THURSDAY
JULY 17
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

Now that Greg Poehler, creator and star of this new series presented by NBC, has established the autobiographical premise of his show – a man, here named Bruce, moves to Sweden after falling in love with a woman who lives there – it’s time to run with the comic possibilities of the premise. Lena Olin, as the mother of Bruce’s girlfriend, gets more laughs in subtitled Swedish than most NBC comedy stars do in English. Poehler is funny, too, but quietly so, while Josephine Bornebusch, as his girlfriend, is a real find, and tonight, gets to show off her own comic timing and gifts. And this second episode also makes room for Will Ferrell, playing an exaggerated version of himself, with a particularly helpful gift for Bruce: a Swedish-language instructional audiotape.

 
  
 
 

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

Tom Hanks, whose Playtone company is one of this fine documentary series’ production partners, appears on camera in tonight’s episode – and, since Hanks so memorably proved he had the right stuff by portraying astronaut Jim Lovell in 1995’s Apollo 13, he’s more than earned the right to put the Space Race, which both predated and outlasted the Sixties by a few years each way, in his own entertaining perspective. But he’s far from the only one on tap tonight – and, as usual with The Sixties, vintage television footage emerges as the best storyteller of all.

 
  
 
 

Sundance, 9:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s episode is called “Act As If,” and continues the story line begun last week as Daniel (Aden Young) emerged from his coma and went to Atlanta. I’m going to Act As If I know what’s going to happen next, though I don’t have a clue. But that’s something I plan to rectify by watching tonight’s Rectify.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

This medical documentary series continues to over-perform in the ratings, based on summer TV fare in general and serious nonfiction TV in particular. But at the same time, ABC seems to under-promote it, out of either a lack of what should be pride or a failure of what should be a celebration of success. But I’ve said from the beginning you should watch NY Med, and, like the cases that come through the trauma doors of the hospitals documented by Terence Wrong’s camera crews, every day brings something completely different, and even more completely unexpected. For a full review of this series, see Bianculli’s Blog.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:30 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: There’s something fairly unsettling about this new FX comedy – but there’s something unshakably unique about it as well, which makes it very watchable even as watching it may make you occasionally uncomfortable. Aggressively cynical, narcissistic and self-destructive characters are not new to sitcoms – Krysten Ritter’s comically abrasive character in ABC’s Don’t Trust That B---- in Apartment 23 being a prime example. But in this new series, Aya Cash’s character of Gretchen would intimidate, if not destroy, Ritter’s tough gal in a heartbeat – and Chris Geere, as her male equivalent, is just as prickly. Can these two find true love with one another? Perhaps – but only after a marathon night of what both parties agree is a bout of meaningless sex. The performances by these two leads, and the writing by Stephen Falk, are daring enough to deserve notice. But as with shows like The Sopranos, just when you start to embrace these characters, they do something to repulse you into retreating to a safe distance.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.