SUNDAY

MARCH 6

2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH

Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET

It’s not too soon to start thinking about this Showtime political documentary series as a regular event – not only as an addition to your weekly TV viewing schedule, but as a TV series that rises from dormancy every few years, like locusts, to cover the latest presidential election campaign. It’s that interesting. Give the producers credit, too, for launching their Circus in the middle of the most unpredictable and unusual race in modern political history. The latest to fall: Ben Carson.

ONCE UPON A TIME

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

MIDSEASON RETURN: Once Upon a Time is back with new episodes, but this time the show’s gone to hell. Or, at least, to some version of the Underworld, where a band of characters from Storybrooke descend in hopes of rescuing Hook. Watch for Greg Germann of Ally McBeal fame as Hades – and watch for several long-dispatched characters from the series to make return appearances, because Hades happens to be their current place of residence.

THE GOOD WIFE

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

In this week’s episode, the grand jury is assembled, Peter is the target – and Alicia and Eli have to decide what to do, how to react, and, most crucially, whom to trust. Assembling the jury: Assistant U.S. District Attorney Connor Fox, played by former Glee star Matthew Morrison.

MASTERPIECE: "DOWNTON ABBEY"

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

MINISERIES CONCLUSION: What you want most, out of the final episode of a long-running, much-beloved TV series, is for it to end in a way that’s both satisfying and representative – that it feels like another episode of the series, and yet brings closure to several ongoing story lines and a punctuation mark to the fates and fortunes of several of the characters. Downton Abbey, with tonight’s home-run finale, does just that, in a way that ties a ribbon on the whole thing yet leaves you hungry, and wishing, for more – which may come, eventually, to a movie theater near you. For a full story and appreciation, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower. Check local listings.

THE WALKING DEAD

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

Jesus, this has been a great midseason run so far for The Walking Dead – and the mysterious character who calls himself Jesus, and has delivered our understandably wary heroes to yet another new settlement of survivors, is a big part of it. Tom Payne plays Paul Monroe, a.k.a. Jesus.

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

The morning after last week’s show, in which John Oliver devoted the meat of his program to an excoriating point-by-point examination of the positions and quotes of front-running Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, one of my former TV History & Appreciation students at Rowan University stopped me and said he thought Oliver’s piece on Trump reminded him of Edward R. Murrow’s similarly detailed and quote-filled takedown of Communist-hunting Sen. Joe McCarthy on CBS’s See It Now. High praise indeed – and actually, a very smart and valid comparison. What will Oliver do this week? I don’t have any idea, but set your DVRs or stay up to watch, because it’s almost time to see it now.

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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

Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET

HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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