THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 28
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: This is the Season 14 premiere of this very long-running Shonda Rhimes series. I stopped watching it regularly about seven years ago, but millions of viewers have stayed with it – so for those of you who have yet to check out of this particular hospital, you can check it out again tonight.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

This second episode of this fourth season of Gotham ends with young Bruce Wayne standing atop a rooftop, wearing a mask and a sort of dark costume, perusing the streets of Gotham, poised to swoop down and foil crime. It’s not quite the Batman costume – but it’s close enough for now, and it’s taken this prequel series several years to get here. Meanwhile, we also get closer to Catwoman and Poison Ivy – while the Riddler, for now, remains on ice. Frozen by Penguin…

 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Episode 10. This is the final episode of the Ken Burns-Lynn Novick Vietnam War series, and this episode begins with March 1973, and includes the fall of Saigon, the unveiling of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, and a final wrap-up of stories, and perspectives, that puts this latest documentary epic in an emotional and historical context. You will learn, and think. And, probably, cry. For a full review of this episode, see Alex Strachan’s TV That Matters. Check local listings.
 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:30 p.m. ET

Last week’s Season 2 premiere of The Good Place was a deft bit of comedy magic. Presto! It reset the sitcom before our very eyes, and turned Ted Danson’s character from a benign architect of a little slice of heaven to the malevolent instigator of a little corner of hell. And at the end, after Kristin Bell’s Eleanor figured out the ruse and the shift, he wiped everyone’s memories – again – so that tonight, he can begin torturing everyone anew. The possibilities are endless, and that freedom and flexibility makes this new season of The Good Place even better.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: It premiered in 1998. It ended in 2006, with a finale episode that had the title characters married with children, but not to one another. And now, after a political reunion video that went viral, Will & Grace is back. The events of the finale are just a bad dream, like Bobby Ewing’s death on Dallas, and the core quartet is back, looking almost supernaturally unaged and acting just as immaturely as they did on the original series. For full reviews, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:01 p.m. ET

This is the first episode of The Orville that I haven’t previewed – but I’m already looking forward to it more than the next episode of the official Star Trek prequel series, the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery. Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville actually feels more like the original Star Trek than its actual new spinoff – and even with some laughs thrown in, has better characters, and even better special effects, than its CBS All Access counterpart. In tonight’s episode, Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) is kidnapped.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 9:30 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Last season, the only reason to watch this sitcom about a TV news operation was the presence and performance of Andrea Martin, playing the mother of Briga Heelan’s Katie. Katie works as a producer at a cable news station, and Martin's Carol signed on as an intern. This season, Katie has grief from above as well as below. She has a new boss, played by this series' executive producer, Tina Fey.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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4482 Comments
 
 
Robin_B
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
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Aug 18, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
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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.