WEDNESDAY
JULY 16
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

For 20 fabulous years now, Robert Osborne has served as primary host of Turner Classic Movies, establishing, like the network he represents, an impeccable and reliable reputation for both class and classics. Usually, Osborne presents movies built around the themes and tastes of others – but tonight, he presents his own movie picks, beginning at 8 p.m. ET with 1961’s Fanny (pictured), a romantic comedy-drama starring Leslie Caron as a fishmonger’s daughter in pre-WWII Marseille. She’s in love with a young sailor (played by Horst Buchholz, fresh off The Magnificent Seven), but circumstances leave her pregnant, alone, and contemplating accepting the advances of a wealthy older man (Maurice Chevalier). If the plot sounds somewhat familiar, it was adapted into another classic movie rarity shown occasionally on TCM, 1964’s all-music The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Other films on Osborne’s recommendation list tonight include (at 10:30 p.m. ET) 1933’s The Bitter Tea of General Yen, and (at 12:15 a.m. ET) 1944’s Experiment Perilous.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s second episode of this new CBS series is titled “Extinct,” but that could be misleading: the story line seems to be heading towards a new life beginning, not an old one ending. In this hour, Sam (Camryn Manheim) gives Molly (Halle Berry) an ultrasound – the results of which could confirm Molly’s very baffling suspicions, and eerie nightmare visions, about being impregnated while on a year-long solo space flight. Let’s hope tonight’s episode is more original, and less obvious, than last week’s opener.

 
  
 
 

WE TV, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This new WE tv series was two years in the making – and originally was made as a series pilot for AMC, which reportedly passed on the series in favor of the much less compelling Low Winter Sun. In time, though, AMC’s loss became WE tv’s gain, because the sister network (along with IFC and Sundance, others under the AMC Networks umbrella) continued to develop The Divide, eventually positioning it as its first original scripted drama. It’s a big step for WE tv, and The Divide sticks the landing, serving up a new series that is much more intelligent, nuanced and balanced than the norm. The series is written by Richard LaGravenese of HBO’s Behind the Candelabra, and stars Marin Ireland and Damon Gupton as two people on opposite sides of a Death Row murder case. She’s the Innocence Initiative caseworker arguing for the innocence of a prisoner about to be executed, and he’s the district attorney who wants the sentence to be carried out. One of the more impressive aspects of The Divide is how it humanizes and empathizes with both sides – as with Showtime’s Homeland, there’s not one central character and perspective, but two. Definitely worth sampling, even on a network you may never have visited before, unless you’re a reality TV enthusiast. But that’s the point…

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

In this second episode of Season 2, a bizarre new murder scene attracts the attention, once again, of lawmakers on both sides of the border, and our heroes (played by Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir) are back in business. The murder site in question involves a taxidermist – and we all remember, the last time that happened, what kind of killer was encountered. A veritable Psycho…

 
  
 
 

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

This 1971 film was a counterculture classic of sorts, but also a straight-out action film that made room for an extended car chase that spread out over four Western states. Barry Newman stars as a talented driver with a need for speed, and with an increasingly long posse of cop cars on his tail. The reason? He’s made a bet that he can deliver a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours – and thanks to “Super Soul,” the deejay played by Cleavon Little who helps our hard-driving hero steer clear of The Man, there are lots of radio listeners tuning in to see whether he makes it. Vanishing Point was released in 1971, but it was pure Sixties from start to finish. Especially the finish.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.