SATURDAY
MAY 16
2020

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Various Networks, 8:00 p.m. ET

SPECIAL: This commencement TV special is simulcast by all the major commercial networks, and by the CW, too, as well as a bunch of streaming sites. So it’ll be easy to find. But why should you watch? One reason: If you’ve got an impending graduate under your roof right now, whether from high school or college, this may be all the pomp they’ll get, under the circumstances. (See what I did there? Pomp and circumstance?) Another reason: This is LeBron James’ idea, so he’s used his clout and connections to gather, as socially distanced, at-home participants, several contributors from whom the younger generation would like to hear. That includes LeBron himself, as well as The Jonas Brothers, and the evening’s commencement speaker, who will set out, during these challenging and difficult and sometimes despairing times, to speak plainly and eloquently, to dispense truth and provide perspective, and, for everyone watching, inspire. Who can take on all those requirements and challenges? Ladies and gentlemen, Graduate Together gives you… the President of the United States! No, not the current one. His predecessor, Barack Obama.
 
  
 
 

Epix, 8:00 p.m. ET

Passion projects, in the hands of talented artists, can be wonderful things. Noah Hawley, for example, so admired the cinematic work of the Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan, in their 1996 movie Fargo that he set out to make an homage of a TV series, using the same title and tone, but different plots and characters. FX’s Fargo, eventually to begin its fourth season, has been one of television’s tastiest treats in years. And in 2010, the Coen Brothers themselves exercised similar enthusiasm for a film, by remaking the late-career John Wayne Western, 1969’s True Grit. In the Coen remake, Jeff Bridges took on Wayne’s role and eye patch as grizzled Rooster Cogburn, while other co-stars in this new True Grit included Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld, and Domhnall Gleeson. And while Wayne’s performance was and remains classic, this new True Grit, as an overall piece of filmmaking, manages to improve on the original. And speaking of the original: By coincidence, the John Wayne True Grit is being shown today on Sundance, at 5 p.m. ET, giving you enough time to watch both by switching channels in midstream. Or, depending upon how you're watching Epix and Sundance, in midstreaming...
 
  
 
 

HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET

Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar several times over the years, but it was  his performance in this 2019 Batman spinoff prequel, presenting the origin story of one of Gotham City’s most infamous and colorful villains, that finally earned Phoenix an Academy Award. Joker premieres on HBO tonight, as one of the best films, along with Wonder Woman, to come from the DC Comics side of the comic-book movie universe. Co-stars include Frances Conroy from Six Feet Under, Zazie Beetz from TV’s Atlanta, and some guy named Robert De Niro.
 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

This recommendation, like the one immediately following, is for every TVWW reader – but, in particular, should be of special interest to any readers who also happen to have signed up to be students in my Fall 2020 Film Appreciation I class at Rowan University. That’s because one of the people we’ll be studying in that class is comic actor and filmmaker Buster Keaton, and TCM is saluting Keaton tonight in prime time by showing his comic masterpiece The General, followed by a biographical documentary. The General, released in 1927, is a full-blown Civil War epic made the same year The Jazz Singer triggered the transition from silent cinema to sound. The General, without dialogue, manages to tell a complicated and exciting adventure story – in which Keaton plays a train engineer who sets out to follow and reclaim his locomotive, which had been stolen by Union troops – and a touching character study as well. And some of Keaton’s stunts are amazing, like the one with him balanced on the train’s cowcatcher, holding a heavy railroad tie and aiming to throw it like a javelin to remove another tie from the tracks ahead. Don’t try this at home. And speaking of at home, if the fall classes are taught entirely online, watching The General now not only will be giving you a head start, but will be giving you almost the exact same experience. And just for fun, here’s one fill-in-the-blank question likely to be on the midterm: “In Buster Keaton’s 1927 silent classic, The General in the title referred to ________________.” No cheating…
 
  
 
 

TCM, 9:45 p.m. ET

The Great Buster is a very recent, as in 2018, documentary celebrating the artistic achievements of Buster Keaton, whose cinematic masterpiece, The General, precedes the showing of this documentary. And this documentary, by the way, not only salutes one gifted filmmaker, but is itself made by another. The Great Buster is directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who was a cinema historian before he started making such classics himself as The Last Picture Show.
 
  
 
 
 
 
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2692 Comments
 
 
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Jul 18, 2025   |  Reply
 
 
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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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Jun 28, 2025   |  Reply
 
Dave Bianculli
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Dave Bianculli
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Dave Bianculli
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Jun 16, 2025
 
 
 
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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.