The excellent 2012 French series Les Revenants, imported by Sundance Channel and translated as The Returned, now returns as an American remake – with much of the subtlety tossed away from the very start…

2015

Mar

THE NIGHT OF TOO MANY STARS By David Bianculli

The title of this special, Robert Smigel’s annual benefit to support autism education, is by no means an exaggeration tonight. Participants include host Jon Stewart, as well as Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Louis C.K., Larry David, Steve Carell, John Oliver and Amy Schumer – pretty much a list of the funniest of this generation’s comic voices. So strap in, pledge cash, and enjoy.

2015

Mar

THE JINX: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF ROBERT DURST By David Bianculli

Episode 5. This is the penultimate installment of this nonfiction series – a series that is merely the latest example of why HBO Documentary czar Sheila Nevins is one of television’s most influential and impressive network executives. Her slate of original and acquired documentaries over the decades is astounding – but the ones she’s brought to HBO this year and last count among the very best. And with The Jinx, we indeed have the TV counterpart to public radio’s Se

2015

Mar

THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli

Tonight’s episode was co-written by series creators Michelle and Robert King, and directed by Robert. That automatically would ensure a TV hour of high quality – and let’s face it, The Good Wife is the best drama series on broadcast TV right now anyway. But this is a different sort of episode: Most of the time, Alicia (Julianna Margulies) navigates through situations with a poker face or a polite smile, keeping her inner thoughts in check. Tonight, though, it’s all about

2015

Mar

THE WALKING DEAD By David Bianculli

Are you paranoid if they really are out to get you? That’s one of the questions posed tonight, as Rick continues to assess Aaron while worrying about whether the new community they’ve joined is indeed a refuge, or just the latest deadly trap. The fact that the gun Rick hid before entering the fortress town is now missing doesn’t bode well – but maybe I’m just paranoid. And if I’m paranoid, you should see Daryl (Norman Reedus)…

2015

Mar

BATTLE CREEK By David Bianculli

Tonight’s episode is a nod to series creator Vince Gilligan’s most famous TV credit, Breaking Bad. It’s an episode in which Milt and Russ go undercover to try and bust a gang that’s cooking and selling illegal street product. Except, in this case, it’s not crystal meth – it’s bootleg maple syrup. Sweet!

2015

Mar

EPISODES By David Bianculli

This series has been crowded out of my Best Bets the past few weeks, because so much else has been going on – but I still end my Sundays watching, and laughing out loud at, this very clever sitcom, starring Matt Le Blanc. This year, one of the main plots involves Matt’s suddenly vanished fortune – which puts him in to the awkward position of having to entertain the idea of hosting a proposed game show, and working again with someone he’d really, really rather avoid.

2015

Mar

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: This is a repeat of last Sunday’s double-header premiere of the new Will Forte comedy. I’d tell you more about it, but it contains enough surprises that if you’re inclined to watch, you may as well have a relatively pure experience. But after tonight, it’s all fair game.

2015

Mar

PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS By David Bianculli

SERIES PEMIERE: This is not a recommendation, just an observation. In the very earliest days of television, in the late Forties, network prime-time boxing was one of the first offerings made available. So this hardly is progress, but here it is – about 70 years later, a new Saturday night boxing showcase on NBC. The more things change, the more they don’t…

2015

Mar

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS By David Bianculli

I really like this 2013 Coen Brothers film – and love the music, which is evocative of the Greenwich Village folk scene just before Bob Dylan hit it big. Oscar Isaac stars as a struggling, volatile folkie, and the movie makes a lot more sense, at least to me, once you see it as employing the structure of a traditional folk song. Lots of different verses framed by an opening and closing that, by the time it repeats at the end, makes a lot more sense.

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