TUESDAY
AUGUST 4
2020

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Quibi, 3:00 a.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: This is not a recommendation. Remember Quibi? The streaming world’s equivalent of New Coke? (For that matter: Remember New Coke?) Well, today it launches, in regular bite-sized bits, an extremely loose remake of the classic Sixties TV series starring David Janssen as unjustly accused murderer Richard Kimble, with Barry Morse as the dogged lawman on his trail. This Quibi Fugitive is completely modernized and overhauled: Boyd Holbrook of Narcos plays Mike Ferro, an innocent bystander at a terrorist bombing, picked up by surveillance cameras and accused by police and press alike. One detective, Clay Bryce, is particularly worked up, instructing his entire investigative unit to find and apprehend Ferro – while Ferro, in turn, is on the run and in search of the actual terrorists. That detective is played by Kiefer Sutherland, which gives this Quibi version of The Fugitive an unavoidable flavor of an unofficial 24 narrative. It’s troubling enough that this serialized version of The Fugitive takes that classic show’s title, but doesn’t even retain the equally iconic character names of Richard Kimble and Lieutenant Gerard. What’s worse is that, while money clearly was spent here, the writing doesn’t reflect it.
 
  
 
 

CW, 9:00 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Recycled from CBS All Access, Tell Me a Story – a “mature” interweaving of several fairy tales, told in modern day settings and with very dark variations – began showing on the CW last week. It offered very, very loose variations on The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel – and in two of those three storylines, there were dead bodies in the first installment alone. Tonight, Episode 2…. In which this little piggy goes to another bank robbery.
 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is one of three lawmakers followed in this new documentary (fellow congressional members Thomas Massie and Ken Buck are the others), which looks at what it’s like to run for office before and during a pandemic – and what these Republicans are saying, and claiming, about their party’s concerns and promises regarding the draining of the so-called Washington “swamp.” For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower. 
 
  
 
 

Decades, 9:00 p.m. ET

I've been writing Best Bets, in one form or another, since 1977. And only twice, in all that time, did anyone else provide Bets for me. The first was during a lengthy hospitalization. TVWW's late editor, Christy Slewinski, with an assist from editor Eric Gould, culled together the daily picks for me. The second occurred, well, during a lengthy hospitalization. You, our wonderful readers, jumped in with your recommendations in the comments and on Facebook and Twitter until Eric (what would TVWW do without him?) could sub for me (with an assist from editor Linda Donovan). Being under the influence of heavy drugs, I couldn't really participate. So, while I don't want to make a habit of letting other people choose Bets, I couldn't help but agree with a text I recently got from another long-time TVWW friend and colleague, Tom Brinkmoeller, who suggested that the lineup for tonight's vintage episode of The Dick Cavett Show might be a good bet to offer as a good Bet.  And he's right: This 1986 episode is about TV writing, and Cavett, a former writer himself for Jack Paar, discusses the craft with Larry Gelbart, David Lloyd, and Pat McCormick. Gelbart has presided over TV's M*A*S*H, which at the time had recently ended with a finale that still ranks as the most-watched entertainment show of all time. Lloyd, by 1986, had written for both Paar and Cavett, then written for such great sitcoms as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Lou Grant, Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. And McCormick, another former Paar writer, also wrote scripts for Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, and for Johnny Carson. Good call, Tom...

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.