SUNDAY

JANUARY 17

2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS VS. CAROLINA PANTHERS

Fox, 1:00 p.m. ET

We’ve already had one divisional game this weekend end in regulation with an astounding play, pushing the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals into overtime. It was a wild game, all around – and perhaps one of today’s two games will equal it. First up: The Seattle Seahawks, with its top defense, against the Carolina Panthers, with MVP frontrunner quarterback Cam Newton.

AFC DIVISIONAL ROUND: PITTSBURGH STEELERS VS. DENVER BRONCOS

CBS, 4:30 p.m. ET

The second game of the day, between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos, might be considered the Battle of the Beaten-Up QBs. On one side, the seriously hurt Ben Roethlisberger, with a newly injured throwing shoulder. On the other side, Peyton Manning, expected to make his first start in two months. Whether his counterpart in Pittsburgh will be able to start, or even play, will pretty much be determined after the coin toss.

THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH

Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PEMIERE: This new documentary series takes to the presidential campaign trail to focus on candidates and issues, in ways that aren’t necessarily reflected in mainstream media – and which, in tonight’s premiere, is expected to explain why so many candidates are showing up on so many late-night talk shows. Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz are scheduled to be the focus of this opener, but that could change.

ANGIE TRIBECA MARATHON

TBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This may be unorthodox, even crazy, but here it is. For the first time in TV history, so far as I know, a cable network is inaugurating a new series by presenting it the way streaming services have started to do: an entire season available all at once. Except that on cable TV, that means scheduling one episode after the other, all night long. Rashida Jones from Parks and Recreation stars as the title character in this crime-show spoof, a sort of distaff update of Police Squad! It’s created by Steve and Nancy Carell, and there are 10 episodes in Season 1, and TBS is showing them sequentially, then repeating them, in an overall 25-hour, commercial-free marathon. For a full story, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

The latest debate among presidential hopefuls, this time on the Democratic side, is presented by NBC News, in association with YouTube. This means this debate will be moderated by Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell, so expect good questions – if not necessarily good answers.

THE GOOD WIFE

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and Eli (Alan Cumming) square off yet again. This week, Eli is offering a truce, because of new information connected to the campaign, but Alicia is having little of it.

MASTERPIECE: "DOWNTON ABBEY"

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

The wedding is here. Or is it? It’s supposed to be. But with this family, predictability is a tricky thing to predict. Check local listings.

MERCY STREET

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: It’s PBS’s first home-grown period drama series in quite a while, and tonight it arrives. Josh Radnor, formerly of How I Met Your Mother, plays a surgeon during the Civil War. Consider it The Knick: The Next Generation. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes, and for a feature story, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

BILLIONS

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Two terrific actors, Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti, star in this new drama about New York power brokers. Lewis plays a hedge-fund billionaire who was lucky enough to evade the fate of his company colleagues during 9/11, and Giamatt plays the government prosecutor out to get him. Watch for Maggie Siff, formerly of Sons of Anarchy, as the woman whose life intersects theirs. For full reviews, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes and David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

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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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