WEDNESDAY
MAY 15
2019

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Two of Paul Newman’s most dazzling star showcases are shown tonight in prime time by TCM. At 8 p.m. ET, there’s 1963’s Hud (pictured), Newman’s character study of a consummate rebel. And at 10 p.m. ET, there’s one of my favorite movies of all time: 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and co-starring Robert Redford. In the 50 years since this film’s original release, I don’t think I’ve gone a week without quoting one line or another from William Goldman’s perfect screenplay. Who are those guys?...

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: This is not a recommendation. This is the finale of the 38th cycle of Survivor competitions, which I stopped watching several years ago, after watching and supporting them for a very long time. But when even the variations became repetitive, I lost interest – just as I have done increasingly, this season, with NBC’s The Voice. But if you’re still into tribal councils and duplicitous winners, here you go again. Jeff Probst, after all this time, still hosts.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s episode was not only this treat of a TV show’s best yet – it also used the excuse of the convening of a “vampire’s council” to make room for a gaggle of unexpected, delightful cameos. Not only did Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi and Jonathan Brugh comprise their original roles from the movie that served as the inspiration for this FX spinoff series, but there were appearances by celebrity vampires – actors who had played vampires on film or TV, and, if this show is to be believed (it isn’t), are vampires in real life. So who came to play? Among others: Tilda Swinton, Paul Reubens, Danny Trejo, Wesley Snipes, and Evan Rachel Wood, who have portrayed vampires in, respectively, Only Lovers Left Alive, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, From Dusk Till Dawn, Blade (as a half-human, half-vampire hybrid), and HBO’s True Blood. What do expect this week? More of the unexpected…

 
  
 
 

IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Gabby tumbled into a depression bender last week, defiling her own home with rude graffiti aimed at her cheating wife – and falling off the fitness wagon by having a fast-food “banquet” from Panda Express. By episode’s end, she’d blurted out all her personal traumas while delivering live commentary on a baseball broadcast – the exact way her broadcast partner, Brockmire, began his own downward spiral at the start of this series. Gabby, though, has some help… and it’s Brockmire.

 
  
 
 

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

Part 8. Last night, Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd had a pre-therapy session argument about their respective tastes in pop culture: Her character likes Meet the Midwife and dislikes black-and-white films, while his character, a critic, is precisely the opposite. Really made me laugh – and love both of these characters even more. Two more episodes to go, at 10 minutes each, and I’m already bemoaning the imminent end of this intoxicating TV experiment.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.