DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2017
Mar
21
 
 
SPECIAL PREMIERES: Since Dave Chappelle walked away from Comedy Central and his popular, very funny series in 2005, he hasn’t gotten any less funny. He’s just spent the time, since his extended break, doing live standup appearances around the country – including one hilarious stop in Philadelphia, which I saw as he made one of his first return appearances. But Chappelle hasn’t made a TV standup special in the dozen years since his abrupt departure. Until now, when Netflix
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
21
 
 
The “Battle Rounds” continue, along with the input from the guest mentors brought on by this cycle’s judges. It’s a combination of good advice, genial competitiveness, and very talented vocal performances. It’s also a feel-good program which, on TV these days, is an increasing rarity.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
21
 
 
My head is so close to exploding from the day’s headlines and analysis each day, I approach a Frontline special analysis of Iraq with equal parts curiosity and trepidation. If this is a scandal of sorts, how many scandals ago is it? And does my brain have the capacity for unpacking yet another important, detailed timeline of who did what when why and to whom? If there’s such a mental condition as news fatigue, I think, after four decades in journalism, I finally may be suffering from
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
21
 
 
Tonight’s new episode is titled “The Midges,” and it’s the one in which Elizabeth, on a mission that takes her to a remote greenhouse, uncovers the scary details of a covert plot to influence and weaken a rival superpower – but in this Reagan-era period spy series, it’s apparently the U.S. planning to use bio-engineered insects to destroy the Russian wheat crop. “Midge” is the name of the devastating, tiny little pest used as the object of wanton d
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
20
 
 
This week, The Voice moves on to the Battle Rounds competition. This used to be the low point of the series, but it’s been massaged, over the years, to make it more of a showcase duet between contestants than a grab-the-spotlight show-off fest. So there’s reason to keep watching. Other reasons include: welcoming the guest mentors aiding the various coaches (Gwen Stefani, for example, brings along Celine Dion, and Adam Levine calls on John Legend). And checking out the outfit Stefani
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
20
 
 
I’ve been marveling, with increasing enthusiasm, at how the actors, writers, producers and directors of the Bates Motel A&E prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film classic Psycho have made this final season so multilayered, inspired, and entertaining. The closer the TV show gets to the timeline of the movie, the better it’s gotten – and it was good to begin with. So tonight, at a pivotal time when the TV show and movie plots finally intersect on Bates Motel, TCM prefa
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
20
 
 
Last week, Freddie Highmore’s Norman Bates, still grieving the death of mother Norma (Vera Farmiga), went on a quiet “date” with Madeleine (Isabelle McNally), who had invited him to her house, with her boorish husband out of town, for a home-cooked meal. She even wore some of Norma’s old clothes, which Norman had creepily given to her. But as Madeleine and Norman were preparing some cake batter together, Norman’s manifestation of Norma appeared to grab a nearby kitc
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
20
 
 
SEASON FINALE: The Season 2 finale of HUMANS is presented tonight, as AMC squeezes the year’s final two episodes into one two-hour telecast. Last week, we learned that the formula to awaken the consciousness of all the synths had been completed. This week, we’ll learn whether it’s implemented – and, if it is, what consequences pulling that mental and emotional switch will have. Gemma Chan stars.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
20
 
 
Once again, here’s another link between different Best Bets offerings tonight. HUMANS, as a TV series, both preceded the HBO series Westworld, and shared its interest in exploring the awakening of consciousness of human-like androids programmed for the amusement and convenience of humans. But HBO’s Westworld, like AMC’s HUMANS, had a much older precedent: The 1973 movie Westworld, which starred Yul Brynner as an out-of-control robot gunslinger. The movie, shown tonight late at
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
19
 
 
So here we go… Today’s games begin at noon ET, with CBS coverage of the Midwest’s Michigan (seeded No. 7) vs. Louisville (No. 2), who thus far have advanced against lower-seeded teams. Next, at 2:40 p.m. ET, is the South’s No. 2 seed, Kentucky, facing No. 10 Wichita State, one of only a handful of double-digit seeds to make it into the second round. The CBS coverage continues at 5:15 p.m. ET with the Midwest’s No. 1 seed, Kansas, battling No. 9 Michigan State &ndas