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)
 
BEPCH
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 198  | Go to page: 
3949 Comments
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I really liked your article post. Really looking forward to read more. Great. Say, you got a nice article. Really thank you! Fantastic.I think the restaurant which you told me in the letter is very interesting. I also like to eat out and I usually go to a restaurant for dinner with my family twice a month., The food is delicious so we enjoy it very much. The service is also quick and friendly.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Great goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely fantastic. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it smart. I cant wait to read far more from you. This is really a great site.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
lsm99bet
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Through this post, I know that your good knowledge in playing with all the pieces was very helpful. I notify that this is the first place where I find issues I've been searching for. You have a clever yet attractive way of writing.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I really liked your article post. Really looking forward to read more. Great. Say, you got a nice article. Really thank you! Fantastic.I think the restaurant which you told me in the letter is very interesting. I also like to eat out and I usually go to a restaurant for dinner with my family twice a month., The food is delicious so we enjoy it very much. The service is also quick and friendly.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
I really liked your article post. Really looking forward to read more. Great. Say, you got a nice article. Really thank you! Fantastic.I think the restaurant which you told me in the letter is very interesting. I also like to eat out and I usually go to a restaurant for dinner with my family twice a month., The food is delicious so we enjoy it very much. The service is also quick and friendly.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The vacation trades offered are evaluated a variety of in the chosen and simply good value all around the world. Those hostels are normally based towards households which you’ll find accented via charming shores promoting crystal-clear fishing holes, concurrent of one’s Ocean. Hotels Discounts.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The vacation trades offered are evaluated a variety of in the chosen and simply good value all around the world. Those hostels are normally based towards households which you’ll find accented via charming shores promoting crystal-clear fishing holes, concurrent of one’s Ocean. Hotels Discounts.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
The vacation trades offered are evaluated a variety of in the chosen and simply good value all around the world. Those hostels are normally based towards households which you’ll find accented via charming shores promoting crystal-clear fishing holes, concurrent of one’s Ocean. Hotels Discounts.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Recently, I have started to read a lot of unique articles on different sites, and I am enjoying that a lot. Although, I must tell you that I still like the articles here a lot. They are also unique in their own way.
May 26, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 198  | 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.