THURSDAY
MAY 22
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s new episode features many of the costars of TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland – Wendie Malick, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jane Leeves – along with other playful celebrity guests, including Andy Richter. Jane Lynch hosts.

 
  
 
 

CW, 8:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES PREMIERE: The CW has imported this four-hour, two-night miniseries, which shifts in time between medieval and modern France, with hopes of satisfying viewers who are sad now that its period romance series Reign is gone for the summer. It’s hard enough to imagine anyone missing that silly series, and I don’t mean to Reign on CW’s parade, but Labyrinth is as unwatchable as it is impenetrable. Game of Thrones, it’s not. And even though it features John Hurt and Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay (as Lady Sybil Crawley), Labyrinth is a mess of Holy Grails, precious rings, Crusades, supernatural visitations, reincarnation and other ingredients, all thrown together in this adaptation, from Ridley Scott’s production company, of Kate Mosse’s novel. This is a warning, not a recommendation.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: The day after the May ratings sweeps end, the networks begin their spring cleaning, and throwing out (and onto TV) stuff from deep within their closets, stuff that wasn’t good enough to risk televising when the stakes were higher. Presto: The first new summer series of this year’s Write-Off Theatre is presented by Fox, in a series about a cop who’s controlled by a local gang leader, but may be having second thoughts and pangs of conscience. It’s an age-old story line, but in the case of Gang Related, it’s not exactly improved with age. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes. This is a warning, not a recommendation.
 
  
 
 

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

The excellent new Showtime series Penny Dreadful, set in 1890s England and featuring a mashup of such characters as Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Gray, owes something, at least in concept, to this 2005 action movie, based on a popular graphic novel. It, too, borrows several characters from classic literature and teams them up for an original tale of good vs. evil. Penny Dreadful is much better, but the comparison makes tonight’s telecast worth watching. There’s even a crossover of characters, with this movie, too, featuring its own Dorian Gray (played, in this case, by Stuart Townsend). Sean Connery, Peta Wilson (pictured, as Mina Harker) star.

 
  
 
 

IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET

In tonight’s episode, Marc and his young girlfriend Jen try joint therapy in an effort to work out their problems. Yeah, that should go well – because what Marc Maron really lacks is a place in which to reveal his inner thoughts and talk about his private fears, hopes and concerns.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.