MONDAY

NOVEMBER 4

2019

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Acorn TV, 3:00 a.m. ET

SERIES REPEAT: Friends, Romans, countrypeople, lend me your ears: One of TV’s most hidden gems, and most sparkling, is this Canadian comedy-drama series about a struggling Shakespearean acting troupe. And beginning today, the Acorn TV streaming service is repeating it in its entirety. Season 1, which launched in 2003, is showcased tonight, with the episodes of Season 2 following on November 25, and Season 3 after that in mid-December.Slings & Arrows stars Paul Gross, star of another unfairly uncelebrated comedy-drama series, CBS’s Due South, in which he played a Canadian Mountie transplanted to Chicago. Slings & Arrows co-stars Mark McKinney, and features a few now-familiar guest stars (such as Rachel McAdams and Sarah Polley), but is thoroughly delightful on its own merits – as a kind of Shakespearean Waiting for Guffman. Yesterday, I highlighted this very welcome return as my top pick on TVWW’s video telegram, Best TV Tomorrow. And if my obvious enthusiasm isn’t enough, how about this quote from The Wire creator, David Simon: “Slings & Arrows… was so clever it left me with pure, distilled writer envy.” For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

HIS DARK MATERIALS

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials is a team effort by the U.K.’s BBC One, which unveiled it yesterday, and HBO, which premieres it tonight. A grand and beautifully photographed series, which HBO is hoping will fill part of the fantasy adventure void left behind by the departure of Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials is set in a world where all people eventually are paired with animal companions that complemented by animal companions that are manifestations of their souls. Lin-Manuel Miranda is featured in this new series, and young Dafne Keen stars as the resourceful and gifted orphan Lyra, but tonight’s opening installment is stolen by two powerfully dynamic actors: James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

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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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