SATURDAY
JULY 8
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

As a lead-up to tonight’s showing of director James Whale’s classic 1935 Bride of Frankenstein film on TCM’s The Essentials series, the network has televised the original theatrical trailer promoting this sequel to Frankenstein. What amazed me about it is that nowhere in that promo short is Elsa Lanchester, in the title role, either shown or identified. It was a big reveal at the time: What will “the bride” of Boris Karloff’s visually spooky Frankenstein’s Monster look like? Well, she looks great, and iconic. And not only is this a fabulous monster movie, but it has several set pieces that are at the core not only of the genre, but of Mel Brooks’ brilliant spoof in Young Frankenstein four decades later.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 8:30 p.m. ET

More than a decade ago, in 2005, the trio of comic collaborators known collectively as Lonely Island – Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone – were hired by Saturday Night Live as writers (and Samberg as a featured player). Almost instantly, they presented the digital short “Lazy Sunday,” which, when replayed on YouTube, became one of the first videos to “go viral.” The trio’s output continued on SNL for several years, including the infamous “Dick in a Box” video featuring Samberg and Justin Timberlake, and they also produced music albums and two films. Popstar is the second, a rockumentary comedy in the vein of, but not nearly as sly as, This is Spinal Tap! Released in 2016, it gives co-starring roles to all three Lonely Island players, playing feuding members of a once-popular boy band group. The supporting cast includes Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Bill Hader and others, with cameos by everyone from Adam Levine and Mariah Carey to Ringo Starr and Emma Stone (pictured).

 
  
 
 

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

Tomorrow night, CNN premieres The Nineties, its latest entry in its series of miniseries documentaries exploring specific decades. Tonight, yet another repeat of The Eighties, in a marathon that includes its two-hour history of TV of the decade, such as the hugely popular finale of M*A*S*H – history which, in turn, includes me, as a TV critic. And in the real Eighties, I was a TV critic too, for, in order, The Fort Lauderdale News, The Akron Beacon-Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Post, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Still working for one of those outfits after all these years – but only one.

 
  
 
 

BBC America, 10:00 p.m. ET

We’re getting so close to the end for this series – and tonight, we finally get the answer to one question that’s been bubbling beneath the surface since Orphan Black began: What are the origins, and extents, of the powers of Sarah’s daughter, Kira?

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

It’s a big Andy Samberg night on HBO. After the premiere of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping earlier in the night, the network presents the premiere of Tour de Pharmacy, a sports mockumentary starring Samberg, in the vein of 2015’s 7 Days in Hell. This time, though, it’s about pro cycling, not pro tennis. But Samberg as the star, and Murray Miller as the writer, and Jake Szymanski as the director, are reprising their Hell approach: concocting an imaginary sporting event from decades ago, and building a documentary about it, spoofing both the sport and filmmaking at the same time. This time, the “event” is Tour de France, the pro cycling event, where this fictional premise claims that almost all its competitors used illicit drugs to compete. This comedy isn’t entirely a laughing matter, though: It includes, as one of its centerpieces, an appearance by Lance Armstrong – the disgraced cycling athlete – as himself, with his voice and appearance “altered,” with comic ineffectiveness, to disguise his identity. Whether you think that’s funny may depend on your position on the old “books by crooks” concept. Should Armstrong’s indiscretions be dismissed, and accepted, as a laughing matter? In a comic documentary about accused sexual abusers, would it be funny to include a guest appearance by, say, Bill Cosby?

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.