MONDAY
DECEMBER 5
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 6:00 a.m. ET

Vitaphone was the experimental system, employed by Warner Bros. and sister studio First National, that brought sound to movies by sound-on-disc system, as developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and General Electric. Today, to honor the 90th anniversary of Vitaphone, TCM presents a 24-hour salute, presenting many short films for the first time. Film fans should warm up their DVRs. The action starts at 6 a.m. ET with 1934’s Paree, Paree, an early short starring Bob Hope, and includes 1927’s seminal The Jazz Singer, the full-length Al Jolson movie including synchronized-sound musical sequences, at 6 p.m. ET. But watch for other treats and rarities as well, including 1937’s Cab Calloway in Hi-De-Ho, an eye-opener (and ear-opener) for those who think music videos began with MTV, at 2:45 p.m. ET; Calloway again, as well as the dancing Nicholas Brothers and singer Adelaide Hall, in 1935’s An All-Colored Vaudeville Show at 4:37 p.m. ET; and, in prime time, 1929’s My Bag O’ Trix, starring the incomparably weird upright-bass “virtuoso” Trixie Friganza, at 9:18 p.m. ET, and 1929’s Lambchops (pictured) at 9:45 p.m. ET, featuring a vaudeville team named George Burns and Gracie Allen five years before they starred on radio, and and more than two decades before they starred on TV.
 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Last week, in an elimination show that booted two contestants to narrow the field to the Final 8, Aaron Gibson from Miley Cyrus’ team (at right in the accompanying photo) was in the bottom group, and threatened with elimination unless he sang his way to safety, for the third week in a row. And for a third week in a row, he survived, this time by singing a version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” Austin Allsup and Courtney Harrell, both from Blake Shelton’s team, were cut loose, so they may be thinking twice about their respective song selections. Tonight, the Top 8 sing once more, with another elimination round tomorrow.

 
  
 
 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: One of the Apollo Theater’s long-standing traditions – so long-standing it began in 1934 – is Amateur Night at the Apollo, which launched the careers of artists as varied, and as talented, as James Brown, “Little” Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five. A syndicated TV show, incorporating the amateur competition along with its more professional acts, ran from 1987 to 2008, with Steve Harvey serving as host for seven of those 21 years. Now Harvey and Showtime at the Apollo are back, for a pair of specials (the second will be broadcast early next year), with Amateur Night, and the infamous hook to escort flopping aspirants offstage, duly represented.

 
  
 
 

CBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

Taped last Wednesday in Paris, this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show features musical performances by Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd, and Victoria’s Secret model Jasmine Tookes wearing a $3-million bra. Me, I watch this annual TV special for the articles.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 10:01 p.m. ET

This series sure knows, if nothing else, how to hone in on interesting historical periods and personages. But then again, so did the 1960s series The Time Tunnel, and that was a major clunker, too. But for now, Timeless is a pleasant enough diversion – and tonight, Jacqueline Byers and Sam Strike guest star as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a bank-robbing duo so famous during the Depression era, they were first-name celebrities, like Sonny and Cher.

 
  
 
 

TBS, 10:30 p.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: After a short and too-silent hiatus, Samantha Bee is back. And her voice was missed, so welcome her back tonight, with her sorely needed take on the current news, and the political and Twitter choices of President-Elect Donald Trump.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.