TUESDAY
JUNE 17
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ESPN, 11:30 a.m. ET

After yesterday’s thrilling U.S.A. opening game against Ghana, more people than ever will be paying attention to the World Cup here in the States. (Everywhere else in the world, they already were.) Today, ESPN presents all three games being played. The first and third feature the final teams to play their first opening-round games, from Group H: at 11:30 a.m. ET, Belgium vs. Algeria, and at 5:30 p.m. ET, Russia vs. South Korea. And sandwiched in between is the day’s premium draw: the second game featuring host nation Brazil, who, at 2:30 p.m. ET, plays Mexico, and is a team to watch, with fans and cheerleaders to match. Right now, both Brazil and Mexico won their openers, and are atop their Group A division. After today, that may well change. Or not, if they battle to a draw.

 
  
 
 

Sundance, 7:45 p.m. ET

This movie is 31 years old, and wasn’t even Tom Cruise’s first movie. But it’s been that long since he’s been a top-tier movie star – and three decades at or near the top of Hollywood puts him right up there with the biggest of big boys, like the Jimmy Stewarts and John Waynes and Henry Fondas. Tune in again, and watch how effortlessly, and winningly, he shot to the top in the first place. Cue the Bob Seger music, kick off the shoes, and… slide. Repeated at 10 p.m. ET.
 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Ken Burns’ latest documentary series is coming this fall: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, a study of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that covers a century of American history in a seven-part, 14-hour epic look at the lives and contributions of three members of a single family. Early buzz has it as one of the very best efforts to ever emerge from the Burns shop, which is the highest praise possible. Tonight’s 30-minute preview serves as a teaser, as an appetizer, and, in this fractured TV landscape, one way to begin to build awareness and expectations months ahead of time. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

ABC Family, 9:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s series premiere set up this show’s unusual premise: Chasing Life stars Italia Ricci as April, a 24-year-old journalist who’s suddenly given a diagnosis of leukemia. It’s not a dark comedy, like Showtime’s The Big C, but more of a straight drama, and for a young audience more used to thinking of itself as invulnerable. Here, vulnerability is everything – and the way April handles her diagnosis is what makes Chasing Life so distinctive, and so affirming.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: What a delicious surprise this new FX series has turned out to be. And tonight’s episode, the Season 1 finale, is guaranteed to serve up plenty of surprises of its own. For an appreciation that doesn’t serve up any spoilers, see Eric Gould’s The Cold Light Reader.

 

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.