THURSDAY

JANUARY 31

2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SERIES FINALE: After a witty and often wonderful seven-year run, Tina Fey and company pull up stakes at 30 Rock, with a one-hour finale that shows many of the characters scrambling for new jobs after the cancellation of their show within a show. Among the potential career opportunities: Jenna (Jane Krakowski) wants to be a corpse on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which allows Richard Belzer the chance to play his Detective Munch character on yet another prime-time TV series. But I digress. The big news here is: Thanks for all the laughs, 30 Rock.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

In this new episode, some of the boys invest some money on some new action figures – which doesn’t even sound unusual. But this time it is, because the action figures in question are specially commissioned replicas of… themselves.

GANGS OF NEW YORK

IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET

It’s been 12 years since Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis co-starred in this period Martin Scorsese film, playing a gang leader and a young man out for revenge, respectively, in this drama set in the 1860s era of Copper. This year, Day-Lewis is thought to be close to a lock at the Oscars for Lincoln, while DiCaprio, in a supporting role, wasn’t even nominated for Django Unchained. But they’re both doing quite well, thank you – and this 2002 movie demonstrates the talent and range of both actors.

CAT BALLOU

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

There’s so much to love about this 1965 comedy: the music, the light satiric touch, the all-out wild-man performance of Lee Marvin, and so much more. But for this showing, let’s sing the praises of Jane Fonda, who in this very early starring role, nailed every scene perfectly, from her walk to the gallows to her charmingly awkward revenge-filled seduction scene.

PIONEERS OF THIRTEEN: THE '70S

THIRTEEN, 9:00 p.m. ET

You have to be in the New York area to catch this on Thirteen, or visit its website for clips and further information. But this second entry in WNET-Ch. 13’s series of historical specials about its own history is just as good as the first. The highlights in this 90-minute special, and there are many, include The Great American Dream Machine, Bill Moyers’ Journal, Watergate, Dick Cavett, The Police Tapes, and An American Family. Not mentioned, and sorely missed, are Woody Allen’s produced but unaired Men of Crisis and the wildly experimental Between Time and Timbuktu, based on stories by Kurt Vonnegut. What’s included, though, is smart, enticing, and mouth-watering. Where are the full shows, please?

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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

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

THIRTEEN, 9:00 p.m. ET

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