MONDAY
DECEMBER 4
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

This cycle’s competitors on The Voice are down to the Top 10. The good news is, the tighter the talent pool gets, the more impressively impressive it is. The bad news is, each eliminated finalist makes room for more pieces of padding in Monday’s two-hour program, more time for the judges to ramble, and another guest appearance by music stars, in this case, looking to boost their record sales for the holidays. But the music and the competitors at the center? Still worth watching, and hearing. And this season, keep your eye, and your ears, on the youngsters…

 
  
 
 

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

This new documentary is a biography of the famous Washington Post editor who presided over both Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. The latter case is the subject of a brand new movie, with Tom Hanks starring as Bradlee in The Post – and the former case inspired one of the best movies on the media and politics every made, 1976’s All the President’s Men, starring Jason Robards as Bradlee. Watching this documentary, then that latter movie, would be a superb double feature… so stay tuned. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

A night of boxing films begins with a classic movie that actually began as a live Golden Age TV drama. The 1962 film version of Requiem shown tonight on TCM stars Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, and Mickey Rooney, and features a small role by a young fighter called Cassius Clay – but six years before that, a brand-new CBS anthology series in its second week on the air, Playhouse 90, presented the premiere of Requiem for a Heavyweight on live TV. It starred Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn, and Ed Wynn, and was written, in one of his early triumphs, by Rod Serling. The TV version, which still exists in a kinescope recording, is vastly superior – but this movie is a knockout, too.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET

After a week off, The Gifted returns with an episode that finds the central family fully united – and the hidden mutants united as well, in a raid against their newly identified adversaries at Trask Industries. But that battle, like the others the band of fugitives has waged this season, comes with quite a cost.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:30 p.m. ET

After its Ben Bradlee documentary, HBO is presenting, uncut and interrupted, the best follow-up movie possible. Made in 1976. Starring Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, and Jason Robards. Still thrilling, no matter how many times you’ve seen it – and I’m probably closing in on around 50. It’s the story of a major daily newspaper investigating, and helping to bring down, a corrupt presidency. More relevant than ever. Real news!
 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
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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.