SATURDAY

MAY 5

2012

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

2012 KENTUCKY DERBY

NBC, 4:00 p.m. ET

There are Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs all over the dial today, but attention must be paid to this first of the year’s Triple Crown events. It’s the 138^th annual race from Churchill Downs – and this year, though Bodemeister (pictured) is the early favorite, there’s the sense that, with luck, anything can happen. And with HBO’s Luck still in recent memory, there’s a slight sense of foreboding as well.

TREASURE ISLAND

Syfy, 7:00 p.m. ET

Eddie Izzard plays it straight, and shaves his head, to play a ruthless yet charismatic Long John Silver, a pirate who’s captivating in more ways than one. It’s a four-hour miniseries presented intact in one giant setting – and, on a slow TV night, is an exotic voyage worth taking, focusing on the more frightening portions of the original Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Elijah Wood co-stars. For a full review, see TVWW contributor Mike Donovan’s Thinking Inside the Box column HERE.

ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME: 2012 INDUCTION CEREMONY

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

First there is a rock star, then there is no rock star, then there is: Donovan Leitch, who serenaded the Sixties with such songs as “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” “Mellow Yellow” and “Season of the Witch,” returns to the spotlight at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – accompanied by John Mellencamp, who introduces Donovan as one of this year’s inductees. Others in this delayed coverage by HBO include… well, for a rundown, and a reaction, see TVWW contributor Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader story HERE.

CARS 2

Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET

This 2011 Pixar film is considered, by some, to be the only “failure” in the entire Pixar roster – a sequel that’s not as inspired as the ones in the Toy Story trilogy, and not as well-received by most critics. But the movie earned more than $190 million at the U.S. box office – and globally, pulled in more than half a billion. If that’s failure, everyone in Hollywood would like to cut off a slice of that.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET

Peyton Manning did a great job when he was guest host of SNL back in 2007. Tonight is little brother Eli’s turn to host, with Rihanna as musical guest. But she’s been here before: This is her third visit.

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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.

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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

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