THURSDAY

MAY 23

2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

An all-night TCM salute to one of the most inventive (and, in some circles, underrated) silent comics, Harold Lloyd, begins with his best-known film, the 1923 silent classic Safety Last. This movie, made 90 years ago (!), is the one in which Lloyd, as a department-store employee, hires a daredevil to attract attention by climbing his store building like a human spider – no equipment, no net – and when the daredevil fails to come through, Lloyd takes it upon himself, ascending to one of the most iconic images in all of silent cinema. And that’s only the start of tonight’s mammoth, exciting salute: four features, 16 shorts, and a wonderful in-depth look at the man who deserves to be appreciated on the same plane as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

TWO AND A HALF MEN

CBS, 8:31 p.m. ET

This repeat from last season features the return of a former cast regular – the delightfully loopy April Bowlby (at left in photo), as Alan’s former love interest, Kandi. Kandi left the Malibu beach house, and Alan, to star in a TV procedural show called Stiffs (series producer Chuck Lorre’s deadpan, dead-on parody of CSI: Miami). Now she’s back – and once again, she sets her sights on someone under Charlie’s roof. But not Alan. And not Charlie.

MOTIVE

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: ABC presented a sneak preview of this Canadian import on Monday, but Motive has its official series premiere tonight – which, not coincidentally, is the day after the end of the May ratings sweeps. Obviously, ABC doesn’t have too much faith in this new police drama, which stars Kristin Lehman, and comes from Dexter and The Mentalist producer Daniel Cerone. The gimmick of Motive is that we see the killer, and the murder, before Lehman’s investigator arrives on the scene. It’s a new spin on the old, brilliantly inventive Columbo formula, and you can decide for yourself whether Motive lives up to that inspiration. If ABC thought so, this show would have been held for fall. For a full review, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.

THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW

BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET

This new installment should please fans of both Harry Potter and The Great Gatsby. Sharing the couch tonight on Norton’s wild and crazy British talk show are, among others, Daniel Radcliffe from the Harry Potter movies, and Isla Fisher and Baz Luhrmann, the supporting actress and director, respectively, of the new Gatsby remake.

ELEMENTARY

CBS, 10:01 p.m. ET

Last week’s two-hour season finale explained a lot of things, and established a lot of surprising twists. Without saying what they are, I’ll just point out that this repeat, from earlier this season, now has a lot of “What’s wrong with this picture?” elements to it. The plot of this rerun has Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) identifying the man he believes killed Irene Adler, the great love of his life. And now, of course, Elementary fans know how many things are inaccurate regarding that particular plot description.

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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

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 8:31 p.m. ET

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 10:01 p.m. ET

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