FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 24
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: Jon Alpert has been making nonfiction films since 1980, including the unforgettable 2007 HBO project, Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq, which was hosted by James Gandolfini, who conducted interviews with veteran soldiers who were lucky to be alive. For even longer than he’s been making movies, Alpert has been visiting Cuba, and his new film, Cuba and the Cameraman, distills his footage and interviews from 45 years’ worth of occasional trips to the long-out-of-reach island. It’s no puff piece: Alpert is keenly interested in how Communist support since the Fidel Castro-led revolution has dwindled, making it even harder on local citizens to make ends meet – much less, in some instances, to find and buy meat. And Alpert keeps returning not only to the same country, but to some of the same people, making Cuba and the Cameraman a sort of Caribbean version of that 14 Up documentary film series. Or of Boyhood.

 
  
 
 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: This is Season 2 of this period action piece, a co-production of Canada’s Discovery Channel and Netflix. It’s about the fur trade of the 1700s in North America, and how one determined outlaw – Declan Harp, whose heritage is both Native American and Irish – continually challenges and thwarts the economic dominance of the Hudson Bay Company’s monopoly on the fur trade. And the reason there is a Season 2 of Frontier, basically, is because of the rising star who plays Declan Harp. He’s Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones, and has portrayed Aquaman in both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the current Justice League, with his own Aquaman movie slated for next year. (I guess I believe it, but to me, it sounds a little fishy…)

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and all through the house, the networks already are beginning to roll out Christmas specials like a landslide of holiday perennials. That’s not so much because TV wants to distract us from Black Friday – if you watch any television with advertising, quite the contrary – but because there’s such a backlog of Christmas specials that unless the networks begin showing them immediately after Thanksgiving, they’ll never have time to televise them all. Tonight, NBC leads off with one of my favorite Christmas specials, which CBS televised originally, back in 1966. Cartoon genius Chuck Jones brings the characters and visuals of Dr. Seuss’ story to life, and Boris Karloff narrates the story – but does not sing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”  That song is sung by an uncredited performer named Thurl Ravenscroft.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

This Christmas special from the same decade – specifically, from 1969 – isn’t as good, and isn’t on my list of favorite TV Christmas specials. The writer, Romeo Muller, expands the popular holiday song into a passable narrative, as he had with another early TV holiday special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But face it: Neither of those is A Charlie Brown Christmas. But at least Jimmy Durante narrates, which counts for something.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL PREMIERE: Producer Ken Ehrlich has been overseeing fabulous performance pairings at the Grammys for decades, and is one of the most tasteful and, at times daring, music producers on television. (He also, he told me once, got every performer to sign a personal scrapbook for him, often with scraps of their own lyrics, which must be an amazing book by now.) At Ehrlich’s first Grammys show, he paired Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond for a live performance of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” so expect that to be here in this two-hour retrospective. Also look for Prince and Beyoncé teaming on a Purple Rain medley in 2004 (pictured), and, speaking of medleys, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Joe Walsh performing the medley from Abbey Road. If they aren’t here in this two-hour special, along with Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, then I’ll be not only surprised, but profoundly disappointed. John Legend and Carrie Underwood co-host.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL PREMIERE: Holiday Inn is another Broadway musical that was filmed, and shown in select movie theaters at the same time it was performed live, by BroadwayHD. This co-production with New York’s WNET-Ch. 13 now surfaces on PBS’s “Broadway Best” lineup – and by the way, I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of the story why last week’s scheduled production of the Harold Prince tribute musical mysteriously vanished. But this sort of jukebox modern musical mash-up of various Irving Berlin hits includes "Cheek to Cheek, “Heat Wave” (pictured), and, unavoidably, “White Christmas.” Bryce Pinkham and Megan Lawrence are among the repertory company’s stars. Check local listings. (Especially after last week.)
 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
RNVVN
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 201  | Go to page: 
4016 Comments
 
 
Thank you so much for sharing this great blog.Very inspiring and helpful too.Hope you continue to share more of your ideas.I will definitely love to read
Jun 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ???? ?? ? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?????. ? ??? ??? ?? ?????
Jun 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thank you so much for sharing this great blog.Very inspiring and helpful too.Hope you continue to share more of your ideas.I will definitely love to read
Jun 16, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
? ?? ?? ??? ?????.
Jun 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ???? ??? ??????. ?? ?? ??????.
Jun 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Stunning! Such an astonishing and accommodating post this is. I super love it. It's so great thus amazing. I am simply stunned. I trust that you keep on doing your work like this later on moreover.
Jun 15, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I definitely enjoying every little bit of this blog. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ???,? ???? ??? ?? ??????. ? ???? ????? ????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??? ? ??? ?? ???? ?????!
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ???,? ???? ??? ?? ??????. ? ???? ????? ????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??? ? ??? ?? ???? ?????!
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ??? ??????. t ? ?? ind personilly wtll certitnly dtgtt? ?????. t'm conftdent ??? thts webstte?? gitned ? ????
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I will right away clutch your rss feed as I can not in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me recognize so that I may subscribe.
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ??? ?????? ????? ? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????. ??? ???? ??? ?? ? ??? ?? ???? ?? ? ? ????.
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This Post is providing valuable and unique information, I know that you take a time and effort to make a awesome article
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is a fantastic website, thanks for sharing. There's no doubt i would fully rate it after i read what the idea about this article is. You did a nice
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is a fantastic website, thanks for sharing. There's no doubt i would fully rate it after i read what the idea about this article is. You did a nice
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
It’s really a fantastic website, thanks for sharing. There's no doubt i would fully rate it after i read what the idea about this article is. You did a nice
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thank you for taking the time to share with us
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Cool stuff you have and you keep overhaul every one of us
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the leisure here! Keep up the good work. I have been meaning to write something like this on my website and you have given me an idea.
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
i was just browsing along and came upon your blog. just wanted to say good blog and this article really helped me
Jun 14, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 201  | Go to page: 
 
 

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.