FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 9
2018

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET

The second installment of this new talk show from David Letterman arrives today on Netflix. The guest this time is George Clooney, who talks family as well as film, and even gets to discuss his passion for certain global issues and news events. Oh, and he and Letterman also demonstrate some good taste, in both jokes and fast food: In an on-location capper filmed outside an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles, Clooney and Letterman munch on fries and burgers while Letterman ends the show by telling Clooney his new favorite joke. Worth the wait? Yes, and so is the rest of the hour.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

There are two ways to watch this year’s Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, which take place in the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea. One is live, where you can watch it on the NBC Olympics website (Pyeongchang is 14 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast, so the ceremony, which begins in South Korea at 8 p.m. local time there, can be seen on the website in the States beginning today at 6 a.m. ET). The other is in its usual tape-delayed, edited and packaged prime-time version, which begins on NBC beginning at 8 ET tonight. And on that NBC broadcast coverage in prime time, the lineup of hosts has changed significantly. Bob Costas, who has been the prime-time host for the past 11 Olympics televised by NBC since 1992, has stepped down, to be replaced by Mike Tirico. And Matt Lauer, another formerly prominent fixture in NBC’s Olympics coverage, is gone for different but well-known reasons – and is replaced by another former Today host, Katie Couric. For a preview, see Alex Strachan's TV That Matters.
 
  
 
 

IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET

When Mel Brooks came out with his Star Wars spoof in 1987, a full decade after George Lucas released his first film, I thought at first that Brooks was arriving to the party, and the subject, a little late. After all, how many people still cared that much about Star Wars? I was so wrong, and Brooks was so right, that Spaceballs remains the biggest seller on home video among all of Brooks’ comedy classics. And on a night when another network, TCM, is saluting costume design, give Spaceballs a nod, too – especially for the way John Candy plays a canine Chewbacca type as Barf (pictured), Rick Moranis is a diminutive Darth Vader as the oddly proportioned Dark Helmet, and Brooks himself is delivers a perfect Yoda parody as Yogurt. May the farce be with you…

 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Tonight’s films in TCM’s “31 Days of Oscar” salute winners in the category of costume design, but most of the movies selected don’t exactly scream of costuming in a showy, gaudy way. But memorable? Absolutely – as in this 1962 winner, which deserved its Oscar simply for the way it dressed Bette Davis in that unshakably creepy children’s outfit. It was as scary as almost anything else in Baby Jane, including the rat entrée.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET

Among Bill Maher’s guests tonight is someone who has been all over the news this week: Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff. And he’ll be answering Maher’s questions without being served with a subpoena.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 11:30 p.m. ET

Phoebe Robinson from I Love Dick and Jessica Williams from The Daily Show continue their series of loosely organized, casually enjoyable HBO specials – bantering together, introducing comics they like for brief standup sets, and making room for a special guest. Tonight, that guest is Sarah Jessica Parker, and the 2 Dope Queens are huge fans. The day’s topic? Hair…

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.