DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

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TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
It's Such a Special Day, One Set of Best Bets Isn't Enough
April 1, 2011  | By David Bianculli
 
Some days are so special, and so packed with TV options, that one set of BEST BETS hardly seems enough to contain everything fairly. So today, which certainly qualifies as special, we offer a bit more...

If you're not particularly impressed by today's "official" April 1 BIANCULLI'S BEST BETS offerings, here are some alternatives -- which, I dare say, you might find even MORE entertaining...

AN-IDIOT-ABROAD-11-Jn22-p.jpg


AN IDIOT ABROAD (3-11 p.m. ET, Science Channel) -- What better special programming for April Fool's Day? Karl Pilkington, TV's most erudite fool, is showcased as Science Channel repeats this entire, thoroughly delightful travel series in one wonderful marathon serving.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? (8 p.m. ET, NBC) -- Tonight's subject, tracing her family tree, is actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The nearest branches are easy: Her mother is actress Blythe Danner, a wonderful and luminous talent in her own right -- and her father is pioneering TV producer Bruce Paltrow, whose credits include The White Shadow and St. Elsewhere.

DELIVERANCE (8 p.m. ET, AMC) -- Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jon Voight and Ronny Drew take an unforgettable weekend canoe trip down south in this thrilling 1972 character study. Turn left at Squealikeapig; you can't miss it.

THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW (9 p.m. ET, HBO) -- More nonsense, and sense, from Karl Pilkington.

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (10 p.m. ET, HBO) -- Tonight's guests are supposed to include the elusive Julian Schnabel. No fooling.

 

4 Comments

 

Osgood said:

At last! A Bianculli Best Bets list that includes wrestling -- and Sly -- and Hef -- and flying saucers. I wondered up till now whenyou were going to drop that high-brow facade and reveal what you REALLY like. Hope you're honest like this every first of April.

[My greatest fear was that people WOULDN'T get the joke. Thanks for putting me at ease. -- DB]

Comment posted on April 1, 2011 10:34 AM


Eileen said:

April Fools!!

And, like an April Fool, I was reading your first set of "Best Bets" and wondering if you were ok. Jersey Shore...Kendra...wrestling... I get it.

And, yes, I can imagine a tv world without reality shows. I lived in it for years and never felt I was missing a beat. All I can say is: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead -- where are you??

And as a professor, David, what is your take on this morning's news that Snooki is being paid $2,000 more than Maya Angelou was paid to speak at Rutgers University? SNOOKI, Dear God...

[All things are relative, I guess: even the relative values of Poet Laureates vs. Spew-It Idiots. -- DB]

Comment posted on April 1, 2011 10:34 AM


Phillip R. Crabb said:

I don't know Dave...talk here on Campus is that RU withdrew their offer to Bryan Cranston after someone leaked your recommendations to the Dean of the Communications College yesterday...

And now word out of Trenton that Gov. Christie is taking The Situation out on the road with him for his NJ promotional events....

You're clearly a pillar in the industry, Dave...

Phil

(and oh, by the way, 'Close Encounters of the Third Reich' still has me smiling and shaking my head...)

[Thanks. I was inordinately proud of that one -- especially since it hadn't occurred to me until after I selected the show and started writing the item. -- DB]

Comment posted on April 1, 2011 4:55 PM


Angela said:

Since I know that I don't always agree with your choices I was trying really hard to stay open minded about your page one picks. I even read through them a couple times without being enlightened. :P
Phew! Fooled me!

[I tried to keep the recommendations dual-edged, so they SOUNDED positive. But Jersey Shore? You're WAY too nice... -- DB]

Comment posted on April 1, 2011 7:02 PM
 
 
 
 
 
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