TUESDAY
JUNE 16
2020

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

Movies On Demand, 3:00 a.m. ET

MOVIE PREMIERE: This documentary is about one of the premier film critics at a time when the movies arguably were at their most expressive and experimental. Pauline Kael had a bestselling collection of essays and reviews of films, and wrote from her powerful perch at The New Yorker for a generation, rhapsodizing and arguing at length about Bonnie and Clyde, Last Tango in Paris, and Nashville, to name just a few of her influential reviews from the 1960s and 1970s. I was impressed and influenced by her when I was a young reader and writer, but never knew anything about her personal history at the time. And hardly any of it, really, until now, which makes this new documentary particularly appealing to me. But even if you’re not interested in critics (Hey! Be nice!) or Kael, the movies covered in What She Said are worth the time here, in this nonfiction film by Rob Garver.
 
  
 
 

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

This new American Masters documentary could be a few notches more insightful – anyone watching the documentary, in this current age, may well ask some questions this program never does, about whether Mae West’s predatory sexual on-screen persona is any more laudable for being a gender-reversal on typical bedroom and boardroom lotharios. But as a stage and screen pioneer, especially in the days just prior to the stifling Hollywood production code, West stands alone, and confident – as quotable and irreverent, in her way, as Groucho Marx. Dirty Blonde examines that evolution, and revolution, in a way that should be eye-opening to younger viewers who are relatively unfamiliar with her work and legacy. Check local listings. For full reviews, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and Mike Hughes' Open Mike.
 
  
 
 

PBS, 9:30 p.m. ET

A lot. And this new Frontline documentary deconstructs the history to answer that question. It’s a question Frontline poses in the past tense, but the going wrong is still very much with us – which makes this particular era, like this particular documentary, a present tense experience. Check local listings. For a full review, see Alex Strachan's TV That Matters. 
 
  
 
 

Pop, 9:30 p.m. ET

SPECIAL PREMIERE: What to do when you have a finished script for a show, but can’t gather the cast, in this socially distanced period in time, to film it? Some shows have staged remote, Zoom-meeting-type table reads, letting actors recite their lines as though performing in a radio play. Tonight’s One Day At a Time Animated Special takes another approach: It has the cast of One Day recording its scripted lines, as in a radio play, but then fleshes out that soundtrack by animating it and presenting the episode as a special cartoon. Well, “fleshing out” is the wrong term. A more accurate one, since it’s animated, would be “Cel-ing out”… but that sounds worse, at least if said aloud. For more on this and animation in general in the time of social distancing, see Mike Hughes' Open Mike. 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Read and add comments HERE for today's Best Bets!
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
OXWMY
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 261  | Go to page: 
5216 Comments
 
 
I want you to thank for your time of this wonderful read !!! I definately enjoy every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff of your blog a must read blog
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
That appears to be excellent however i am still not too sure that I like it. At any rate will look far more into it and decide personally!
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I truly like you're composing style, incredible data, thankyou for posting.
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Your topic is very great and useful for us… thank you
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
i was just browsing along and came upon your blog. just wanted to say good blog and this article really helped me
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
That appears to be excellent however i am still not too sure that I like it. At any rate will look far more into it and decide personally!
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thank you again for all the knowledge you distribute,Good post. I was very interested in the article, it's quite inspiring I should admit. I like visiting you site since I always come across interesting articles like this one.Great Job, I greatly appreciate that.Do Keep sharing! Regards
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thanks for a very interesting blog. What else may I get that kind of info written in such a perfect approach? I’ve a undertaking that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the look out for such info
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer!.
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
You made such an interesting piece to read, giving every subject enlightenment for us to gain knowledge. Thanks for sharing the such information with us to read this.
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
These you will then see the most important thing, the application provides you a website a powerful important internet page
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is really likewise an incredibly beneficial placing most of us severely encountered shopping as a result of. It truly is faraway from each and every day we have now possibility to think about something
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work!
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Thanks for every other informative site. The place else may just I get that kind of information written in such an ideal means? I have a venture that I’m just now operating on, and I have been on the look out for such information
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
You make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
After research a couple of of the weblog posts in your website now, and I really like your method of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website record and will probably be checking back soon. Pls check out my site as effectively and let me know what you think. Computers & Accessories
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I definitely enjoying every little bit of this blog. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work!
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This is a great article and great read for me. It's my first visit to your blog, and I have found it so useful and informative especially this article
Nov 1, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 261  | Go to page: 
 
 

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.