SATURDAY
JANUARY 16
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

HBO, 9:00 a.m. ET

NEW NETWORK PREMIERE: The first new episode of the Sesame Street season is here – but here isn’t where it used to be. After 45 years on PBS, Big Bird and his buddies have migrated to the upscale, gentrified neighborhood of HBO. These new episodes – 30 minutes each, with two of them premiering today, and one new and one repeat appearing each subsequent Saturday – will get to PBS eventually, about nine months later. The good news is that this three-year exclusive head start on new Sesame Street episodes gives the series a guaranteed funding source it hasn’t had of late. The bad news is that the whole reason Sesame Street was created was to give all preschoolers, including if not especially disadvantaged ones in inner cities and poor rural areas, a chance to get an early jump on learning – and now, the freshest and newest episodes are being reserved, for a while, for those who can afford premium cable. I’ve previewed the first new episode, and it’s awfully clean and bright, with a major emphasis on Elmo – but it’s not bad. Tune in now, or wait nine months, and decide for yourself. For a full story, see Monique Nazareth’s MNtv.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 4:30 p.m. ET

The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated in the last 11 games, but the team’s wild-card victory last weekend was its first postseason win since 1993. The New England Patriots, on the other hand, have won a total of 21 playoffs games under the tandem teamwork of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady – and that’s just to date. In this showdown, the Patriots might well end the Chiefs’ streak, which would be deflating. But at this point in the season, how much deflating does Tom Brady still have left in him?

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

The last time these two teams met was only three weeks ago, and the Cardinals ran roughshod over the Packers, 38-8. But in last week’s wild-card game, in beating the Washington Redskins, Aaron Rodgers looked like a completely different, rejuvenated player. This rematch should be very different – and very, very interesting.

 
  
 
 

Hallmark Channel, 9:00 p.m. ET

Emily Kinney, who had a tough time of it as Beth on The Walking Dead, and who has worked around egomaniacal medical researchers as Nora on Masters of Sex and Nurse Daisy on The Knick, gets a change-of-pace occupation as the personal assistant to an injured football player (John Reardon). And since it’s a Hallmark romance movie, it’s hardly a Spoiler Alert to predict that, before this new telemovie is over, he’ll be healed enough to score. Maybe even on the field…

 
  
 
 

NBC, 12:00 a.m. ET

Adam Driver, of Girls and now of the Star Wars franchise, is tonight’s guest host. Musical guest: Chris Stapleton.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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3803 Comments
 
 
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Dave
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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.