WEDNESDAY
JULY 4
2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Decades, 7:00 a.m. ET

Traditionally, Syfy was the place, and the Fourth of July was one of the days, for TV to present a holiday marathon of Rod Serling’s classic The Twilight Zone series. But this year, Syfy has passed. Stepping into the fray, though, is a little-known, little-seen operation called Decades. Decades, launched in 2015, is a digital broadcast TV network that’s lumped with those digital subchannels you can find clustered next to local network affiliates on your cable or satellite lineup. It focuses on TV programming from the Fifties through the Eighties, it’s a sister network of sorts to MeTV, and is co-owned by CBS (hence the Zone access) and Weigel Broadcasting. Find it, today, by searching for The Twilight Zone by title. Episodes shown during today’s all-day, all-night marathon include “A Stop at Willoughby” (11 a.m. ET), William Shatner in “Nick of Time” (pictured, 1:30 p.m. ET), Agnes Moorehead as a mute woman in “The Invaders” (6 p.m. ET), and Shatner again in “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (7 p.m. ET). And now that you’ve found Decades, you might want to revisit from time to time. Also on its schedule, from tomorrow through Sunday, are such programs as The Dick Cavett Show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and, starting Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, a marathon of that influential, seldom televised drama series Wiseguy.

 
  
 
 

CNN, 7:00 p.m. ET

There are several TV marathons on tap today – and here’s one with a poignant residue. To honor their recently deceased food and travel correspondent, CNN is serving up a very generous helping of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknowns series. See the world. Imagine tasting the food. And miss Bourdain…

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: This live show broadcasts the fireworks display from New York’s East River, and makes room for performances by Jennifer Lopez, Sheryl Crow and Lady Antebellum. But before it starts sounding too classy, consider this: the hosts are the three hosts from American Ninja Warrior.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: One of the guests for this year’s Capitol Fourth live celebration from Washington, D.C. is Renee Fleming, the opera diva currently starring in the Broadway revival of the musical Carousel. She’s scheduled to sing one of the show’s classics, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – which, given what’s happening with families being wrested apart by recent administration policies, is almost devastatingly pertinent. It may also explain why President Donald Trump decided to mount his own July 4 TV celebration this year. Also performing for this long-standing PBS event: The Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffett, and Chita Rivera. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

Hallmark Channel, 8:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: Last year, President Donald Trump didn’t even hold a concert event, much less televise it. But this year, Hallmark Channel is presenting the President’s White House concert and fireworks event. Expect most of the fireworks, though, to come from the view above, not the stage below. The concert headliners for Trump’s event include American Idol performers (but not winners) Jonny Brenns and (pictured) Jax.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET

The newest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise may be somewhat of a letdown, but don’t let that stop you from remembering, and revisiting, earlier joys – especially the almost palpable thrills of Steven Spielberg’s 1992 original, which changed the course of cinema history. That wonderful movie, starring Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern, is shown by Showtime at 8 p.m. ET. And right on its heels, at 10:10 p.m. ET and 12:20 a.m. ET respectively, are 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore) and 2001’s Jurassic Park III (Sam Neill, Tea Leoni).

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:15 p.m. ET

I like to annoy my son, who’s a huge Hamilton fan, by telling him that this musical was the original stage musical treatment of the American revolution. And in this 1972 movie version of the 1776 musical, as in the original Broadway version, Alexander Hamilton doesn’t even appear. Instead, the central character is John Adams, played by future St. Elsewhere star, Knight Rider voice and Boy Meets World teacher William Daniels. Also starring: Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin, Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom) as Martha Jefferson, and John Cullum as Edward Rutledge. Lots of fun, and, as with today’s Congress or any others, lots of personality clashes and political pomposity.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.