WEDNESDAY
MAY 24
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Hulu, 3:00 a.m. ET

Hulu keeps rolling out episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale on a weekly basis – and so far, they’ve proven to be well worth the wait. Tonight’s episode goes back to the very first scene from the opening episode, when Offred (Elisabeth Moss), then still in her married life as Luke’s wife, June, is hunted down, knocked out, and dragged away, to her mandated new existence as a “handmaid.” But tonight, instead of following June from that flashback moment, we follow Luke (O-T Fagbenie, pictured) – whose story, in this TV narrative, is expanded greatly from the original novel.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

TELEMOVIE PREMIERE: This new three-hour ABC telemovie is a musical remake of the 1987 movie, which remains a romantic favorite among certain cinema fans 30 years later. Abigail Breslin and Colt Prattes star in the roles played in the original by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. And if you want me to review this new version glowingly, or even positively, give it up. You can't make me do it. Nobody puts Davy in a corner…
 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Part 2 of 3. Tonight’s installment, “A Matter of Taste,” explains how chemistry and biology combine to make foods interact, and more delicious, during various cooking processes. If they’d stressed this topic in high school, I might have done better in science class. (Or, at least, attended.)  The hour begins with Michael Mosley deconstructing a traditional Thai meal to explain why the flavors interact the way they do. In other words, he’s studying the science of cooking by breaking a Thai. (Those aren’t rice grains in the accompanying photo, by the way. It’s a closeup of taste buds.) Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Last week, Ray Stussy (Ewan McGregor) returned home to find his loved one, Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), curled up in the bathtub – fully clothed, and in agony from the severe beating she’d received at the hands of Varga’s goons. This week, Ray and Nikki regroup, and plan an attack for payback --  but against Varga (David Thewlis) and his goons, who already have established themselves as chillingly ruthless adversaries.

 
  
 
 

FXX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Tonight is the season finale of this particular, very entertaining narrative of Archer, which, all season, has taken place inside an imagined film noir landscape and mystery dreamed by Archer, who actually is in a coma after sustaining life-threatening injuries. This season, fittingly, has been called Dreamland – and as it concludes tonight, it may, and should, give us hints about what Archer, and the show’s writers, are dreaming up for next season. For more on Archer, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower. 

 
  
 
 

CBS, 11:35 p.m. ET

Two years ago, in the early days of his new CBS gig, Stephen Colbert made a big deal of presenting what he said was an unknown but talented Paul Simon “cover band,” called Troubled Waters. He introduced the lead singer, Alan (“You can call me Al,” he told Colbert), who indeed bore an amazing resemblance to the smaller half of Simon & Garfunkel. And indeed, he was Paul Simon, and proceeded to play a very strong mini-set (pictured). Tonight, Paul Simon is scheduled to appear again – this time, apparently, as himself.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.