TUESDAY
JANUARY 16
2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

BBC America, 6:00 a.m. ET

Blue Planet II, premiering this Saturday on BBC America, is one of those astounding TV events to make special plans to watch, record, and treasure. I can’t quite wrap my head around the new technology, and infinite patience, that allowed the filmmakers to catch such glorious, jaw-dropping images and events. BBC America is doing its best to get viewers involved in advance, by repeating, in daily marathons, its best nature documentary series of this century to date. Yesterday, the network repeated the original Blue Planet miniseries, from 2002. Today, beginning at 6 a.m. ET and again at 6:50 p.m. ET, it’s showing all episodes of its Planet Earth nature documentary series from 2007. And it’s actually better than the first time around – because back then, Discovery made the bone-headed, xenophobic decision to replace the narration by Sir David Attenborough with new narration recorded by Sigourney Weaver. Now, I love Sigourney as much as the next guy – but not when the next guy is the premier nature documentarian on the planet. Tonight’s Planet Earth repeats feature the original Attenborough narration, so dive in without reservation. And once you dive in, I expect you won’t resurface for hours. It’s that good.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Everything about this prime-time game show screamed “hit” before it arrived, and nothing since then has slowed or deterred that momentum and prediction. With Ellen DeGeneres at its center, interacting with frighteningly animated contestants and relying on bigger-budget versions of some of her daytime show’s popular goofy games, Ellen’s Game of Games couldn’t miss. And it hasn’t.
 
  
 
 

CW, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Black Lightning, based on a DC Comics superhero from the 1970s, is the fifth CW prime-time drama based on characters from the DC universe, after Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. (Shouldn’t The CW just give in at this point, and rename itself The DC?) Cress Williams stars, and Black Lightning is a superhero who’s markedly different. For one thing, he’s not a coming-of-age teen just learning to marshal his powers: In his civilian life he’s a middle-age school principal and the father of two daughters. Oh, and he’s African-American, which in the Seventies in the comics, as on TV today, is unusual for a superhero. For full reviews, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes and David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s episode is called “Clooney,” and has Kate shopping for a wedding dress. Infer from that what you will...

 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
GJWEH
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 207  | Go to page: 
4137 Comments
 
 
Excellent analysis! Your perspective on this matter provides a lot of value to the community. I recently saved for future reference, and your points align perfectly with their updated guidelines. Thanks for putting this together.
Jul 6, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The majority of coach bags labeling tend to be steel although not all are.
Jul 6, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The appearance positively wonderful. All of these miniature info are fashioned utilizing massive amount historical past experience. I want it all significantly
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Sialan para penipu ini karena telah mencuri uang dan kepercayaan orang lain.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ???? ??????. ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????. ?? ??? ?????. ? ???? ??? ?? ?????.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ? ?? ?? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ? ?? ?? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ? ?? ?? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
???
??? ???? ??????. ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????. ?? ??? ?????. ? ???? ??? ?? ?????.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??, ??? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??, ??? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??, ??? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me .. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Penipu berkualitas rendah tanpa integritas dan penuh kebohongan.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para penipu yang memalukan memangsa orang-orang dengan klaim palsu dan kebohongan.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
You have a good point here! I totally agree with what you have said !! Thanks for sharing your views. hope more people will read this article !!
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Very rapidly this site will be famous among all blogging and site-building users, due to it's good articles
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para penipu licik menjalankan operasi kotor yang dibangun di atas kebohongan dan penipuan.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Sialan para penipu ini karena telah mencuri uang dan kepercayaan orang lain.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I have learn several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much effort you place to make this type of fantastic informative web site.
Jul 5, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 207  | Go to page: 
 
 

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.