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)
 
GQHEX
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 210  | Go to page: 
4189 Comments
 
 
???
You there, this is really good post here. Thanks for taking the time to post such valuable information. Quality content is what always gets the visitors coming
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
That is the excellent mindset, nonetheless is just not help to make every sence whatsoever preaching about that mather. Virtually any method many thanks in addition to i had endeavor to promote your own article in to delicius nevertheless it is apparently a dilemma using your information sites can you please recheck the idea. thanks once more
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
???
I am happy to find this post very useful for me, as it contains lot of information. I always prefer to read the quality content and this thing I found in you post. Thanks for sharing
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
???
I am happy to find this post very useful for me, as it contains lot of information. I always prefer to read the quality content and this thing I found in you post. Thanks for sharing
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Interesting post. I Have Been wondering about this issue. so thanks for posting. Pretty cool post.It 's really very nice and Useful post.Thanks
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Interesting post. I Have Been wondering about this issue. so thanks for posting. Pretty cool post.It 's really very nice and Useful post.Thanks
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
Interesting post. I Have Been wondering about this issue. so thanks for posting. Pretty cool post.It 's really very nice and Useful post.Thanks
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
This blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??????. ?? ??? ???? ????? ?? ? ???? ?????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ????. ?? ???? ??? ????" "??? ??? ??? ?????" "?? ???? ???? ?? ?????. ?????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ????. ?? ???? ??? ????" "??? ??? ??? ?????" "?? ???? ???? ?? ?????. ?????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
"??? ??? ?????. ?? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ???? ? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ? ?? ??? ?????. ??? ???.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?????. GOOGLE? ???? ???? ?????. ??? ?? ? ??? ?????. ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??? ? ?? ?? ??? ????. ??? ??? ?????. ? ?? ???.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ?????. ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????. ??? ???? ????? ..
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ? ???? ???? ? ?? ????. ? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?????????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ??? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ? ?? ? ??? ?? ? ????. ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
? !! ? ???? ?? ???. ?? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
?? ??? ???? ?? ?????. ??? ??. ?? ??? ?? ???? ? ? ?? ?? ??????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
??? ??? ?? ????? ????. ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
???? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????.
Jul 11, 2026   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 210  | 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.