TUESDAY
DECEMBER 16
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

The former and still champion: the best TV Christmas special ever made. And I don’t, for a second, think it would be made by any commercial network today with the same fidelity to animator Charles Schulz’s spirit, and spiritual message. Gather the kids.

 
  
 
 

Nickelodeon, 8:00 p.m. ET

I have a soft spot for this particular subject. Tonight on a new edition of Nick News, Linda Ellerbee looks at nontraditional schools, and their various methods of teaching – some turning every learning activity into games, others giving students unusual amounts of freedom and responsibility. I attended Nova High School in Florida, a place that was  boldly experimental then – and which gave me my first, indelibly important exposures to newspapers, television and theater. In this documentary, see whether today’s students are as lucky – and as grateful.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: The winner is announced for this final cycle of 2014 – but on this show, the contestants tend to take a back seat to the judges. That’s especially true tonight, when the coaches are among the acts performing tonight, as part of the effort to turn a 10-second announcement into a two-hour finale. But as for this cycle’s final entrants, Matt McAndrew, daring to sing his original song “Wasted Love,” deserves the win for an unexpectedly strong display of both performing and songwriting.

 
  
 
 

Syfy, 9:00 p.m. ET

Part 2 of 3. This new Syfy miniseries imagines a 100-year space voyage from Earth to some unpopulated but hospitable planet, and picks up the drama at the halfway point, 51 years in. By coincidence, tonight’s episode, the second of three parts, marks the halfway point as well – and if you watched last night, I’m betting you’re sticking around for the rest of the trip. For a full review, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.
 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET

Pay attention, fellow Beatlemaniacs: Tonight’s guest is Sir Paul McCartney.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 12:35 a.m. ET

Craig Ferguson, over the years, has done a devastating impersonation of Larry King – yet that hasn’t kept them from developing an ongoing and mutually appreciative friendship. Tonight, King shows up to schmooze on one of Ferguson’s very last shows – as does another Ferguson favorite, Angela Kinsey.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.