FRIDAY
MAY 8
2015

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin star in this new Netflix comedy series, co-created by Marta Kauffmann of Friends. The entirety of Season 1 is available today. They play wives of long-standing law partners, played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, who surprise their respective spouses at dinner with the joint announcement that a) they're asking for a divorce, b) they're gay, and c) they're in love with one another and intend to get married as a male couple. Both families have grown children, and breaking the news to the kids, as well as the wives, is what propels this series -- much as it did with Amazon's Transparent. Tomlin and Fonda, in the first handful of episodes, are better in scenes with their spouses and kids than with each other, but Sheen and Waterston together are subtle and terrific where the ladies play a bit broadly. And give Sheen credit for career symmetry: In 1972, he starred with Hal Holbrook in a wonderful, groundbreaking dramatic telemovie called That Certain Summer, in which he played a long-married man who surprised his wife by announcing he wanted a divorce because he had come to the realization that he loved someone else. Another man...

 
  
 
 

Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET

From 1969, one of my very favorite movies: Paul Newman and Robert Redford as charming outlaws in the Old West. Written by William Goldman and directed by George Roy Hill, it's basically a perfect motion picture. No matter how many times I've seen it, I'm always happy, and tuned in, whenever it shows up on TV.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

TCM's month-long salute to Orson Welles continues with this re-edited version of Welles' thriller about political and personal corruption in a small Mexican town. Welles co-stars, co-wrote, and directed this film in 1958, and this version was re-edited 40 years later.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tonight's guests: Billy Crystal and Erin Brockovich. Ought to be a good one...

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET

Another entry in TCM's salute to Orson Welles, this 1948 thriller casts him as a man unduly, but understandably, attracted to another man's wife -- played by the sultry Rita Hayworth, who, in a figurative sense, is playing Welles' smitten character as well. She's playing him, all right -- in the best, most evil film noir tradition.

 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
FVFFF
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 270  | Go to page: 
5382 Comments
 
 
??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?????. ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?????.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I am very much pleased with the contents you have mentioned. I wanted to thank you for this great article.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I like your blog. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing it
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I’ve been searching for some decent stuff on the subject and haven't had any luck up until this point, You just got a new biggest fan!.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I am definitely enjoying your website. You definitely have some great insight and great stories.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. I was exactly searching for. Thanks for such post and please keep it up. Great work.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer!..
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Very useful information shared in this article, nicely written! I will be reading your articles and using the informative tips. Looking forward to read such knowledgeable articles.
Nov 12, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thank you again!

"
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"It’s amazing to go to see this web page and reading the
views of all colleagues regarding this piece of writing,
while I am also keen of getting knowledge."
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Manusia yang menyedihkan, mencari uang dengan menipu orang jujur. Persetan dengan sampah ini.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Perilaku penipuan murni. Bajingan-bajingan ini tidak punya moral dan tidak ragu-ragu menipu orang lain.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para penipu kelas rendah melakukan apa yang paling mereka kuasai—berbohong, menipu, dan menghilang dengan uang orang lain.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Situs web ini benar-benar penipuan, jangan percayai mereka.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Pemerintah Indonesia tangkap situs web sialan itu
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Hanya kebohongan dan taktik penipuan. Buang-buang waktu dan uang saja.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Sialan para penipu ini karena telah mencuri uang dan kepercayaan orang lain.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Para penipu ini adalah pembohong profesional. Siapa pun yang mempercayai mereka hanya ikut memperkuat penipuan mereka.
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Bajingan keparat, akan kupukul pantatmu dengan sangat keras!
Nov 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 270  | Go to page: 
 
 

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.