TUESDAY
JANUARY 20
2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

ABC and CBS are burning off reruns during the opening hour of prime time tonight, prior to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address – but NBC is burning off its final season of Parks and Recreation with all delberate speed. Two episodes are shown back to back tonight.

 
  
 
 

Various Networks, 9:00 p.m. ET

If you plan to watch on a broadcast network, NBC and PBS are devoting two full hours to President Obama’s address and the political reactions, while ABC, CBS and Fox are scheduled for 90 minutes, and the CW a mere hour. On CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, there will be lots and lots of post-speech analysis – and switching among them, like switching among the broadcast networks, often is the most entertaining, if not informative, way to go.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

After last Sunday’s NFC and AFC Championship Games, these extended highlights will be fun to watch – especially the Green Bay-Seattle game. And as these guys say goodbye to another season, expect a lot of insight, and quite a bit of inside joking and overall entertainment.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: With Breaking Bad gone, this drama series from FX gets my vote as the best current series on television, and it starts its current (and final) season superbly. This final run gives Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan some more deliciously strong and unpredictable adversaries. One is played by veteran laconic tough guy Sam Elliott – and another, introduced in this Season 6 opener, is played by Garret Dillahunt (pictured), who was so good opposite Olyphant’s Seth Bullock in HBO’s Deadwood that Dillahunt got to play two very different bad guys. And here he is, back for round three, in a crackling strong story line that, while servicing these new characters cleverly, keeps its central focus on the characters who have been at the core of Justified from the start: Raylan, Walton Goggins’ Boyd, and Joelle Carter’s Ava. Wonderful actors all.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s installment, understandably, pays attention to professional football, including reports on Cris Collinsworth, the star receiver turned star sports broadcaster, and on the 1985 Chicago Bears.
 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET

This new Comedy Central series premiered last night – but tonight, the first show to be produced without oodles of advance preparation and second-guessing, is a more accurate representation of the show as it gets up to full speed. And for tonight’s show, Wilmore has selected an intentionally inflammatory central topic: Bill Cosby. For my full review of the series premiere, listen to today’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR or visit the Fresh Air website.
 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.