SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 20

2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

TV Land, 2:00 p.m. ET

Want to feel old – or at least older? It was 30 years ago that Bill Cosby revived the sitcom, and handed NBC a Number One hit show that changed TV history, with the instantly successful premiere of The Cosby Show. That pilot show is televised tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, to kick off Day 2 of this two-day, 16-hour marathon – but today, the marathon begins with “How Ugly Is He?,” when Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable meets the smarmy boyfriend of daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet). And the day-long marathon includes the classic “Happy Anniversary” episode, in which the family, as a special gift to the grandparents, lip-synchs to Ray Charles’ “Night Time Is the Right Time.” A truly classic TV moment.

THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Part 7. When this final installment of The Roosevelts begins, in 1944, there still are two Roosevelts, Franklin and Eleanor, alive at the center of this fascinating narrative. By the time it ends, another world war has ended, the United Nations has been formed – and as for the Roosevelts, and then there were none. This latest Ken Burns documentary is a superb work of research and storytelling from start to finish – and tonight is the finish. For my full review, see Bianculli’s Blog. And to hear my review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, which includes audio samples from several episodes, visit the Fresh Air website. Check local listings.

DOCTOR WHO

BBC America, 9:00 p.m. ET

Doctor Who is especially adept at introducing villains who have a primal sense of terror about them – truly creepy bad guys that seem crafted from the stuff of childhood nightmares. Tonight, here comes another one… a high-security alien prisoner known as the Teller.

BEYONCE JAY Z ON THE RUN

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Filmed just a week or so ago in Paris, this Beyoncé and Jay Z concert film is a high-profile HBO event – and the sort of thing that is sure to ignite a social media firestorm. But there’s some powerful music here as well – from both artists, songs that, at times, have burrowed deep into the pop-culture mainstream.

NETWORK

TCM, 9:45 p.m. ET

In two years, it will be 40 years since Paddy Chayefsky wrote this brilliant satire about the social power, executive ruthlessness and corporate takeover of network television – all of which, in the intervening decades, has proven astoundingly prescient. Peter Finch stars as Howard Beale, the fired news anchor and self-professed prophet of the airwaves, with William Holden as a fellow network news veteran and Faye Dunaway as the young TV executive who has no problem using them both. Brilliant movie.

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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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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

TV Land, 2:00 p.m. ET

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

BBC America, 9:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 9:45 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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