SATURDAY
APRIL 28
2012

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET

On this very day in 1997, ABC was concluding its miniseries version of Stephen King’s The Shining, in which Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay played the roles of hotel caretaker Jack Torrance and his increasingly frightened wife. The remake came about because King was unhappy with the way Stanley Kubrick had changed parts of his horror novel in the 1980 movie version, which BBC America shows tonight. And while the ending may be both different and an anti-climax, what precedes it is scary filmmaking at its best. Redrum! Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall star.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

Tom Hanks directed this 2011 romantic comedy, and co-wrote it as well, with Nia Vardalos, who wrote and starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Hanks stars here too, opposite Julia Roberts, and plays a student who is drawn to Roberts’ adult-education teacher.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Harry Lime is dead; long live Harry Lime. Orson Welles plays the mysterious Lime with a twist in this 1949 film noir thriller, starring Joseph Cotton as a friend investigating reports of Lime’s untimely death. Great movie, written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed.

 
  
 
 

Epix, 8:30 p.m. ET

Robert Downey, Jr.’s original Iron Man megahit led to a string of Marvel-based movies starring heroes who, next month, will unite in The Avengers, directed and co-written by Joss Whedon. And one of those heroes – specifically, a heroine – made her first appearance here, in a supporting role in this 2010 Iron Man sequel. She’s Natalie Rushman, a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow – all three of them played by Scarlett Johansson.

 
  
 
 

C-SPAN, 9:40 p.m. ET

The host of this year’s event, at which President Barack Obama and the First Lady will be guests of honor, is Jimmy Kimmel. Expect a sharp show, and some sharp jokes: Every year, when hosting ABC’s upfronts for advertisers, Kimmel is funnier, more pointed and more memorable than most new TV shows presented at the event. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with the red carpet arrivals, and is followed by during-dinner interviews and other features that pass the time until the President takes the podium to serve as Kimmel’s warm-up act. And remember – last year, while Obama was killing them at this event, his elite military team was in the act of killing, too. As in, Osama bin Laden. 

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.