools on PBS in two-hour chunks over seven consecutive nights – and record it, because you’ll want to see it again and again. For my full review, see Bianculli’s Blog. And to hear my review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, which includes audio samples from several episodes, visit the Fresh Air website. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET

The San Francisco 49ers won its first game of the season with ease, having its way both offensively and defensively against the Dallas Cowboys. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, lost its first game the hard way – in overtime, against the Buffalo Bills. Tonight the 49ers and Bears play each other, with San Francisco enjoying home-field advantage.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

Once called a pageant, and now renamed to reflect not just something less superficial but also something intended to last past the calendar year, tonight’s live TV special is titled The 2015 Miss America Competition. It’s still, in essence, the same beauties on parade event that began in Atlantic City in 1921, the year of Prohibition and the initial setting of Boardwalk Empire. The Miss America pageant, now on ABC, may have lost some of its luster of late – but hey, so has Atlantic City. Yet as cultural artifacts go, this particular event has enough history to warrant a peek.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Speaking of Boardwalk Empire, this show’s final season has Nucky (Steve Buscemi) planning for the repeal of Prohibition, and planning to go legit in the liquor distribution business. But that doesn’t come easily, and there are factions out to remove Nucky from the equation entirely. Yet just as transition doesn’t come easily, Nucky doesn’t go easily. Nor does Chalky, another Boardwalk Empire character with a keenly honed knack for survival.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tomorrow, on Sept. 15, HRH Prince Henry of Wales – that’s Prince Harry to you, and to me, and almost everybody else – turns 30 years old. (Older brother, Prince William, is 32, making these siblings the exact ages of my own son and daughter, respectively. Never realized that before.) Tonight’s BBC America special looks at Prince Harry’s life to date – which gives the network one more chance to court Anglophiles by replaying footage from the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, the boys’ parents.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

After all this time, last week’s episode ended with Masters (Michael Sheen) confessing to Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), in the privacy of their hotel room, that he had a sexual problem. Maybe this week’s episode will begin with him telling her what it is… as the plot, like their relationship and their affair, continues to thicken.
 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.