WEDNESDAY

APRIL 18

2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Here’s the third of three straight nights of the live playoffs – when the saves and steals are rare, and the competition even more elevated.

RIVERDALE

CW, 8:00 p.m. ET

This is weird, but its lineage makes sense. Roberto Agierre-Sacasa, executive producer of this dark interpretation of the Archie comics world, also was co-author of the screenplay of the 2013 film remake of the Stephen King horror classic Carrie. So when he and his writing and producing cohorts decided to write an episode about the Riverdale kids putting on a high school musical, they naturally decided on doing an amateur production of Broadway’s Carrie: The Musical. After all, Riverdale already has its own fiery redhead: Madelaine Petsch’s Cheryl Blossom. And that music-filled episode premieres tonight.

CASABLANCA

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

This 1942 Humphrey Bogart classic is one of those movies you just presume – or at least I presume, anyway – that everyone has seen by now. But what college teaching has taught me, among many other things, is that the only way to ensure a classic retains its classic status is to be reintroduced continually to the new generation. So if you’re reading this, and have yet to experience this deservedly iconic film, watch it tonight. I promise, it’ll be the start of a beautiful friendship.

POV: "BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY"

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Another thing I’ve learned by teaching college students is that today’s college kids consider Bill Nye a sort of rock star. His Disney Channel series, Bill Nye the Science Guy, is a beloved memory of their childhood. And now Nye is aiming to teach adults, especially deniers of the human impact on climate change, and this documentary both chronicles and examines those efforts. Check local listings.

THE AMERICANS

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

This is the first of this season’s episodes I haven’t seen in advance – but I can’t wait, because the Cold War of the late 1980s is beginning to hit very close to home in the Jennings household. Philip has been asked to spy on Elizabeth, his own wife – and tonight, he might have very good reason to do precisely that.

FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE

TBS, 10:30 p.m. ET

Every week, I note what a crazy news week it’s been, and how much material these news-examining comics, whether Samantha Bee or John Oliver, have to work with. One day, very soon, I’d like to not be able to write that – but not today, it seems. Not this week. And, need I point out, it’s only Wednesday.

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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

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

CW, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

TBS, 10:30 p.m. ET

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