CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET
I didn’t know until last week, when I previewed the opening episode of CNN’s latest deep dive into various decades, that the episode had taken its title from my latest book: The Platinum Age of Television. How nice. And it’s also nice that this two-hour episode makes such a strong case for my central thesis, that television has matured mightily in around this current century. So many superb interviewees are shown speaking on the subject, including Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, that I’m honored to be included. But I want it known, at least to Gilligan and to the gifted creators of such shows as Deadwood and The Sopranos and The West Wing and Breaking Bad, that I raved at length about them as well – but so did so many other people, and so well, that those enthusiasms of mine ended up on the cutting room floor. But as always, I’m proud to be in the mix at all, so if anyone doubts my original intentions or enthusiasms, just go read my book. Meanwhile, please, watch this opening episode of The 2000s. Then keep watching, as the series unfolds, because Mark Herzog, Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Kirk Saduski, and the rest of the folks behind ambitious string of historical and cultural documentary series (which began with The Sixties) have turned out consistently informative, entertaining, and invaluable work over the decades. So to speak.
FX, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s episode is called “Love Is the Message,” and the message is clear: In one subplot, Pray Tell visits the AIDS ward at a local hospital. Not as a patient, or as a grieving loved one – but as the organizer of a mood-bolstering cabaret concert.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Amy Adams stars in this new HBO miniseries, based on the first novel by Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, who directed HBO’s similarly dark and moody Big Little Lies. There’s a mystery afoot, about missing and murdered young girls, and Adams plays a troubled newspaper reporter who returns to her small home town to investigate. Adams, all sullen and scarred – physically as well as emotionally – delivers the best performance of her career to date. And Patricia Clarkson, as the reporter’s controlling and manipulative mother, is as icy as a polar cap. The images are often all but subliminal, and the music leaking from car radios and bar jukeboxes full of volume and pain… just like the characters. To read and hear my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. And for another full review, on TVWW, read Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes.
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
The vote of no confidence against Logan is on the horizon, and the horizon is approaching rapidly – so Roman sets his sights on influencing a somewhat neutral board member. This new episode’s title, appropriately, is: “Which Side Are You On?”