MONDAY
SEPTEMBER 8
2014

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

CBS, 5:00 p.m. ET

A Monday afternoon men’s final at the U.S. Open is unusual enough – but the players vying for the title this year are even more so. It’s the first time in a long time, almost a decade, that the final is being played by someone outside of the men’s game’s so-called “Big Four” – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray. It’s the first time that the U.S. Open men’s final will be played by two double-digit seeds: No. 10 Kei Nishikori of Japan (pictured) and No. 14 Marin Cilic of Croatia – and it’s the first time ever for an Asian male player to reach a Grand Slam final.

 
  
 
 

ESPN, 7:00 p.m. ET

This week, more NFL evening games will be played in prime time, I believe, than at any time in TV history. There’s already been one game last night on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. And in three days CBS launches the official start of Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile, tonight, ESPN presents the flagship evening NFL game it inherited long ago from ABC, Monday Night Football, with a rare doubleheader event. At 7 p.m. ET, it’s the New York Giants vs. the Detroit Lions. Then, at 10:15 p.m. ET, it’s the San Diego Chargers vs. the Arizona Cardinals. That’s four night games over a five-night stretch, which I suspect is a record.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

Former firefighter Steve Buscemi, currently starring in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, interviews his old firehouse buddies, and others, in this fond salute to New York firemen, and firewomen. I’ve heard stories for years about how Buscemi, avoiding publicity and wanting only to help, rejoined his old Engine 55 company to show up at Ground Zero the day after 9/11. This documentary, directed by Liz Garbus, confirms that, and even includes eerie footage shot with Buscemi’s own video camera – footage showing, among other things, handwritten messages traced in the ash-white dust covering all surfaces in the surviving structures. The title A Good Job, it turns out, describes “a really tough fire” – and the details of the importance of the firehouse kitchen means that Denis Leary, in his FX series Rescue Me, got it right. But that was fiction. This new documentary, shown a few days before the anniversary of 9/11, is fact.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

The point of view in tonight’s new POV, titled The Genius of Marian, is an intimate look at a family sadly familiar with Alzheimer’s. Marian Williams Steele, the renowned artist, died from Alzheimer’s in 2001. Her daughter, Pam White, set to work on a book about her mother, tentatively titled The Genius of Marian, then was stricken by Alzheimer’s herself. Her son Banker White, one of Pam’s three children – portrayed, along with his mother, Pam, in the Marian Steele watercolor shown here – teamed with his wife, Anna Fitch, to produce this documentary. The goal: to examine how Alzheimer’s affects not only its victims, but the surrounding family members.  Check local listings.

 
  
 
 

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET

Tonight’s guest: John Lithgow, whose new film is Love Is Strange, and who’s done double duty on the Broadway stage, having just played King Lear in Central Park, and preparing to play Tobias in A Delicate Balance, which begins previews next month. Colbert’s best guests are the ones who get, and can react to and keep up with, his sense of humor. That makes Lithgow an ideal guest, so stay tuned.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.