THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 18
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Part 5. Tonight’s installment of The Roosevelts is depressing. That’s because it’s the installment that focuses on the Great Depression – and how Franklin Roosevelt dealt with it, in a series of moves so aggressive and transformative they were referred to as the New Deal. And in this stellar history lesson from Ken Burns, Geoffrey C. Ward and company, that determination and innovation is explained, and fed, by Roosevelt’s complicated personal life. . For my full review, see Bianculli’s Blog. And to hear my review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, which includes audio samples from several episodes, visit the Fresh Air website. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

Lifetime, 9:00 p.m. ET

This week’s challenge creeps me out: Contestants are asked to design fashions, for young models, based on a line of American Girl dolls. What’s next: “Bride of Chucky – The Wedding Dress Mini-Challenge?” But I’ll watch anyway, because last week’s inventive “Project Rainway” challenge resulted in one of the best shows, and sets of fashion designs, in years.

 
  
 
 

IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET

In tonight’s new episode, Riki and Kate have drastically different reactions after attending a baby shower. One of them immediately becomes obsessed about becoming pregnant – the other one, not so much.

 
  
 
 

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES FINALE: If you’ve watched this gripping, very topical miniseries from the start, its ending is likely to really, really get you. Nothing about it – not its structure, its content, and certainly its performances – is routine, or easy, or easily forgotten. Maggie Gyllenhaal stars.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 6:00 a.m. ET

This could just as easily be the first Bianculli’s Best Bets entry for tomorrow, rather than the last one for tonight. But I want to give readers enough time, and warning, to set their DVRs for 6 a.m. Friday ET, when BBC World News provides coverage of what is sure to be tomorrow’s lead story: The results of the vote whether or not Scotland should declare its independence from the United Kingdom.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.