MONDAY
MAY 2
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Acorn TV, 3:00 a.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: The British aren’t the only one generating interesting mystery miniseries these days and exporting them to the States. This latest offering from Acorn, which begins streaming today, is from Australia, and stars Guy Pearce as Peter Temple’s roguish gumshoe. It’s a six-episode mystery that starts in Australian but soon expands to the Philippines.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

We’re down to the Top 10 – and after those singers perform tonight, on this latest live edition, tomorrow’s results edition will narrow the field even more.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

Hugo Strange, a different sort of Dr. Strange than the one in the rival Marvel universe, has been playing with reviving the dead and near-dead of late: First the future Mr. Freeze, and tonight the former villain Galavan (played by James Frain), the Gotham power broker whom the bad doctor is about to revive as a new type of villain: the costumed, superpowered Azrael. That may mean something to long-time DC Comics fans – but when I was young, I Made Mine Marvel.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This is a warning, not a recommendation. Even with Stephen Mangan from Extras as a co-star (he plays the credulous Arthur Conan Doyle to Michael Weston’s skeptical Harry Houdini), this period variation of The X-Files is worth skipping, not watching. The acting, except for Mangan, is shrill, and the writing is depressingly limp, anachronistic, and needlessly inaccurate. For a full review, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes, and see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

A&E, 9:00 p.m. ET

Freddie Highmore, who stars as Norman (and sometimes his mother Norma) in this effectively creepy series, finds himself split yet another way, as Norman returns home from the asylum. Tonight, Highmore also is the scriptwriter – so whatever Norman does in this episode, the actor playing him was behind it from the start.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:15 p.m. ET

Any time you can watch this 1942 classic uninterrupted by commercials, you should. I will. And it’s on tonight, courtesy of TCM. Here’s looking at you, Casablanca.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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Jun 17, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Jun 17, 2026   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
Howdy pardner,

Did you pass out on your keyboard after getting drunk, and then just kept bouncing your head over and over and over???

ROTFFLMBFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously dude, watch more TV, drink less alcohol!!!!

Warmly,

Dave
Jun 20, 2026
 
 
 
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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.