SATURDAY
APRIL 22
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

George C. Wolfe directs this new HBO drama, based on the 2010 book by Rebecca Skloot. The author is portrayed in this telemovie by Rose Byrne, who investigates the story of Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose harvested cells were used in all manner of groundbreaking medical research. Oprah Winfrey stars as Deborah Lacks, one of Henrietta’s daughters, and Renee Elise Goldsberry plays Henrietta in flashbacks. For a full review, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
 
  
 
 

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

The way this AMC Western is structured, we follow the character of Eli through two different time frames. Eli as the family patriarch, played by Pierce Brosnan, is shown in 1915, dealing with inventions and interlopers in the “modern” era. And Eli as a young boy, captured then raised by Comanches, is shown tonight in 1849, facing a very daunting survival test.

 

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 9:00 p.m. ET

Leave it to Doctor Who to make a happy-looking ejomi seem even spookier: By putting happy faces and thumbs up on  a malevolent robot, who will retaliate if you don’t reflect the same pleasant mood. Smile when you say that, pardner…

 
  
 
 

AXS TV, 10:00 p.m. ET

Rob Reiner directed this brilliant rock mockumentary 33 years ago, and also appeared in it as Marti DiBergi. There are lots of other familiar faces, too, including, a bit further down the cast list, Dana Carvey, Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal, Ed Begley Jr., Parick Macnee, Fred Willad and Paul Shaffer. But it’s the rock group itself – played by Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean – that deserves most of the credit for the timeless delight of this satire of both rock stars and documentaries. And this time around, pay particular attention to McKean – because right now, decades later, he’s killing it in an almost wholly dramatic role on AMC’s Better Call Saul.

 
  
 
 

Lifetime, 10:02 p.m. ET

SNEAK PREVIEW: Caroline Dhavernas stars in this new Lifetime series, which premieres officially tomorrow but is slipped onto the schedule tonight as a special sneak preview. She plays a woman who’s sort of a superhero with an alter ego, only her goal is not to save lives, but to take them. By day, she saves live as an ER doctor. By night, she and a sidekick go out on missions to help terminally ill people commit assisted suicide.
 
  
 
 

BBC America, 10:10 p.m. ET

Katherine Kelly continues to star as Miss Quill, head of the Coal Hill School – which, it’s worth noting, was part of the plot of the very first episode of Doctor Who. And that was back in 1963.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 11:20 p.m. ET

I’d call this the best talk show in America – except it’s not in America. It’s imported from England – and imports more genuine moments of both humor and conversation than any of our current home-grown talk shows. Try it; you’ll love it.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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3702 Comments
 
 
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Dave Bianculli
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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.