THURSDAY

AUGUST 8

2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

2013 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

TNT, 1:00 p.m. ET

The 95^th PGA Championship, a contest won handily last year by Rory McIlroy, begins today, with both McIlroy and Tiger Woods, among others, determined to find the recently missing parts of their game and fight for final-day contention. Among the tee times for today’s opening round: Woods at 8:35 a.m. ET (before TNT begins coverage), McIlroy (pictured) at 1:25 p.m. ET, and Phil Mickelson at 1:45 ET.

BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

This 1929 version of the biblical epic (the famous 1959 version of which was shown by TCM Monday night) is presented this evening, and it’s a really fascinating compare-and-contrast exercise. You’d think, for example, there would be no way that a silent movie could capture the kinetic excitement of the chariot race as grandly as the later film – but you’d be wrong. Plenty of animals, and humans, I suspect, were harmed in the making of this picture.

SHARKPOCALYPSE

Discovery, 9:00 p.m. ET

Midway through Discovery’s annual Shark Week, and they finally serve up a title worthy of singular mention. It’s a fun name for a nature program, even if it doesn’t make much sense. (What’s next? Sharkmageddon?) This new one-hour Sharkpocalypse special, by the way, is preceded at 8 p.m. ET by Spawn of Jaws: Sharktweeto, and followed at 10 p.m. ET by Alien Sharks of the Deep.

HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT

NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET

CW’s Whose Line Is It Anyway? may be the worst at cramming its own network celebrities into a game show for easy cross-promotion, but this NBC entry, at least tonight, gives it a run for its money in the shameless promotion department. Guests include Today weather guy Al Roker and America’s Got Talent host Nick Cannon. But you also get, thank goodness, Jason Alexander, who shows up ready to play, and with more hair than usual.

MARATHON MAN

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

“Is it safe? Is it safe?” I’m not saying. But I will say that this 1976 thriller, starring Dustin Hoffman as a distance runner and college student who runs afoul of some very evil people, has an interrogation scene with Laurence Olivier that I’ve never, ever forgotten. Especially when I visit the dentist’s office.

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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

TNT, 1:00 p.m. ET

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Discovery, 9:00 p.m. ET

NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

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