TUESDAY

MAY 7

2019

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

FX, 8:00 p.m. ET

There are so, so many things to love about this 2017 thriller, written and directed by Jordan Peele. Parts of it are laugh-out loud funny, drawing on Peele’s extensive comedy background as half of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele. Other parts are creepy to the point of disturbing, thanks not only to Peele’s clever and unpredictable script, but to a parade of excellent performances. Lil Rel Howery, from NBC’s The Carmichael Show, is both funny and heroic as Rod, whose best friend (like him, a young African-American man) has taken off on a weekend vacation with his white girlfriend. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener are multilayered and hard to read as the girl’s parents. Betty Gabriel is spooky as their mild-mannered housekeeper. And as the central couple, Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams are perfect. Watch, as FX presents the movie’s basic cable premiere…

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Frank Capra’s 1935 romantic road comedy – a movie that, like his Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, is a deft cocktail of cynicism and optimism – was the first film to capture all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Capra), Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Best [Adapted] Screenplay (Robert Riskin). Watch it tonight, because that’s a rare feat. Only two films have done it since: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, and The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.

1969

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Delayed from last week, this hour is scheduled to be about Ted Kennedy, Chappaquiddick and Mary Jo Kopechne – respectively, the politician driving the car that veered off a bridge and overturned in the water, the place of the accident, and the drowning victim who was the car’s only other passenger.

FRONTLINE: "TRUMP'S TRADE WAR"

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: This is the Season 38 premiere of Frontline, a monumental feat that deserves a moment of silence – and awe. David Fanning’s documentary anthology series, like CBS’s 60 Minutes, has been so reliable and so informative for so long that it tends to be taken for granted. But since it deserves to inspire awe, let’s just call it awesome. Tonight’s opener analyzes the history and impact of President Donald Trump’s trade war policies. Check local listings.

FOSSE/VERDON

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

This is the fifth episode of Fosse/Verdon, and the last I’ve previewed. It’s called “Where Am I Going?” – and the eventual destination is Chicago. Not the city: the Broadway musical Chicago, the Bob Fosse triumph built around a show-stopping role for Gwen Verdon, as Depression-era killer and media sensation Roxie Hart. Michelle Williams plays Verdon, beautifully, and Sam Rockwell hangs on tight as Fosse.

STATE OF THE UNION

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

Part 2. This 10-part mini-drama (each episode is about 10 minutes long) continues, with another alternately rambling and intense conversation between a married couple about to step into a marriage counselor therapy session. Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike star, and they’re brilliant here – you never catch them “acting.” This 10-part series is written by Nick Hornby and directed by Stephen Frears, who collaborated on the wonderful movie version of High Fidelity. And it’s absolutely worth the time and effort to find it and watch – especially since the time goes by so quickly.

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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

FX, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 10:00 p.m. ET

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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