WEDNESDAY
MARCH 13
2019

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET

SERIES RETURN: Empire returns for its final two episodes of Season 5, but the character of Jamal Lyon, played by Jussie Smollett, won’t be seen. He’s been edited and written out, pending a resolution of the actor’s real-life controversy. Tomorrow in Chicago, Smollett is scheduled to be arraigned for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself. If found guilty, Smollett’s career may crumble – but Empire , still one of Fox's most popular scripted shows, may not.
 
  
 
 

AMC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Last weekend was the golden anniversary of the publication of the original Godfather novel by Mario Puzo. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 movie version was infinitely better than the novel, and his sequel movie, starring Robert De Niro as a young Vito Corleone in flashback scenes while Al Pacino moved forward as youngest son Michael, was even better than the first film. For a while there, every iteration of The Godfather improved impressively upon its predecessors. And then came The Godfather Part III…

 
  
 
 

IFC, 11:00 p.m. ET

Fred Armisen stars in this week’s new edition, playing an enterprising fan looking for Gary Larson, the cartoonist who created The Far Side, then stopped of his own accord and became reclusive in a J.D. Salinger “don’t mess with me” sense. It’s been close to 25 years since Larson put an end to his own ubiquitous output and career – which seems amazing, since several of his illustrations and captions remain etched indelibly in my laugh-loving brain (cows driving past a field of humans, and rolling down the car window to shout “Yakity yak yak yak!”). I love the concept behind this faux documentary, about a fan getting financial support from the Internet to track down his idol, and co-writer Bill Hader is one of the clever minds behind it. An inspiration here may be Joel Allen Schroeder’s 2013 documentary Dear Mr. Watterson, in which fans extol the work of similarly reclusive cartoonist Bill Watterson, who ended his Calvin & Hobbes comic strip in 1995 – the same year Larson stopped his. But even without context, these Documentary Now! shows are deliciously entertaining.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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2691 Comments
 
 
After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon.
Jul 13, 2025   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
Thank you Mr. HTTPS sir!

please continue to subscribe to my RSS feed - it's the ONLY place where you can hear my words of wisdom. Well, except for my spectacular Fresh Air appearances, with the inscrutable Terry Gross! And of course if you're a student in my classes in College!!

ROTFLMBFFAO!!!

Sincerely,

Dave
Jul 14, 2025
 
 
 
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Jul 4, 2025   |  Reply
 
 
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Jun 28, 2025   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
What topic is that sweet-cheeks??

Love,

Dave
Jul 2, 2025
 
 
 
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Jun 27, 2025   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
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Dave Bianculli
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just kidding, I was pretending I was a MAGAidiot.
Jun 27, 2025
 
 
 
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Jun 15, 2025   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
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Jun 16, 2025
 
 
 
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Dave Bianculli
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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.