SUNDAY
OCTOBER 5
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TBS, 3:30 p.m. ET

If you’ve been watching these playoffs, you’ve been investing a lot of time – and emotion – already. Last night’s game between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants ended up as the longest game in post-season major league baseball history – 18 innings, after the Giants matched the Nationals’ single-run score in the bottom of the ninth. Forget the players: It was an exhausting game to watch. Today, TBS presents both games, making it easy to find them. At 3:30 p.m. ET, it’s Game 3 of the Baltimore Orioles-Detroit Tigers contest, with Baltimore ahead in the series 2-0, with a shot at a series sweep this afternoon. Then, at 7:30 p.m. ET, it’s another Game 3, this one between the Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Royals. And it’s another potential sweep, because the Royals have won every game so far.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET

“We’re on to Cincinnati.” Earlier this week, in the ultra-testy press conference after the New England Patriots got trounced by the Kansas City Chiefs, Patriots coach Bill Belichick batted away a series of questions by reporters with variations on the same don’t-want-to-talk-about-that-awful-game answer. “We’re on to Cincinnati.” “We’re on to Cincinnati.” “It’s nothing about the past, nothing about the future. Right now we’re preparing for Cincinnati.” Well, setting aside the observation that Cincinnati, the team the Patriot faces tonight, is about the future, the “on to Cincinnati” matchup finally has arrived. The Patriots are 2-2 after the loss to the Chiefs, putting the team in a three-way tie for first in the AFC East with the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills – while the Cincinnati Bengals, rested after a bye week, are undefeated at 3-0. Whatever happens on the field, the next Belichick postgame press conference should prove very, very interesting.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Season 4 of Homeland begins with a reboot of the series, and a refocusing of sympathies and plots, that works very well. Showtime is showing the first two episodes of the season as a powerful two-hour opener – and parts of it are gripping enough to have you forgiving the series for last year’s excesses and missteps. Claire Danes is intense and captivating – and so is Mandy Patinkin, as her former boss, Saul, now working in the private sector, but, like Carrie, just as much of a stubborn loose cannon. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website.
 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:30 p.m. ET

Last week’s episode offered even more surprises and memorable set pieces. Diane Lockhart walking from one firm to the next, with a gaggle of younger colleagues in tow, was a great image – and at the end, the unexpected murder of a key witness let us know how ruthlessly Cary’s drug-lord client was playing, while the reveal about Eli’s duplicitous campaign tactics did the same for one of the show’s most beloved characters. One thing about The Good Wife, and maybe it’s the best thing of all: This series never, ever lets things sit still long enough to stagnate. And tonight, Cary is out of jail, Diane is his new partner – and her first court case involves trying to defend him.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Shortly after it began, The Strain was renewed for a Season 2, which means tonight’s Season 1 finale will not complete the saga of this chase to find and vanquish The Master – though, given what this series has done thus far, expect the closing minutes of tonight’s show to keep haunting your dreams until The Strain returns in 2015.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.