WEDNESDAY

APRIL 30

2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Sundance, 7:45 p.m. ET

This 1997 action film, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, is a double homage. Its title role is a star vehicle for Pam Grier, who shone in such Seventies blaxploitation films (and Tarantino guilty pleasures) as Foxy Brown. And it’s based on the novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, whose oddball characters and playful dialogue clearly have inspired Tarantino’s films. The supporting cast for Jackie Brown is another reason to watch: It includes Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Chris Tucker and Robert Forster.

MODERN FAMILY

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

In tonight’s new episode, Jay (Ed O’Neill) does something quite uncharacteristic: He enters Stella in a dog show.

CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

CBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s new episode is a backdoor pilot for what could be – and, given CBS’s ongoing faith in its crime-procedural dramas, soon will be – the latest spinoff from an existing CBS franchise. The guest star is Patricia Arquette, whose years on NBC’s Medium have her well prepared to play a “cyberpsychologist,” a woman who uses her powers of perception and deduction to solve crimes on and from the Internet. Finally – someone equipped to catch that elusive Nigerian prince!

THE AMERICANS

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

There’s plenty to praise, and pay close attention to, in this show’s superior second season – and something to watch, certainly, as Keri Russell’s Elizabeth dons a new wig to seduce a new targeted mark. But tonight, there’s something special to listen for as well. This episode includes a song on the soundtrack that was written especially for the show, and this episode, by Pete Townshend.

THE COLBERT REPORT

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert showed his love for Broadway, and his skill at musical comedy, by appearing in a concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s Company – at the composer’s request. Tonight, in character as his conservative blowhard, he plays host to one of the most talented performers in Broadway history: Audra McDonald, who’s just been nominated for a sixth Tony Award, for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her harrowing, haunting impersonation of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. I saw it, and her, and she deserves to win the Tony. And if she does, it’ll be a record sixth for a performer. She’s covered both the acting and musical categories, as both featured actress (Carousel in 1994, Master Class in 1996, Ragtime in 1998) and leading actress (A Raisin in the Sun in 2004, Porgy and Bess in 2012).

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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.

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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Sundance, 7:45 p.m. ET

ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET

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