FRIDAY
JULY 4
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

IFC, 6:00 a.m. ET

Holy marathon, Batman! Make that: Holy Batman marathon! For a giant chunk of time today, and resuming tomorrow morning at the same time, IFC is running through all three seasons of the still-not-on-home-video Batman series that camped it up beginning in 1966. Sorry if this surprises or disappoints anyone, but I find this silly series charmingly entertaining – both despite and because of the stubbornly stilted acting by Adam West and Burt Ward as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Batman and Robin. And I also admit a weakness for Julie Newmar as the first and still best Catwoman, who shows up today as well.

 
  
 
 

Syfy, 8:00 a.m. ET

Nothing says stay-at-home holidays like Syfy marathons of Rod Serling’s classic anthology series. Impatient viewers can tune in at 8:30 a.m. ET for a half hour, then return at 7:30 p.m. ET, to catch two of William Shatner’s Twilight Zone classics: first, as the superstitious fortune reader in “Nick of Time” (pictured), then as the frightened airplane passenger in “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” But for the TV faithful who are really in the Zone, the treats are served up all day long. Including at 6:30 p.m. ET, when “To Serve Man” cooks up one of the series’ most famous climactic plot twists.

 
  
 
 

AMC, 9:00 a.m. ET

Another great marathon rolling out all weekend, this one, from AMC, presents every episode of The Walking Dead to date, stretched over several days. Start a drinking game where you down a shot every time a regular character is killed, and you’ll have a very inebriated weekend indeed.

 
  
 
 

ESPN 2, 12:00 p.m. ET

Note, please, that this first game is televised on ESPN2, not on ESPN. In today’s first World Cup quarterfinal, France and Germany, which emerged from the Group Round leading their divisions with identical 2-0-1 records and won their initial knockout round games rather easily (against, respectively, Nigeria and Algeria), now face one another. Both teams are dangerous, crafty, and intermittently explosive – and the fact that the U.S. team couldn’t make it this far should leave us with respect for the teams that did. Don’t stop watching now: This is the time to embrace athleticism, not jingoism. 

 
  
 
 

ESPN, 4:00 p.m. ET

Today’s second quarterfinal, televised on ESPN, is the big World Cup game of the day – and, indeed, of the week. It pits Colombia against Brazil. Colombia, which breezed through Group C winning every game, and defeating Uruguay 2-0 in the knockout round, has excited fans with its passionate play and overall jubilance at advancing this far. And Brazil, which advanced with a 2-0-1 record in group play and won its last game, against Chile, only after completing bonus time and besting the Chileans on penalty kicks, is the host nation – and the nation expects it to keep advancing through the tournament. This game should have more fireworks than… well, today, that analogy’s too easy.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Traditionally the best, and most proudly patriotic, of the evening’s July 4 festivities, this live concert from Washington, D.C., this year, is scheduled to include Kelli O’Hara (one of my favorite Broadway musical stars, and a repeat performer at this event, seen here in 2011), as well as Frankie Valli and the Muppets. Let’s hope those last two acts sing together. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.