SUNDAY

AUGUST 19

2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Syfy, 8:00 p.m. ET

Since the original Sharknado waterspouted onto the scene in 2013, Syfy has produced four sequels, all, like the original, starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid and sporting some spiffy subtitles. (My favorites are the two most recent: Sharknado: The 4^th Awakens and Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.) Now, tonight, comes the sixth entry in the franchise, The Last Sharknado: It’s about Time, which allows the feeding frenzy to travel through time and space, and encounter such unusual food-chain links as, say, dinosaurs. TV doesn’t usually make bad shows on purpose, and rarely succeeds when it tries. As both comic failures and tongue-in-cheek successes, these Sharknado TV-movies are a cut above the rest. And a cut below. As for whether this will indeed be the last Sharknado? Not so long as, elsewhere on TV, there’s an annual Shark Week…

THE 2000S: "I WANT MY MP3"

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES FINALE: The 2000s already has presented a disturbingly eye-opening installment this season with The I Decade, showing the rapid and life-changing introduction and growth of Apple, Amazon and Google in the first decade of the new millennium. Tonight, in its final episode, it presents another hour that illustrates just how rapidly technology is evolving – and changing us in the process. In the early 1980s, one of the big technological life-changers was cable television, specifically the ubiquitous ad campaign demanding, “I want my MTV!” In the next century, in the early 2000s, this documentary finds its digital audio equivalent: I Want My MP3.” Great subject. Great title, too.

SHARP OBJECTS

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Part 7. By the end of this episode, Camille (Amy Adams) reveals more about herself than she ever has before, to viewers and to the men she’s spending time with. And by the end of this episode, you’ll have good reason to wonder not only about her past traumas, but her present choices.

THE HISTORY OF COMEDY: "NO OFFENSE"

CNN, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week’s History of Comedy installment on CNN was all about comedy teams, and I said that if it didn’t pay healthy respect to the Smothers Brothers, I’d be outraged. Tonight’s new installment, No Offense, is all about comedy and censorship. And, once again, if it doesn’t pay healthy respect to the Smothers Brothers, I’ll be outraged. You could write a whole book on that subject, and I did: Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.’ But I don’t think I need to worry…

KRAFT MUSIC HALL: "WOODY ALLEN LOOKS AT 1967"

getTV, 11:00 p.m. ET

If you have Dish TV, or are lucky enough to have a getTV affiliate operating locally over-the-air or on your cable system, take special care to find it tonight in time to watch and record tonight’s special presentation honoring Aretha Franklin, who died Thursday. It’s a rare showing of the Dec. 27, 1967 installment of the variety series Kraft Music Hall, and features young Aretha, in the year she burst onto the charts and the national music scene, performing her then-new hits “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” and “Chain of Fools.” And wait, that’s not all: The special is hosted by Woody Allen, and his other guests include Liza Minnelli, comedian John Byner, and conservative talk-show host William F. Buckley, Jr. If someone could make a DVD copy of this for me, I’d appreciate it. Right now, even with all my TV source inputs, I can’t get getTV…

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

I’ve seen every episode of this weekly news recap, and every episode both makes me laugh and makes me think – two things TV, in my case, accomplishes much too infrequently.

A STAR IS BORN

TCM, 11:45 p.m. ET

Last Friday, TCM’s “Summer Under the Stars” saluted Barbra Streisand, presenting a day and night of movies featuring the luminous and singular musical talent and movie star. One of those films was 1976’s A Star is Born, in which she played a rising musical star tumultuously paired with a falling star, played by Kris Kristofferson. Today’s featured star is another musical and film legend, Judy Garland – and tonight’s lineup features, at 11:45 p.m. ET, an earlier version of that same story and film: the 1954 edition of A Star Is Born, starring Garland and James Mason (pictured).

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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.

New From TVWW

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Syfy, 8:00 p.m. ET

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

CNN, 10:00 p.m. ET

getTV, 11:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 11:45 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

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