MONDAY

DECEMBER 19

2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS FAREWELL TO THE WHITE HOUSE – AN OPRAH WINFREY SPECIAL

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

The current First Lady of the United States, and the most recent First Lady of All Media, meet for one high-profile prime-time interview, in which both of them play host. Michelle Obama is host because she’s receiving her guest at the White House, before the White House is inherited by its next First Lady, Melania Trump. And Oprah Winfrey is host because she’s asking the questions, just as Oprah always has done.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

TNT, 8:00 p.m. ET

Here’s yet another excellent adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic. This is one of the most recent, filmed in 1999. It stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge – and his stentorian voice and starchy demeanor, so perfect on the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is perfectly suited to this drama as well.

PEOPLE OF EARTH

TBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Two episodes are shown tonight, in a finale that’s out of this world – or, in this case, close enough.

THE WALL

NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Part Plinko from The Price Is Right, part isolation booth from the classic Quiz Show scandal challenge Twenty-One, and part trivia contest from… well, you can identify the final fraction for yourself, if you’re that interested. At any rate, this new NBC game show gets a sneak preview tonight, before settling into a regular run next month, in 2017. The host is Chris Hardwick, who needs more TV exposure about as much as our President-Elect.

FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE

TBS, 10:30 p.m. ET

Now more than ever, perhaps, we need this woman’s particularly acerbic and questioning comic approach to the headlines. And as we head into the new year, with all the activity in the headlines of late, Samantha is a very busy Bee indeed. Tonight, her unlikely special guest is Glenn Beck, who, like Bee, is decked out in a colorful Christmas special. “Is this how you imagined the End Times?” she asks him. Amazing. Even more amazing: He says yes.

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4025 Comments

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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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