MONDAY
JANUARY 2
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Syfy, 12:00 a.m. ET

The three-day Twilight Zone marathon continues, and continues to suck me in to its vortex. I look forward most to the episodes I’ve seen the least, or the installments that have a special resonance for me after all these years. That includes today’s showing, at 3:30 p.m. ET, of What’s in the Box, a seldom-shown 1964 story starring William Demarest and Joan Blondell as a long-married couple who find their everyday trials and tribulations reflected in their newly repaired television set. Yesterday, among the Twilight Zone episodes reflected in my own TV set was The Invaders, the classic episode starring a silent Agnes Moorehead – which I wrote about in a new Twilight Zone collection due next month from an old friend. It’s veteran TV critic Mark Dawidziak’s Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone: A Fifth-Dimension Guide to Life, and is loaded with Zone-inspired observations, including those from scores of writers, actors, directors and others strongly influenced by Rod Serling’s seminal series. Consider, if you will, pre-ordering it now from Amazon…
 
  
 
 

PBS, 12:00 a.m. ET

Another marathon that has been continuing all year long (okay, so the year’s only into day two) continues and concludes today, with PBS’s Downton Abbey running through its later episodes, all day long until 10:30 p.m. ET tonight. Watch, in particular, for Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley, who drops her primness and lets loose a bit as the Roaring Twenties arrive – but it’s nothing compared to how Dockery has let loose as the wig-wearing, scene-stealing, everything-stealing kleptomaniac of TNT’s Good Behavior, the latest episode of which is televised tomorrow night at 9 ET. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: This is a warning, not a recommendation. This reboot of NBC’s The Apprentice was filmed early last year, when the chances of former host Donald Trump actually becoming President of the United States seemed absurdly slim. Now it arrives to launch the New Year, with Trump, as President-Elect, continuing to be associated with this show and reportedly maintaining his salaried credit as one of its executive producers. The new host is another show business personality turned politician, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who presides over a new gaggle of semi-celebrity contestants fawning for approval. This time out, they include Nicole Polizzi, better known (sadly) as Snooki on MTV’s Jersey Shore. There are others, including Jon Lovitz and Boy George and Carson Kressley, all of whom have long outlived their pop-culture use-by dates – but the threatened combo of Schwarzenegger and Snooki should be enough to make The New Celebrity Apprentice a critical mass to be avoided at all costs. Trump’s dismissive catch phrase was “You’re fired!”; I don’t know what Schwarzenegger’s will be, though “Hasta la vista, baby!” seems probable. Mine, though, I hope soon will be the following: “You’re canceled!”

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Films based on John Steinbeck stories are showcased this month on TCM, starting with tonight’s classic 1955 version of East of Eden, produced and directed by Elia Kazan and starring James Dean and Julie Harris. But watch also for 1943’s The Moon Is Down at 10:15 p.m. ET; 1982’s underrated Cannery Row, with Nick Note and Debra Winger, at midnight ET; and, following that, two stunning late-night cinematic classics. At 2:15 a.m. ET is 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath (pictured), starring Henry Fonda, one of those movies that simply has to be seen at least once. And at 4:30 a.m. ET is 1939’s Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. – which has me wondering something. Did any author ever get better movies made of his or her works in two consecutive years? Just asking. If you can think of any contenders, let me know…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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4450 Comments
 
 
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Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Perilaku penipuan murni. Bajingan-bajingan ini tidak punya moral dan tidak ragu-ragu menipu orang lain.
Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para bajingan ini tidak punya rasa malu sama sekali, menipu orang-orang yang tidak bersalah setiap hari.
Aug 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para penipu yang memalukan memangsa orang-orang dengan klaim palsu dan kebohongan.
Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para bajingan penipu ini benar-benar sampah, pembohong keji yang mencuri dari orang-orang yang tidak bersalah. Persetan dengan para penipu kotor ini dan permainan penipuan mereka yang menyedihkan
Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Hanya kebohongan dan taktik penipuan. Buang-buang waktu dan uang saja.
Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Hanya kebohongan dan taktik penipuan. Buang-buang waktu dan uang saja.
Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
penipu
Para bajingan penipu ini benar-benar sampah, pembohong keji yang mencuri dari orang-orang yang tidak bersalah. Persetan dengan para penipu kotor ini dan permainan penipuan mereka yang menyedihkan.
Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
penipu
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Aug 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Singkirkan para penipu dengan cerita palsu dan hasil palsu. Jangan percaya bajingan pembohong ini.
Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Halaman ini dikelola oleh para penipu brengsek, hanya berisi kebohongan, janji palsu, dan trik murahan. Hindari orang-orang bodoh ini.
I
Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para bajingan penipu ini benar-benar sampah, pembohong keji yang mencuri dari orang-orang yang tidak bersalah. Persetan dengan para penipu kotor ini dan permainan penipuan mereka yang menyedihkan.
Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Halaman ini dikelola oleh para penipu brengsek, hanya berisi kebohongan, janji palsu, dan trik murahan. Hindari orang-orang bodoh ini.
Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Situs web ini benar-benar penipuan, jangan percayai mereka.
Aug 13, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
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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.