SUNDAY
MAY 26
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: Like locusts, Arrested Development showed up for a while, made a lot of noise, then went into invisible hibernation. That was seven years ago, when the Fox comedy series from 2003-06, which won the Best Comedy Emmy one of those years, was canceled way too prematurely. Now, almost incredibly, it lives again, as a 15-part sequel featuring the original cast members in a tag-team structure. The insanity, as before, is overseen by series creator Mitch Hurwitz, who brings his Bluth family of endearing misfits to Netflix. Beginning at 3 a.m. ET today, you can binge, any time you wish, on any or all of 15 new episodes – none of which was available for preview. But on reputation and respect alone, I’d say dive in, quickly and often. Jason Bateman stars. For my very glowing review of the entire new series, which I watched as quickly as possible, see Bianculli's Blog.
 
  
 
 

BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET

Actually, by tuning in a few hours earlier – beginning at 6 p.m. ET – you can get up to speed on all the Doctors leading up to tonight’s new special saluting the Fifth Doctor, Pete Davison. (Salutes to Doctors 1-4 are repeated in half-hour installments from 6-8 p.m. ET.) The Fourth Doctor, the popular Tom Baker, was a tough act to follow, and Davison inherited the role with a different approach entirely. This special shows how – then shows some episodes from his original 1981-84 run, including that decade’s interpretation of the Cybermen (pictured).

 
  
 
 

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES FINALE: There’s no denying that this show lost both steam and direction in Season 2, thanks to a new show-runner, and a dwindling lack of support from NBC. After burying this season on Saturday night, it now televises the final two episodes as a Sunday night finale – but on Memorial Day weekend. Even so, it builds to a finale worth watching: a faux version of the Tony Awards, in which the two musicals developed and partly presented on this show are vying for a Best Original Musical Tony. And for one last time, on-again, off-again competitors Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee are on again – specifically, on stage.
 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Michael Douglas stars as Liberace, and Matt Damon as one of his malleable young secret lovers, in this new HBO Films dramatization about a portion of the showy entertainer’s onstage and offstage life. Steven Soderbergh directs, and manages to capture both the boldly audacious outrageousness of Liberace’s Vegas performances and the quiet insecurities of his behind-the-scenes demeanor and lifestyle. Behind the Candelabra may sound like an excuse for mere attention-getting stunt casting, but there’s a lot more respect given to the telling of Liberace’s story. For a full review, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
  
 
 

AMC, 10:00 p.m. ET

I’m a week behind on Mad Men – so I have to catch up before tonight’s show. But based on the promos, which famously reveal almost nothing anyway, poor Don (Jon Hamm) isn’t having too good a time of it, when the time is the summer of 1968. And neither, apparently, is poor Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser).
 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.