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SUNDAY
JUNE 21
2020

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 
THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW MARATHON

Decades, 7:00 a.m. ET

Yesterday, Decades presented a marathon Saturday showing of Nat Hiken’s deliriously goofy New York cop comedy from 1961-63, Car 54, Where Are You? Today, as a sort of weekend double feature, Decades presents Hiken’s previous, more revered classic sitcom: 1955-59’s The Phil Silvers Show, also known as You’ll Never Get Rich (its original title) and Sgt. Bilko (its title in syndication). Basically, Bilko is to WWII what Alan Alda’s Hawkeye is to the Korean War – a fast-talking, fast-thinking anti-authority noncomformist. Silvers’ Bilko was an enlisted Army sergeant, where Hawkeye Pierce was a grudgingly drafted doctor – but under their respective military systems, they both really knew how to operate.
 
  
 
 
PHILIP GLASS' SATYAGRAHA

Met Opera, 7:30 p.m. ET

Philip Glass’ “Portrait Trilogy” of operas, examining brilliant minds and men who changed history in significant ways, began in 1976 with Einstein on the Beach (about Albert Einstein). It concluded in 1984 with Akhnaten (about the pharaoh Akhenaten, a.k.a. Amenhotep IV), the 2019 revival production of which was streamed last night, and is still available today until 3 p.m. ET. And between those two operas was 1980’s Satyagraha (about Mahatma Gandhi), which is being streamed by the Met Opera website tonight, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET – but only for 20 hours. And if you miss it, it’ll probably be quite a while before you get another opportunity to watch a televised opera sung entirely in Sanskrit…
 
  
 
 
ABC NEWS SPECIAL: THE JOHN BOLTON INTERVIEW

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

Excerpts from the forthcoming book by the former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, have been leaked to and by the press this week – not only passages from the book as it’s about to be published, but some unredacted passages before the White House took out its scissors and red pencils. President Trump sued to block the book’s publication, but unsuccessfully: a federal judge this weekend denied that attempt. This one-hour interview, recorded before that judge’s ruling, has Bolton questioned by ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz. And one of the questions, surely, will be how Bolton defends and justifies refusing to testify before the House Impeachment committee, and reveal then the additionally improper behavior by President Trump that Bolton’s book is about to reveal now.
 
  
 
 
PERRY MASON

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: This HBO prequel to the classic 1957-66 Perry Mason courtroom series is an eight-hour miniseries – but I really hope it blossoms into a full-blown series. Matthew Rhys from The Americans plays Perry, but not at the era or age in that TV version of the Erle Stanley Gardner lawyer series. Gardner wrote 80 books in all, starting in 1933 – and this HBO series goes back to that decade, the 1930s, and revisits Perry Mason by presenting a prequel “origin story.” He’s a private eye, not yet an attorney – but by the time this miniseries is over, Perry Mason will be ready to establish a regular legal practice. John Lithgow and Tatiana Maslany co-star. For my review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. For a full TVWW review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 
PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

The closer this anthology series gets to its season finale, the more intense it gets – the tension between the minorities being targeted, the tension between the Nazi schemers and the Jewish cop on their trail, and even the tension on the dance floor. With tonight’s episode being called “Sing, Sing, Sing,” I’m hoping the dancers in this 1938-set drama will be gyrating to Benny Goodman’s propulsive dance-band song of the same name, which he recorded the year before.
 
  
 
 
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

I’m hoping John Oliver isn’t taking Father’s Day off. He deserves to… but if he and HBO present a new edition, that’d be an absolute Father’s Day present for me.
 
  
 
 
 
 
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Dave Bianculli
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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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