SUNDAY

MARCH 5

2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Fox, 8:30 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: There’s a baffling surfeit of time-travel shows this season, from NBC’s Timeless and the CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow to ABC’s brand new Time After Time spinoff, which begins tonight. But this new Fox series is a comedy, not a drama, and that may make all the difference. Adam Pally plays Dan, a science nerd who has invented a time-travel device (okay, it’s a large duffel bag), and uses it to travel back in time so he can appropriate, and pre-introduce, the music, punch lines and other ideas of those who came before him. He does this to meet and impress women – most notably, Paul Revere’s daughter, played by Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl. For reviews, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes and David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower. And for a perspective on time travel programming, see Alex Strachan's TV That Matters.

VICTORIA ON MASTERPIECE

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: This is the seventh and final episode of this first season of Victoria on Masterpiece. But Queen Victoria has so much historical ground left to cover, it’s a good bet this series, and Jenna Coleman in the title role, will return for another round with the crown. Check local listings.

THE WALKING DEAD

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

Last week, the entire episode was spent with Eugene, as this series continues its divide-and-conquer approach to storytelling. And tonight, the focus turns largely to Rick and Michonne, who spend some of their allotted screen time remembering the departed, and still missed, Glenn.

BIG LITTLE LIES

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

This is episode 3 of David E. Kelley’s multilayered miniseries adaptation – and with each episode, the battles among and between the women in this Northern California neighborhood get increasingly pitched, just as the women tend to act more and more… pitchy.

FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

This new anthology miniseries from Ryan Murphy begins with Bette and Joan, a dramatization of the making of the 1962 low-budget horror film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It’s a skillfully shaped, artfully recreated story, which finds a way to say still-pertinent things about Hollywood and women, while reveling in the last gasp of the good old days of Hollywood. In the title roles, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange are a delight as, respectively, Davis and Crawford – and the supporting cast is full of wonderful surprises, too, including Alison Wright of The Americans as Pauline (pictured) and Kiernan Shipka, the daughter on Mad Men, as Bette Davis’ daughter. For full reviews, see and hear my report on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

I know, I mention John Oliver every week. But I watch him every week, and I’m always so grateful for the work he’s put in, as well as the laughs. If you haven’t seen him yet, give him a try. If you have, then, like me, you’re almost certain to return.

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR

getTV, 1:00 a.m. ET

It’s been 50 years since The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered on CBS. Tonight, on getTV, two of the best 1967 episodes are repeated back-to-back. The first is a Season 2 episode guest-starring Bette Davis, who is the scene-stealing subject of tonight’s new Feud: Bette and Joan miniseries on FX. It also guest stars The Who, a group making its American TV debut (pictured is Tom Smothers with lead singer Roger Daltrey), and making it with a bang – an infamously out-of-control explosion at the end of “My Generation.” And then, at 2 a.m. ET, getTV presents the classic Season 1 episode featuring guest stars Janet Leigh and Simon & Garfunkel, who team up for a mind-blowing, taboo-questioning sketch called “Billy the Kid’s Birthday.” Half a century later, both shows are astoundingly daring – and fresh.

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3685 Comments

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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.

New From TVWW

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Fox, 8:30 p.m. ET

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

getTV, 1:00 a.m. ET

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