FRIDAY
JULY 17
2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

This new Netflix offering is not at all what I expected. I expected this documentary special about comic Tig Notaro, the standup comic who performed an impromptu, now-legendary stage set in 2012 about receiving a cancer diagnosis days before, to be a standup comedy special, peppered with some behind-the-scenes footage. Instead, it’s a full-out biographical documentary – and it’s excellent, and pulls you in emotionally from the very first frames. Notaro is one of the executive producers, and the access she provides is remarkable: personal phone-message recordings about her mother’s sudden death, home-video footage of friends visiting right after Notaro’s double mastectomy, and so on. Tig builds to the moment three years ago when she took the stage at Largo, one of several comics doing sets at that Los Angeles comedy club, and started with, “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you?” During and after the set, other comics in the wings tweeted about the astonishingly honest set they were witnessing: Louis C.K., Bill Burr, Ed Helms. At one point, Notaro stopped and asked the crowd if they’d prefer she just shifted to telling unrelated jokes. There are cries of “No!,” and one male audience member yells, “This is f**king amazing!” Notaro, who addresses the camera directly, and often, in Tig, admits that she had to turn her back to the audience and collect herself, because that support was so overwhelming. And while the story of that set is riveting, the story, and this biography, do not stop there. Tig is available now on Netflix, and absolutely is worth finding.

 
  
 
 

ESPN, 4:00 a.m. ET

Today is Day 2 of the British Open, held this year at the classic Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. Already, Jordan Spieth starts the day just two shots off the lead, which is held by Dustin Johnson, who three-putted on the final hole of the U.S. Open to hand Spieth the win there. So there’s a big story there for Day 2. There’s a also a big story, on the other end of the leader board, regarding Tiger Woods, who did so poorly yesterday – shooting a 4 over par, where Spieth had shot 5 under par – that he has to play very well just to make the cut. If not, he’ll fail to play through the weekend on two consecutive major golf tournaments, something he’s never done since turning pro. So it could be a dramatic day two – but only if it ever stops raining (see photo).

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy, a play turned into a movie in 1989 with Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, returns to the stage for this version, starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury. For a full review, see Tom Brinkmoeller’s Raised on MTM. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

This 2014 romantic comedy stars Hugh Grant as an Oscar-winning screenwriter who’s fallen on hard times, and accepts, reluctantly, a job requiring him to leave Hollywood and teach writing at an East Coast college. Costars make it sound more intriguing than that synopsis might: Grant’s fellow players include Marisa Tomei and J.K. Simmons, both of whom are Oscar-winning.

 
  
 
 

TBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

This 2011 movie launched a lot of stars, or at least featured actresses who are much more famous now than they were four years ago: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.