SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 4
2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Animal Planet, 3:00 p.m. ET

By now, most people should know the rules of Puppy Bowl. There are puppies, and they wear colored kerchiefs denoting which “team” they’re on, and there are human referees, and a miniature stadium, and… okay, so I just realized I don’t know any of the rules. But there are cute puppies running around all over the place, so what else do you need? A scorecard, perhaps? Or a scouting report, so you can tell the dogs from… the underdogs?

 
  
 
 

NBC, 6:00 p.m. ET

Speaking of underdogs, the statistics in the accompanying photo refer to the respective 53-man rosters of the returning Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots and the significantly less favored Philadelphia Eagles. I’m rooting for the Eagles anyway, and not only because I’ve lived in or outside Philly for the past 35 years. I’ve also been a Miami Dolphins fan all my life – and if you love the Dolphins, as I do, you have to hate the Patriots. At least coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady, who are no strangers to Super Bowl pressures – or victories. Brady not only won the Super Bowl last year, but was the MVP. He also was the MVP in the Pats’ Super Bowl victories in 2015, 2004, and 2002. And while Brady didn’t get the MVP honors in 2005, the Patriots won that year’s Super Bowl as well – against the Eagles, who haven’t been back since until today. And they’re not the only Super Bowl returnees today from that earlier era: In 2004, the year before that last Patriots-Eagles match-up, the Super Bowl halftime show featured Justin Timberlake, who is today’s halftime headliner. Back then, he was a featured player, with Janet Jackson as the star, and they collaborated on a surprise finish that remains the most infamous moment in Super Bowl halftime history, and the most widely reported and repeated. For every time it was mentioned or shown by the media, if I had a nipple...
 
  
 
 

Starz!, 8:00 p.m. ET

Not many TV networks are programming original material against the Super Bowl – why bother? But Starz is, by presenting the premiere of Episode 3 of this new alternate-universe drama series starring J.K. Simmons. Because, in some alternate universe, someone may be watching…

 
  
 
 

CBS All Access, 9:30 p.m. ET

Another first-run option against Super Bowl LII tonight is the latest new episode of Star Trek: Discovery, which is rolling out exclusively on the CBS All Access streaming service. But on that service, though the new episode premieres at 9:30 p.m. ET tonight, it’s available any time thereafter for All Access subscribers. Because, after that, they all have access.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

Of all the counter-programming moves against the Super Bowl tonight, this is the one that makes the most sense. It’s the latest new episode of Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman – and tonight’s episode concerns a parson from Ireland, who visits the castle, and the Queen, to give her details of some horrible news from his part of her kingdom: the widespread Irish potato famine. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:30 p.m. ET

Every year after the Super Bowl, whichever network broadcasts that biggest of all big games also gets to use the time slot immediately after the post-game show as a launching pad, either unveiling a new series or rewarding an existing one. This year, NBC does the latter, by following Super Bowl LII with a new episode of its most popular current drama series, This is Us. There’s a tie-in, because the episode is titled “Super Bowl Sunday,” and features flashback sequences in which Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) and family gather to watch the 1998 Super Bowl. But 20 years ago, as previous episodes already have hinted, tragedy is about to strike, and all indications are that one of the members of the family is about to meet a very untimely death – untimely even in flashback. And if I were playing a game of Clue, I’d call it as Jack, in the kitchen, with a crock-pot. Time approximate.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 12:00 a.m. ET

This is a special outing for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, and not only because it’s on a Sunday. It’s also on Super Bowl Sunday, trying to attract and please what’s left of that large and rowdy audience. And it’s broadcast live. Oh, and it features other people associated with NBC’s coverage of the Super Bowl tonight, including the stars of NBC’s post-game TV treat, This Is Us, and the star of the Super Bowl halftime show, frequent Jimmy Fallon cohort, and co-singer, Justin Timberlake. Time approximate.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.