THURSDAY
JULY 18
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET

Every once in a while, a movie comes out that catches the zeitgeist and becomes a pop-culture phenomenon that both reflects and affects its times. Basic Instinct, igniting national conversations about infidelity and spurned-lover revenge, was such a movie – 21 years ago. And revisiting it is an opportunity to recapture that moment – and, of course, to once again sit through Sharon Stone’s leg-crossing police interrogation.

 
  
 
 

Lifetime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Even though this series is beginning its 12th cycle of competitions tonight, there are a couple of reasons to tune in. One is that, this season, the structure has been revamped to give Tim Gunn even more prominent a role. The other is that a controversial billboard promoting the new season, featuring Gunn and host Heidi Klum lording it over a gaggle of naked models, has gotten people talking about the show even before its season premiere. Nice move.

 
  
 
 

USA, 9:00 p.m. ET

Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan), after about a year apart from Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), finally gets to work with her again. Happy reunion? If you think that, you don’t know this show, or these two volatile characters, very well.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 9:45 p.m. ET

This 1962 thriller, directed by John Frankenheimer, is as gripping, perplexing, surprising and ultimately unsettling as any modern conspiracy-theory drama. Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey play two former POWs who suffer from a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for a very good reason. And Angela Lansbury, as one of the women in their lives, deserves very special mention for her very memorable performance. It’s one of four films tonight selected by the evening’s guest programmer, the excellent writer and critic Frank Rich. Others: 1942’s The Palm Beach Story (at 8 p.m. ET), 1939’s The Rules of the Game (midnight ET) and 1968’s Petulia (2 a.m. ET).

 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 11:31 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert, since returning from vacation, has been on quite a streak. Last night, his conversation with Jerry Seinfeld was charming (and yes, as I predicted, Colbert served his guest some coffee). Tonight, I expect no less – well, no less charm. (Forget about the coffee.) Colbert’s guest tonight is Jeff Bridges (seen here from a previous visit), who, like Seinfeld, has worked very hard to make what he does seem effortlessly natural.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.