SATURDAY
DECEMBER 21
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TNT, 7:00 p.m. ET

Once it was one of the big deals of the TV holiday season – the then-annual special showing of The Wizard of Oz. Now it’s being shown tonight as a cable double header (repeating at 9:15 p.m. ET). But if you’re trying to replicate the feel of “family viewing” traditions over the holidays, the land of Oz is a wonderful place to start.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the screenplay for this Rosalind Russell vehicle, based on the book by Patrick Dennis. This movie was released in 1958. Less than a decade later, Broadway unveiled a musical version, starring Angela Lansbury as Mame and Bea Arthur as bosom buddy Vera.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET

A new episode of this freewheeling British talk show has Ben Stiller visiting to publicize his Secret Life of Walter Mitty movie – alongside Martin Freeman, who’s publicizing the latest Hobbit film. But don’t expect either of them, in this context, to do the standard talk-show spiel. Norton never supports it – or allows it.

 
  
 
 

Cinemax, 10:00 p.m. ET

On such a slow night, it’s nice to have an exciting movie to turn to – and here’s one, from 2012, retelling the long-suppressed story about the rescue of U.S. embassy workers after the start of the hostage crisis in Iran. Alan Arkin and John Goodman are a delight, and Ben Affleck, as both star and director, gained a new level of respect in Hollywood. And look! Bryan Cranston, too!

 
  
 
 

NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET

For the last new show of 2013, SNL presents an all-star tag-team of guest host and musical guest: Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake. This is one to watch – and, most probably, to record and save.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.