MONDAY

JANUARY 9

2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

This is a warning, not a recommendation. The first installment in this show’s new iteration, which features former California governor and Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the new host, and retains former host Donald Trump in the credits as an executive producer, was televised last week. There were two big battles in last week’s bloated season premiere, and the men’s team, including Jon Lovitz and Boy George, won both of them. Now, with 11 days to go until Trump is inaugurated as President of the United States, The New Celebrity Apprentice presents its second installment – and already has its critics, complaining of the show’s ratings and new host. Among those critics: Donald Trump, even though he’s still drawing a paycheck from this new version.

MAKING THE MONKEES

Smithsonian, 8:00 p.m. ET

This one-hour documentary was released a decade ago, and is somewhat superficial – but it contains enough behind-the-scenes footage, vintage interviews, and clips from the old NBC series The Monkees to explain how this fabricated music group, the Pre-Fab Four, not only copied the Beatles, but rivaled them. And, at one point in the 1960s, outsold them.

CNN TOWN HALL: BERNIE SANDERS

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo will moderate this political discussion featuring one of the former candidates for president in the 2016 election cycle. Televised live from George Washington University.

BIG FAN

ABC, 10:01 p.m. ET

SERIES PREMIERE: We already have one TV game-show series based on a late-night TV segment: Spike TV’s Lip Sync Battle, which originated on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Now we have another, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel Live. The ABC host has authorized and overseen this spinoff of his “Who Knows?” segments, in which celebrities are pitted against fans to see who knows more about that celebrity’s work, and other things. For this new ABC version, Conan TBS sidekick Andy Richter hosts – and the opening-night guest is Matthew McConaughey. Coming up in the next three episodes: Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, professional celebrity Kim Kardashian West, and Frozen and The Good Place co-star Kristen Bell.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

TCM, 11:00 p.m. ET

This 1959 comedy classic, directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, is treasured by the American Film Institute and other institutions as one of the funniest comedy movies ever made. And it’s tough to argue against them, because of its trio of charming central performances. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play musicians who go on the lam with an all-girl orchestra, masquerading as women to avoid the mobsters whom they saw murder some rival gangsters. Marilyn Monroe completes the central trio, playing singer and ukulele player Sugar Kane. Curtis dons yet another disguise to woo her, playing a wealthy but shy fussbudget, and patterns his vocal patterns after those of Cary Grant.

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2801 Comments

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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.

New From TVWW

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Smithsonian, 8:00 p.m. ET

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

ABC, 10:01 p.m. ET

TCM, 11:00 p.m. ET

David Bianculli

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