THURSDAY
JANUARY 19
2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

NBCSN, 7:30 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: In case you haven’t watched any of the previous seasons of this program, know two things. One, that it covers team play of various countries working their way to the Olympic games. Two, that curling is one of the most oddly soothing and hypnotically addicting competition events on television – right up there with darts and putting sheepdogs through their paces, but you have to watch British TV to see that stuff most of the time. This coverage of curling, that strange hybrid of shuffleboard and bowling on ice, became an Olympic sport in 1998, which is when David Letterman started making fun of it, and I started watching it in earnest, courtesy of Olympic coverage from Canada’s CBC. Tonight. For the season opener, men’s curling teams compete, representing the U.S. and China.

 
  
 
 

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

SEASON FINALE: The final two episodes of this season’s The Good Place are presented tonight – each with a cliffhanger that makes you wonder where the story, with Kristen Bell’s Eleanor trying to stay in a heavenly afterlife to which she’s been sent mistakenly, possibly will go next. After the first episode, at 8 p.m. ET, is over, you have to wait only a few minutes, and wade through a few commercials, to learn the answer. But after the 8:30 p.m. ET season finale is over, the questions linger. Questions like, will there be a season two? The show has lost almost half its audience since premiering last fall – but as an extended miniseries-type comedy, it’s been very satisfying. Creatively, it’s earned a renewal. But how much of a premium does NBC put on creativity right now?

 
  
 
 

CBS, 9:01 p.m. ET

It’s no secret that Mom star Anna Faris has slept with the guest star of tonight’s episode, or that it’s how he got the role. But there’s no scandal or shame involved. The guest star in question is Chris Pratt – and he’s not only the former co-star of Parks and Recreation, and the breakout movie star of Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s the husband of Anna Faris. And tonight, on Mom, he plays the new boyfriend of Faris’ Christy. But don’t expect the romance to last. His career’s too hot for that. I’m referring, to be clear, to their Mom roles, not their relationship in real life. On the real-world front, I wish them nothing but good tidings.

 
  
 
 

FX, 10:00 p.m. ET

SEASON PREMIERE: Zach Galifianakis plays two roles on Baskets, which returns on FX tonight to begin its second season. Yet the actor getting the most attention last year was Louie Anderson, who won an Emmy for playing the role of a mom. Specifically, the mother of the twins played by Galifianakis. Both comic actors are doing something truly special here, and delicately subtle. Baskets has been described as a “slapstick drama,” and that’s pretty damned close. Watch it and see… For full reviews, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
 
  
 
 

Spike, 10:00 p.m. ET

I don’t normally steer readers in the direction of this show, but tonight’s Lip Sync Battle features a duel that’s truly worth checking out, if only because it seems too entirely improbable. The battle is between two former network late-night talk-show hosts, Jay Leno and Craig Ferguson, both of whom have a little more time on their hands than they used to. But the musical selections performed in competition here are both telling and jarring: Leno, for example, dons a leather jacket to swagger his way through Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz.”

 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
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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.