MONDAY
DECEMBER 16
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

This series’ final-season gimmick, basing the entire season around a single wedding weekend, may have been envisioned as the comedy equivalent of 24, but it’s managed to dissipate tension, not enhance it, by prolonging things. Tonight, at least, Marshall (Jason Segel) finally makes it to the same “destination wedding” destination as the rest of his best buddies – which is something. Now, kids, if only the “mother” would show up for good. Kids? Where’d you go, kids? I’m not finished with my story yet…

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: The Season 5 cycle of this singing competition concludes this week with a two-parter: the final competition tonight, and the announcement of the winner tomorrow. If you’ve stayed away and want to peek back in at the finish line, here’s the last-minute lowdown. Three competitors remain, representing teens, twentysomethings and  thirtysomethings, respectively: Jacquie Lee is 16, Tessanne Chin is 28, and Will Champlin is 30. Christina Aguilera’s team is represented by the young Lee, and Adam Levine’s team by the others. Three-time winning judge Blake Shelton has no stake in the finals this year, and neither does CeeLo Green.

 
  
 
 

MGM HD, 8:00 p.m. ET

MGM HD’s month-long salute to Woody Allen continues tonight with two more prime-time Allen offerings. Both of tonight’s feature Mia Farrow, starting at 8 p.m. ET with Radio Days, Allen’s delightful reconstruction of the pre-television era. Watch (or listen) for perennial SNL announcer Don Pardo as the host of “Guess That Tune,” and Seth Green as Joe, a young stand-in for Allen himself. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, MGM presents 1990’s Alice, in which Farrow plays a Manhattan housewife who visits Chinatown and embarks on a bold voyage of self-discovery. Co-stars include Julie Kavner, also a co-star of Radio Days, and William Hurt and Joe Mantegna.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:30 p.m. ET

Just after seeing Allison Janney in her tender dramatic role in the season finale of Showtime’s Masters of Sex, now you can see her going for broad laughs, opposite French Stewart as her randy Bonnie dates his rude Chef Rudy. And by the way, tonight’s episode is directed by Jon Cryer, sliding over from another Chuck Lorre CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:40 p.m. ET

I haven’t yet seen the new Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, that serves as the inspiration for this concert film (the subtitle of which is Celebrating the Music of ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’). But I have seen this special, and it’s fabulous. Oscar Isaac, who stars in the film, sings several numbers (including one, shown here, with Marcus Mumford), and other performers include Joan Baez and, a new treat for me, the Milk Carton Kids.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.