SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 22
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Neil Patrick Harris is the host this year, which bodes well – he’s the first entertainer since Bob Hope and Johnny Carson who could, if he so chose, spend his year just putting on tuxes and hosting various TV awards shows. There’s also a tribute to two of television’s most memorable events, both from the 1963-64 season: coverage of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy, and the first appearance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. For some things to anticipate during the awards show, see Bianculli’s Blog. And for something that should be in Sunday’s show, but won’t be, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes.

 
  
 
 

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

I don’t like the word penultimate – not when “next-to-last” takes less time to say. Nor do I like that this is the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad, because it means my biggest current TV thrill is about to end. But anyone who cares about quality TV and isn’t watching these episodes as AMC and Vince Gilligan are unveiling them is really, really missing the boat. Enjoy! And to help with the enjoyment, read Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader assessment after last Sunday’s show.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

The body count has risen already this season on Boardwalk Empire – and so has the bawdy count, in both the bedroom and on stage in Chalky’s new nightclub (Margo Bingham begins a recurring role tonight as an Onyx jazz singer named Daughter). The politics are heating up, too, and so is the gang activity, all of which makes this a fast-starting season for this HBO series.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES FINALE: One way or another, this is the end of the line for Dexter (Michael C. Hall) – and though I’m curious to see how this show ends and its characters meet their respective fates, I’m no longer emotionally invested in Dexter the way I was back when the Trinity Killer was around. What’s been happening this season seems so disconnected, so abrupt, so inconsistent and sometimes so puzzlingly random, it’s hard to buy either the logic or the conflict. But because I stayed with Dexter the whole way, I’ll be here to the bitter end – even if, creatively, it ends up as a little bitter.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Last week’s episode provided an unexpected and revealing twist, as Ray (Liev Schreiber) faced up to a long-buried secret, that his brother was not the only Donovan sibling who was abused as a child by the same priest – the priest that paid for his sins with a circular mark on his forehead that had nothing to do with Ash Wednesday. And tonight, the Feds are circling – for Ray as well as his father, Mickey, who’s done some hot-tempered close-range shooting of his own. For a review, see Eric Gould's Cold Light Reader.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.