WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 29
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Frank Sinatra, who co-stars, and whose film company produced this grim 1962 movie about brainwashing, political conspiracies and assassination attempts, was long thought to have withdrawn the film from circulation after John F. Kennedy was assassinated the following year, disturbed by the parallels between life and art. However, the movie wasn’t pulled for about a decade, and it turns out to have been because of a simple contract dispute with the movie distributor. No matter: The Manchurian Candidate is such a raw, hypnotic, disturbing drama, it doesn’t need any hype. Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury co-star – and Lansbury, in particular, is amazing. Much better than the 2004 remake.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

“It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” is a famous war song that’s been around for more than a century now, but its reference to an obscure county in Ireland has new resonance today, because of an unexpected archaeological find there. In a remote peat bog, a worker finds a perfectly preserved human torso that becomes one of the coldest cold cases in history. Scientists date it to the Bronze Age, about 1000 BC – and historians theorize that the bodies found in that bog are those of ritually sacrificed royalty. Tonight’s Nova attempts to dig up the truth. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Stephen Finnigan directs, and is one of the writers of, this 2013 biographical documentary about Stephen Hawking, told with unprecedented access to the brilliant scientist’s private home movies and other revealing artifacts. Expect to be surprised, impressed, educated – and inspired. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

Bravo, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Part 1 of 2. Tonight’s installment sends the finalists to Hawaii, which is one reason I’ll watch. (Someday, I swear, I’ll actually go there, instead of just wearing its shirts and listening to its slack-key guitar music.) Another reason: the mystery ingredient around which the chefs must build their meals is that old Monty Python musical favorite: Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… In other words, tonight’s Top Chef features Spamalot.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Tonight’s finale, the final chapter of the Coven story line, plays like a witchly reality competition show. All the young witches at the academy compete in a trial in which each of them tackles “The Seven Wonders,” a gauntlet of magical acts they must perform to identify themselves as the next Supreme. Given what’s at stake, expect a bloodbath. And that’s just for starters.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.