SUNDAY
DECEMBER 30
2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

CNN, 8:00 p.m. ET

I mentioned yesterday that CNN was ending the year by repeating its most recent TV-centric installments of its ongoing documentary series devoted to each decade since, and starting with, The Sixties. Tonight at 8 ET, CNN repeats the lead-off two-hour episode of The 2000s, with a title it borrowed, with my blessing, from the title of my recent book: “The Platinum Age of Television.” I’m interviewed on camera, briefly, but recommend this program regardless. And since the year 2019 literally begins in a few days, it won’t be long – a year so two, tops – before the producers of this series gets to work on The 2010s, or The Tens, or whatever they decide to call the next entry. I hope to keep my streak going by participating in that one, too, but I never take anything for granted. Especially the future…

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Double features, for film fans, don’t get much better than this. Two of Humphrey Bogart’s most indelible roles, played back to back. The Maltese Falcon, from 1941, starts it off, based on a Dashiell Hammett novel, adapted and directed by John Huston, and allowing a great cast of actors to embody some of the mystery author’s most memorable characters: Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as colorful villains, Mary Astor as the quintessential femme fatale of film noir, and Bogart as gumshoe Sam Spade. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, comes a movie made the very next year: 1942’s Casablanca, with Greenstreet and Lorre in support again, and Claude Rains and Paul Henreid in key roles, and Ingrid Bergman as the woman embroiled in one of the cinema’s most memorable romantic triangles – and with Bogart, of course, as Rick, a reluctant hero at the center of it all. Both these films are superb, and I plan to be watching them again tonight. Here’s looking at you, films…

 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:02 p.m. ET

Tonight Seth Macfarlane’s fond take on the Star Trek canon returns for Season 2 – which means if it has its own five-year mission, it’s embarking on the second 20 percent of its stated voyage. And this season, I suspect there to be even more embracing of the story, and less of the punch lines.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Last week, two members of the Donovan family got beaten to a pulp. Tonight, yet another family member is endangered, as Ray’s daughter, Bridget (Kerris Dorsey), is kidnapped by some of the forces aligned against him. That makes Ray angry – and if you’re in his warpath, you’re not likely to like him when he’s angry.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES CONCLUSION: I made a mistake last Sunday and said the miniseries was concluding then. It was a major mistake, but I came to it honestly. In terms of the story’s dramatic narrative, the final, post-escape portion should have followed – but instead, Ben Stiller threw an unexpected but inspired curve ball by using that point in the story to flash back to the earlier lives of the three characters who ultimately conspired to pull off the two prisoners’ escape from prison. Tonight, though, we return to the unfolding story – and present, as promised last week, the conclusion to this outstanding miniseries. Sorry to steer you wrong last week, Alec. I’ll try to do better next year…

 
  
 
 

Syfy, 10:54 p.m. ET

An annual tradition that remains one of TV’s finest, here comes Syfy’s ring out the old, bring in the new, Twilight Zone marathon, which this year begins at 10:54 p.m. ET tonight, and doesn’t end until we’re into 2019. Tonight’s episodes are all wonderful, but the best one arrives just before midnight, at the 11:55 p.m. ET showing of 1961’s “Long Distance Call,” starring young Billy Mumy as a kid who has conversations with his grandmother over his toy phone – even after her death.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.