WEDNESDAY

MARCH 18

2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

2015 MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

TruTV, 6:30 p.m. ET

Last night, truTV presented the first two of this season’s “First Four” play-in games, in which scrappy teams fought for the chance to advance as the lowest-seeded squads in the 2015 NCAA tournament. In the first game, Hampton beat Manhattan to notch its first tournament win in 14 years. And in the second game, Ole Miss bounced back from a double-digit deficit to tie BYU late in the second half, then traded shots, and leads, back and forth before emerging with the win, in one of those games that demonstrate exactly why March Madness is so exciting a TV event. Expect many more. Tonight, the other teams in the “First Four” do battle on truTV, with North Florida vs. Robert Morris playing at 6:40 p.m. ET, followed at approximately 9:10 p.m. ET by Dayton vs. Boise State. For the full story, see Gerald Jordan's Crossing Jordan.

EMPIRE

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Just how big a roll is Empire on this season? Tonight’s two-hour season finale displaces American Idol from its Wednesday perch, because Empire, not Idol, already is the shiniest and most popular jewel in Fox’s prime-time crown. Tonight’s expanded Season 1 wrap-up promises some major plot-point resolutions, including a possible musical father-son reconciliation, and lots of guest stars (including Patti LaBelle, Rita Ora, Snoop Dogg, Juicy J and Jennifer Hudson). And that’s as this show is starting to hit its stride. Wait until they get to lock down the guest list for next season…

THE UNTOLD STORY OF 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC'

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Fifty years after the original release of this beloved Oscar-winning movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Diane Sawyer presents this 20/20 special looking back at it all, with the film’s star, Julie Andrews, as co-tour guide. Their travels take them from the movie’s production notes, where we see storyboards for an unused hedge maze sequence suggested for the “Do Re Mi” number, to Austria, where the hills remain alive… along with the descendents of the Von Trapp family.

THE AMERICANS

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week, the FBI found the bug planted in their director’s office, and suspicion points in the direction that, quite quickly, could turn to this show’s central couple of Soviet sleeper agents. And they’ve got plenty on their plate already, between a suspicious and rebellious daughter at home and a captured and belligerent enemy at their secret location…

MAN SEEKING WOMAN

FXX, 10:30 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Desperate to find a woman willing to go out with him, Josh (Jay Baruchel) travels to the ends of the earth – and winds up in the remotest of arctic locations, using his friend as a translator to ask “the last woman on earth” on a date. It may sound like a rehash of Fox’s current The Last Man on Earth, but this FXX comedy uses that setup as a jumping-point to cover some new ground. And to revisit at least one former girlfriend…

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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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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

TruTV, 6:30 p.m. ET

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

FXX, 10:30 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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