SUNDAY
JULY 9
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

National Geographic, 8:00 p.m. ET

Live TV specials on a grand scale are like competing at the Olympics: You work for a long, long time to get one shot at glory, with only so many elements under your control. When it works, you get the Beatles unveiling “All You Need Is Love” to a global TV audience. When it doesn’t, you get Geraldo Rivera giving a sheepish shrug in front of an empty Al Capone “vault.” Tonight, for two hours, National Geographic goes to various places around the world, where its top nature photographers are poised, in the wild and in more urban locations, to, they hope, capture animals in action across the globe, live. It’s a bold experiment – but what can we really expect to see? Carnage? Courtship? Maybe. But, just as likely, there will be more than a little dozing, scratching, and urinating. To be fair, though, that’s pretty much what Earth Live would be likely to get if it trained its cameras at my natural habitat as well…
 
  
 
 

Smithsonian, 8:00 p.m. ET

The decade covered tonight is the 1930s – and the images, in color, sometimes are vibrant and riveting. But not all vintage images, moving or still, need be colorized, an opinion I share with Eric Gould, in his latest Cold Light Reader column.
 
  
 
 

CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET

DOCUMENTARY SERIES PREMIERE: CNN’s latest documentary series about a specific decade, The Nineties, premieres tonight, with an expanded two-hour opener looking at, as usual, television. This time it’s called “The One About TV,” which is a clear nod to NBC’s Friends, one of the clear hits to emerge from that decade. Others include Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, The Sopranos, ER, The Larry Sanders Show, and the program charts the clear emergence of cable TV as a vital source of new quality television. Fair warning: I’m in here somewhere, as a talking head – but I keep doing these CNN episodes about TV because the producers keep doing them so well. I recommend The Nineties not because of my tangential involvement, but in spite of it. So watch The Nineties, and see, all over again, Ellen come out, Tony Soprano strangle a guy, and O.J. make a break for it.

 
  
 
 

HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET

DOCUMENTARY SERIES PREMIERE: Part 1 of 4. This four-part documentary will be televised in hourly chunks tonight through Wednesday, and tells the dual, eventually intersecting stories of music figures, producers, and now moguls Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Their individual stories are unusual, even inspirational, but they’re retold here with an almost unquestioning, too-fawning eye. The insights about the music they produced are the best part, and allow glimpses into the recording sessions of everyone from NWA to John Lennon. Interviews with the artists make The Defiant Ones worth watching, but this enterprise feels a bit too authorized to be artistically and historically objective. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.
 
  
 
 

History, 9:00 p.m. ET

Now this is fascinating. Using all sorts of spectrum analyses and other tests, this History special examines a recently uncovered photograph, purportedly of Amelia Earhart after her final solo plane flight, to test its authenticity. And, surprisingly, it appears to pass all the tests, which may finally put an end to the mystery surrounding the aviatrix’s disappearance.

 
  
 
 

Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET

Two weeks ago, Twin Peaks: The Return presented a creepy episode with a restless spirit who walked around reciting poetry, crushing skulls, and asking for a light for his cigarette. One week ago, Twin Peaks went on holiday for the July 4 weekend, with no new episode. Tonight, we finally get to see Episode 9, and the show has provided an official synopsis, so we can get a hint about what to expect. Here is that synopsis, quoted in full: “This is the chair.” And the image I’ve selected may, or may not, be the chair in question. My guess is, probably not.

 
  
 
 

Spike, 9:00 p.m. ET

Spike TV has presented a few Dean Martin roast-type specials in recent years, saluting Eddie Murphy in 2012 and Don Rickles in 2014. This year’s recipient is Alec Baldwin, and the festivities were held at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Attendees included Robert De Niro, Tracy Morgan, Julianne Moore, and even a few family members.

 
  
 
 

PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: Part 3. Stefani Martini concludes her role as young Jane Tennison in this prequel to the Prime Suspects series starring Helen Mirren. I’m hoping they’ll make more, because Martini as Tennison has been intriguing to watch – especially when she makes some sharp decisions on the case, and (pictured) some very dumb decisions off it. Check local listings.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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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.