SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 21
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

CBS, 7:30 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: This venerable newsmagazine, the longest-running continuing series in prime time, continues to score often with significant scoops, ending up, more than not, in the end-of-week Top 10. Tonight is the start of Season 47 for 60 Minutes, and one of the ways I put that astounding run into perspective is to remember that during its first season, it did a story on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a fellow CBS show that, in 1968 when the story ran, was stirring up all kinds of trouble. During the Johnson adminstration. Almost half a century later, 60 Minutes continues to look for trouble, and troublemakers. Tonight, Scott Pelley interviews former defense secretary Leon Panetta, who explains how ISIS became a formidable force in the Middle East region – and why it shouldn’t have.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Fans of the PBS Mystery series just lost David Suchet as Hercule Poirot for good – but only a few months later, get to enjoy the return of another famous Agatha Christie sleuth, the prim but observant Miss Marple. Julia McKenzie returns for another small sampling of Miss Marple mysteries, starting with A Caribbean Mystery, in which a planned vacation turns into an unplanned murder investigation – involving the suggested element of voodoo. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 8:30 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: I’m very happy to see Téa Leoni back on television, and also glad to see CBS mount a political drama with such an outstanding cast – others in the mix here include Keith Carradine, Tim Daly and Bebe Neuwirth. But the script, at least in this pilot episode, is much less intelligent than its characters are supposed to be, so approach this with low expectations, but hopes for some rapid improvement in the writers’ room. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website.
 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:30 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: The final show of last season, after a superb run of episodes, ended with Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold surprising Julianna Margulies’ Alicia, and himself, by asking her to run for State's Attorney. This new season picks up that conversation exactly where it left off, and dives in so confidently, and so entertainingly, that The Good Wife, once again, establishes itself as the broadcast drama to beat when it comes to both acting and writing. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website.
 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

In tonight’s episode, the trail to the lair of the Master leads deep, deep underground – and to a hellish image straight out of Dante’s Inferno. I wasn’t sure The Strain could get any creepier, but tonight, as it nears the end of its first season, it sure does.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.