MONDAY
JANUARY 19
2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

This show already is hot this season, and has been renewed for a Season 2 – but tonight, more sparks fly, thanks to a guest appearance by Christopher Heyerdahl from Hell on Wheels. He plays Jack Gruber an electrical genius who escapes from Arkham Asylum.

 
  
 
 

CW, 9:00 p.m. ET

When a hurricane bears down on the resort hotel, Jane (Gina Rodriguez) is forced to stay at the Marbella – and the proximity to everyone else at the hotel, especially its owner, makes things complicated.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, take note: Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s mysterious little sister in the final part of that series (and subsequently, for the record, appeared on Gossip Girl), guest stars tonight in a role that won an Emmy for Laura Linney: former First Lady Abigail Adams. Same role, different TV project: Linney’s win was for the HBO miniseries John Adams, while this non-Downton Abby is presented in Sleepy Hollow flashback form. But still…

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET

It’s Sidney Poitier night on TCM, an evening that begins at 8 p.m. ET with The Defiant Ones. But for me, the centerpiece is his inspirational 1967 film To Sir, with Love, in which he plays a young black teacher assigned to teach at a tough Eastenders school in England. Teenage singing star Lulu sings the title song and plays one of his students, Judy Geeson and Suzy Kendall also co-star, and I’m pretty sure this is what inspired me to want to become a teacher.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 10:01 p.m. ET

Maybe it’s because of the popularity of Jane the Virgin, but TV plots about telenovelas, this season, are muy caliente. And here’s another one: On this new episode of Castle, Nina Inara from Unforgettable plays a saucy telenovela star who hires Castle to investigate a murder, after a young actress on the show is killed. The episode title – of this Castle, not of the telenovela – is worth noting, and worth saying out loud: It’s “Private Eye Caramba!”

 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Who could possibly replace Stephen Colbert? Well, on Comedy Central, on the new series to follow Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, it turns out to be an inspired choice: Larry Wilmore, formerly the “senior black correspondent” on The Daily Show, and now given his own playground in which to romp, reflect and wisecrack. Welcome to the party, Mr. Wilmore – and to the lineup. Tonight, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Wilmore’s The Nightly Show makes its debut. When I asked him last week, whether the MLK holiday debut was going to be part of Wilmore’s opening remarks, he smiled and said, “It is now.” We’ll see…
 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.