FRIDAY
MARCH 24
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 12:00 a.m. ET

Theater director Lonny Price, an original cast member of Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along, directs this documentary looking back at why that particular musical, with its tale told in chronologically reverse order, became a famous flop from Broadway’s reigning musical genius – and what has happened to the show, and the players, since. Price is seen here, along with original castmates Ann Morrison and Jim Walton. This slipped past me when Netflix added it to its schedule last week – but here it is.

 
  
 
 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin return, respectively, in the title roles, launching all of Season 3 today on Netflix. Season 1 began when their husbands, Sam Waterston’s Sol and Martin Sheen’s Robert, admitted they were gay – and in love with one another. In the cliffhanger to end last season, Frankie slept with Sol, which might complicate things. Maybe this season, the show will take on an even more liberated Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice vibe (a famously “swinging” Seventies film), and, eventually, rename itself Grace & Frankie & Sol & Robert. But I doubt it…

 
  
 
 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

The title is taken from the headline of a 1964 Life magazine profile of its, and this film’s subject: famous atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, whose achievements included pressing for a successfully argued U.S. Supreme Court case banning mandatory Bible readings in public schools. Writer-director Tommy O’Haver focuses this film biography on the last bit of O’Hair’s life, which certainly has its dramatic elements – but, even with flashbacks, may leave behind some other very interesting bits along the way. Melissa Leo stars in the title role, and co-stars include Juno Temple and Adam Scott.

 
  
 
 

Various Networks, 7:00 p.m. ET

Ken, a longtime, loyal TVWW reader, posted a question yesterday, asking politely, in essence, why I didn’t just keep my basketball-related Best Bets to myself – arguing that anyone who is interested in watching this year’s NCAA college games, or any others, knows where and when to find them, and other readers simply don’t care. And while, in one respect, I appreciate that argument, I’ll beg to persist, giving two reasons of my own. One is that Bianculli’s Best Bets are served up in tiny, stand-alone bites, with a headline that tells you both the subject and the time. If you don’t want to read the entry, just scan or scroll down to the next one. The other is that, especially with tournaments such as March Madness, where games are played on as many as four networks simultaneously, and where the teams playing games aren’t set until a few days before, depending on whether they advance, I feel that even fans who want to follow, say, their alma mater may not know where or when to find their home team. So I did, and will continue to, list the day’s games – also because, in the final analysis, Best Bets are no more, and no less, than what I find most interesting about that day’s universe of TV offerings. So: At 7 p.m. ET on CBS, it’s the South’s No. 4 Butler vs. No. 1 North Carolina. At 7:25 p.m. ET on TBS, it’s the East’s No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 3. Baylor. At 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS, it’s South’s No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 2 Kentucky. And finally,  at about 10 p.m. ET on TBS, it’s East’s No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Florida. If you read that, you took my advice. If you didn’t read that, you took my advice, too. Everybody should be happy…

 
  
 
 

Disney Channel, 7:30 p.m. ET

First came Tangled the animated Disney film, based on the Rapunzel fairy tale and starring Mandy Moore. That was in 2010. Then, earlier this year, came Tangled Before Ever After, a Disney Channel original made-for-TV movie prequel, also starring Moore. And now, beginning today, comes Disney Channel’s Tangled: The Series, an animated series also starring Mandy Moore – who’s also starring, in the flesh, in NBC’s This Is Us, playing Rebecca. I guess it’s true what they say: the Moore the merrier…

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Whenever this movie is shown in prime time, I mention it. That’s the rule.

 
  
 
 

VH1, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Normally, I wouldn’t point out this show, even on its Season 9 premiere, but tonight’s episode is special, inarguably and especially thematically. It makes room for a very special guest, as both muse and judge: Lady Gaga. The contestants are asked to dress up with a couple of different fashion “looks” for themselves: one that’s small-town simple, and the other that’s simply Gaga. And the guest judge herself comes dressed to impress, if not to kill…

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

This week’s scheduled guests include MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who has interviewed Bill Maher on his own show in the past (pictured), but is showing up tonight on Real Time with a new book to promote – but who, this week, better be prepared to talk about a lot more than just that book…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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Dave Bianculli
Hey sweetie-pie,

WTF does this have to do with the greatest invention known to mankind: TV?????

Go away.

Warmly,

Dave
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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.