SATURDAY
APRIL 30
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

C-SPAN, 6:00 p.m. ET

This annual event is extremely entertaining for two different reasons – sort of like The Voice, which has the fascinating “blind auditions,” followed much later by the final rounds of quality competition. In the case of this particular black-tie event, the fun is spread out the same way: very early and very late. The early part comes at 6 p.m. ET, with the arrival of guests at the red carpet. For years, press corps members have used their plus-ones to invite high-profile and often very unlikely celebrities, and C-SPAN makes it all look even more awkward, and amusing, by running uninterrupted coverage throughout. Watch celebrities react to being ignored! Or bored! Or swarmed! And then, after the long and dull dinner portion, the real show begins, usually around 10 p.m. ET. That’s when President Obama, for the eighth and final time, takes his turn at the podium, along with this year’s host, Larry Wilmore from Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show. It’s a good guess that both of them will be quoted tomorrow all over the Internet, as well as in any remaining Washington newspapers.

 
  
 
 

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

This ABC special seems particularly ill-timed. Just as the White House correspondents are sitting down to dinner on live TV over on C-SPAN, ABC is presenting a taped special in which President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host a program of jazz from the White House, featuring Herbie Hancock and others.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

And while jazz is played at the White House, rock and roll, in another taped special, is celebrated on HBO. This is the 31st annual induction ceremony, and this year the honorees include Chicago (pictured), Cheap Trick, N.W.A., Deep Purple, Steve Miller and songwriter-producer Bert Berns. Included are salutes to performers who died during the year, including David Bowie and Prince. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

CONCLUSION: This repeat documentary miniseries concludes with a look at the decades after WWII (specifically, 1946-80), and charts the postwar increase in popularity of the national parks. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

This 1944 movie is one of the best early cinematic horror films – a ghost story in which a brother and sister, played by Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey, buy a house by the sea, and soon get swept away by encounters with and stories of ghosts.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.