MONDAY
FEBRUARY 15
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Hulu, 12:00 a.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: Stephen King’s novel about time travel and the John F. Kennedy assassination is turned into an eight-part miniseries by Hulu, with episodes streaming weekly each Monday – beginning today, on Presidents Day. J.J. Abrams is an executive producer, and James Franco stars as Maine high school teacher Jake Epping, who is introduced to a secret, mysterious method of time travel. It’s a portal through the closet of a local diner, and, once he accepts the mission to investigate Lee Harvey Oswald and prevent the JFK assassination, he absorbs the basic rules about butterfly effects and such, and dives in. But he arrives in 1960, and has to spend the time there while gathering info and waiting for his opportunity. The time-travel rules and methods make little sense, but when do they? Jump in, as Jake does, and you’ll enjoy the ride – and the cars, and the pie, and the patented King twists and turns. For a full review, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
 
  
 
 

PBS KIDS, 9:00 a.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: New episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood show up this week, beginning with today’s back-to-back installments about, respectively, mistakes and play. If you haven’t seen the video of my six-month-old granddaughter, Reina, enjoying this show’s opening credits with unrestrained glee, see Video Worth Watching. It only takes a minute – but you, like Reina, are bound to smile widely at the end. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

This is the penultimate episode of the 2016 reboot of The X-Files, and it has a clever way of presenting what might be an alternate future – for the series itself. In this story about a bombing, Scully and Mulder (Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny) are joined and observed during their investigation by a pair of younger lookalikes and sometimes act-alikes, played by Lauren Ambrose and Robbie Amiel. Could they be the nucleus of a new spinoff version of The X-Files? Or is there an even deeper conspiracy afoot?

 
  
 
 

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Performances always dominate this well-run awards show, and this year’s program is scheduled to open with Taylor Swift, include Lady Gaga paying tribute to David Bowie and the remaining Eagles saluting their late bandmate Glenn Frey, and so, so much more. Oh, and the opening number from the Broadway smash Hamilton will be performed, live from the dark-on-Mondays theater where it’s the year’s biggest sold-out show. Also set to perform: Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Carrie Underwood, the Weeknd, Selena Gomez and others.

 
  
 
 

AMC, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: The show that topped my Best TV of 2015 list returns for Season Two, with an energy, and an unpredictability, that’s anything but diminished. Welcome back, Jimmy McGill. Bob Odenkirk stars – and, once again, is fabulous. For full reviews, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes and David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

TBS, 10:30 p.m. ET

I wasn’t aware, until last week, that Samantha Bee’s late-night show was a weekly, not nightly, affair. That makes tonight’s episode her second attempt – and a better sense of the show overall, because she and her staff had days, not months, to prepare. Good luck, Samantha. At least the politicians, on both sides of the aisle, helped by generating plenty of ridicule-worthy material.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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3694 Comments
 
 
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Mar 21, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Arvid Berggren
Long-time TVWW devotee here. I manage a commercial vehicle operation and Colorado Springs Mobile Mechanic (https://coloradospringcosmobilemechanic.com) keeps our fleet going. Bianculli's picks keep us sane during maintenance delays - essential reading!
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Frida Sundberg
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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.