FRIDAY

JANUARY 22

2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Amazon Prime Video, 12:00 a.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: David Tennant did something quite unusual in the history of TV series adapted from overseas with new American remakes: He starred in both the original Broadchurch and the USA remake’s Gracepoint, playing the same character but with different accents. Well, starting today on Amazon, Ben Chaplin stars in this new Americanized (or Amazonized) version of Mad Dogs, after starring in the original British series of the same name. But this time, he’s decided to play a completely different role than the first time around. It’s about four guys whose vacation trip to an untouched wilderness in Belize turns out to be much more of an adventure, and much more potentially deadly, than they imagined. Think of it as Deliverance played for laughs – a few, anyway. Michael Imperioli and Steve Zahn co-star in this expanded American retelling, which begins today.

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “IL TROVATORE”

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Soprano Anna Netrebko makes her debut at the Met as Leonora, the tragic heroine in this Verdi opera, which opens Season 10 of this valuable PBS series. Dmitri Hvorostovsky co-stars as Count di Luna, and Dolora Zajick plays Azucena the Gypsy. Check local listings.

DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

The National Lampoon is a magazine, spawned from alumni of the Harvard Lampoon, that deserves to be remembered and celebrated, as it is in this new documentary. Though it contributed so much more to the history of humor, it deserves that honor on the basis of one outrageous cover illustration and headline alone – the one with a gun pointed to the head of a worried-looking canine, with the headline, “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog.” The National Lampoon, at that time in 1973, cost 75 cents – but that cover was priceless.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

This 2015 Avengers movie, the latest in the Marvel Comics franchise on the big screen, is a big movie in every aspect – big budget, big running time (two hours, 22 minutes), big box-office (almost half a billion dollars in the U.S. alone), and a big, big cast of superheroes. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Black Widow, the Hulk, Hawkeye – they’re all here, up against a Big Bad that sounds a lot like James Spader. Because he provides the voice of Ultron, the latest threat to the planet, and life as we know it, in the Marvel universe.

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

Everyone from Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers to Larry Wilmore and Trevor Noah have had fun, the last few days, reacting to Sarah Palin’s wordy and rambling endorsement of Donald Trump this week. Tonight, it’s Bill Maher’s turn.

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2801 Comments

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That was more than karaoke. it felt like a live concert! You totally owned the mic and won everyone’s hearts.

Oct 27, 2025 | Reply

Dave Bianculli

Holy Lolapalooza! It's been a semi-secret in my life that I like to GLAM UP and belt out a few tunes at my local watering hole. I didn't ever think that one of my FANS would stumble in to one of my performances!!! ROTFLMBFAO!!!!

Which song did you like best: Girls Just Want to Have Fun, or Highway to Hell?

Next time, please introduce yourself!! I promise, I don't bite!!!! (unless we both mutually agree that we would like that!!!!!)

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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

Amazon Prime Video, 12:00 a.m. ET

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

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Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy