WEDNESDAY

NOVEMBER 16

2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: Parts 1-3. This six-part British miniseries stars Sophie Okonedo of Hotel Rwanda as a highly ranked prosecutor in the British courts. The story spans several decades, and two continents, and co-stars Dennis Haysbert of 24 and Adrian Lester of Red Band Society – as, respectively, her client and her husband. Both of the men have deep secrets, and they’re unfurled slowly in a character study about undercover officers and ulterior motives. Concludes tomorrow night. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

POLAR BEAR TOWN

Smithsonian, 8:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This new nature series spends several episodes in the very small town of Churchill, Manitoba. Its human population is 800 – but as winter approaches, the polar bear population outnumbers them, at around 1000. It’s a confluence of man and animal that’s already been chronicled on TV, by David Attenborough’s The Hunt, but it’s documented very well here also. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

THE ENDLESS SUMMER

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Alec Baldwin didn’t show up to impersonate Donald Trump last week on Saturday Night Live, but tonight he shows up on TCM, continuing his guest hosting chores on this month’s overview of documentary films. Tonight he begins, at 8 p.m. ET, with this surfer-culture classic from 1966, which promopted more than a generation of surfer dudes to seek out the perfect wave. At 9:45 p.m. ET a documentary on basketball, 1994’s Hoop Dreams, follows, and the evening culminates at 12:45 a.m. ET with that salute to music, mud, and generational merriment, 1970’s Woodstock. Just watch out for the brown acid.

DESIGNATED SURVIVOR

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

You have to wonder where the writers of scripted drama series get their ideas. Who would believe, as this week’s story line would have you believe, that the U.S. government was threatened by a clandestine attack orchestrated by… the Russians?

SOUNDBREAKING: STORIES FROM THE CUTTING EDGE OF RECORDED MUSIC

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Part 3 of 5. Tonight’s installment on the evolution of recorded music looks at different types of studio performers, and two of the types chosen couldn’t be more different: Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower. Check local listings.

SOUTH PARK

Comedy Central, 10:00 p.m. ET

Today on the subway in New York, I saw a poster advertising South Park after all these seasons, proclaiming proudly that the show was “Still here,” and “Stilll going there.” Very true. This season’s extended, continuing story line is taking on the election and its results more openly, and more cleverly, than most serious news shows. And tonight, the President-Elect visits South Park.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY 6

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: This series has unfurled like a reality-show version of Rashomon: Whose story can be believed, if anyone’s? Just because the reality show within this scripted show claims its narrative is true, that doesn’t make it so. But whatever happened, or didn’t happen, in that supposedly haunted house will be sorted out tonight. It better be, because this is the show’s season finale. Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson star.

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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.

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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET

Smithsonian, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Comedy Central, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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