SATURDAY
SEPTEMBER 24
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TVWW Update -- David is up and around, TVWW readers, and we expect him to post his own hello sometime very soon. While the return of “Best Bets” is still up in the air for now, it may be a matter of weeks, more or less. 

Meanwhile, the new fall season is upon us, and you’ll also find that we’re posting our annual Fall Preview as well, expanding listings to include cable and streaming along with the network premieres. We’re rolling reviews out over the next couple of weeks, so check back frequently and we will eventually have the fall season fully covered.

To start the week, TV’s royalty will gather tonight (Sunday, September 18) to award its favorite shows and actors for the 2015-16 seasons. You can read about TV’s ever-widening array of quality choices here, in Alex Strachan’s TV That Matters.

For the first week of fall, NBC has two new series which may build audience interest and get thumbs up from the TVWW group: The Good Place, a half-hour comedy about an imposter in the afterlife starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson premieres Monday night, and This Is Us, a thirtysomething-styled dramedy debuts Tuesday. We're also in agreement that ABC's new political thriller, Designated Survivor, (with the return of Kiefer Sutherland, Wednesday, 10 p.m., ET) also has a gripping enough pilot to get you to return next week.

We’re entering the full force of the fall presidential campaign and for the serious side of things, Showtime is re-starting their half-hour behind-the-scenes look at both campaigns in The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. For the timeliest in political humor, Real Time with Bill Maher is back on HBO after its August hiatus.

Exploring one of the current campaign themes, PBS’s POV will air a 90-minute documentary look at the drug war along the US-Mexico border through the eyes of a DEA agent, an activist nun in Mexico, and a former drug smuggler in Texas. That airs Monday night, 10 p.m. ET. (Check local listings.)

Other TVWW faves, IFC’s Documentary Now! and FX’s American Horror Story, have also begun new seasons, and you can see those and other recommended shows at our updated weekly list below at TV We're Watching.

As David continues to be kicking back in the lounger, please remember that we so appreciate your enthusiasm and interest in TVWW.  You can be sure he appreciates it, too.

Please stay tuned. — TVWW

 
  
 
 
 
 
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2942 Comments
 
 
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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.