THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 18
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

Last night’s solo performances were, on average, average. Five of the 12 contestants singing last night will be voted off tonight – but not before getting the chance to sing duets with former American Idol contestants, including Kellie Pickler (sixth season contestant, seen here), Jordin Sparks, and David Cook. Unfortunately, last week’s duets, with the other 12 Idol singers still in this final year’s mix, were, on average, below average. To stay alive past tonight, this evening’s singers must sing with, not merely at, their duet partners.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

How much have these characters grown during this sitcom’s nine seasons? Howard (Simon Helberg) not only got a girlfriend, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and eventually married her, but now they’re expecting a child. I know, that’s the normal plot trajectory for sitcoms that last so many years on the air, but the four geeks at the center of The Big Bang Theory started out so stunted emotionally, it’s an especially impressive evolutionary achievement in this case. And they stay true to character, because in tonight’s episode, Howard tells the other guys he’s afraid he’s not ready to be a father. In fact, he’s terrified. Little does he know, he shares those feelings with just about every impending father in the history of the universe.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Two fantastic, visually opulent movie musicals are shown in prime time tonight by TCM. Leading things off: Gene Kelly in 1951’s An American in Paris, with an extended dance climax, set to the George Gershwin suite, that not only brings painted masterpieces on canvas to life, but is a masterpiece in itself.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET

The second fabulous movie musical shown tonight is 1953’s The Band Wagon, in which Fred Astaire plays an over-the-hill dancing star who tries to mount a comeback in a new musical based on the story of Faust. His dance with Cyd Charisse is as beautiful as she is, which is saying a lot. Both this film and the one shown before it on TCM, An American in Paris, are directed by Vincent Minnelli.

 
  
 
 

History, 11:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: For some reason, History didn’t send a DVD preview copy or press website link of this new series to me, and I didn’t notice that until it was too late to ask. So I’m recommending, and diving into, this new series sight unseen. That’s because its host is Craig Ferguson, whose conversational gifts and intellectual interests are sufficiently impressive and varied to make him a well-chosen host for a show that talks about, and has fun with, history. So let’s try it out together…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.