MONDAY
JULY 28
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 6:00 a.m. ET

TCM clears its previous film schedule today to present a dozen movies featuring the late James Garner. The tribute begins early, at 6 a.m. ET, with 1956’s Toward the Unknown, one of the Warner Bros. studio movies he made as a supporting player before breaking out as a star, for the studio’s newly formed TV division, in the classic Western Maverick. Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend, made in 1957, follows at 8 a.m. ET, and the first real Garner starring vehicle of the day begins at 9:30 a.m. ET, with him driving a vehicle in 1966’s Grand Prix (pictured). Among the rest of the day’s Garner films are these especially worthy examples: 1966’s Mister Buddwing, co-starring Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette and a pre-Graduate Katharine Ross, at 6:15 p.m. ET; 1964’s The Americanization of Emily, co-starring Julie Andrews, at 10 p.m. ET; and his version of Marlowe, from 1969, at 4:30 a.m. ET.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

The title of this week’s new HBO documentary has a double meaning. The parents of a South Korean baby named Sarang are accused of neglecting her – and charged with essentially starving her – while they immersed themselves in an online role-playing game. Sarang translates as “Love,” and this nonfiction study is an immersion into the world of avatars and “second lives,” and the addictions such a fantasy world can feed. The game the parents play is called Prius – and while the legal defense their attorney offers is dubious, there’s certainly a subject here worth examining.

 
  
 
 

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

The TV series Disneyland began 60 years ago as a full-length unabashed infomercial for Walt Disney’s brand-new theme park, and the Disney folks haven’t lost any of that marketing savvy or cross-promotional boldness in the generations since. With this 2013 animated film becoming such a huge hit – not only at the worldwide box-office, but with its musical soundtrack sales as well – it was only a matter of time before sisters Elsa and Anna were embodied in three dimensions, not only as theme-park attractions but as characters on ABC’s Disney fantasy series, Once Upon a Time. For viewers of that show, that time arrives in September, so it may be worth taking another look now at the two-dimensional originals.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

This new POV begins with the earthquake that devastated parts of China in 2008 – specifically, with the completely crumbled town of Beichuan, which instantly earned the Fallen City name of this documentary’s title. What’s amazing is that, in just two years, a new Beichuan has risen in its place – and what’s surprising is how that affects some of the survivors. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

TNT, 10:00 p.m. ET

The season-long murder mystery that is TNT’s Murder in the First doesn’t conclude tonight (there are two more episodes left), but the murder trial supposedly does – and with the defendant insisting to take the stand. If you’ve stayed with this series all along, you know that’s a significant, and risky, change of legal strategy.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.