Not a complaint -- just the reverse -- but there really IS a lot of good TV to watch these days. Especially Sundays. This week, after compiling the five choices that made the cut for this Sunday's BIANCULLI'S BEST BETS, I realized I had just as many worthwhile options left over.
So, for once (and to prove the point about an occasional abundance of televised riches), here comes an alternate BEST BETS -- five additional offerings that deserve to be considered...
The "real" BEST BETS for Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011, include two playoff football games (Seahawks-Steelers at 1 p.m. ET on Fox, Jets-Patriots at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS); the annual Golden Globes Awards, hosted by Ricky Gervais (8 p.m. ET, NBC); and the latest installments of two shows that premiered last week, Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Classic (9 p.m. ET, PBS, check local listings) and Episodes (9:30 p.m. ET, Showtime), starring Matt LeBlanc.
So what does that leave? Here's my runner-up BEST BETS listing -- five more shows that deserve to be seen, recorded, enjoyed, etc.
ALTERNATE BEST BETS FOR SUNDAY, JAN. 16:
TO SIR, WITH LOVE
TCM, 6 p.m. ET
Did this 1967 movie, starring Sidney Poitier as the dedicated instructor of a bunch of unruly teens in London's West End, make me want to be a teacher? Quite possibly. But it also made me want to be a charming, handsome black man, and that didn't work out as well. Regardless: This comedy-drama has very effective touches of both. Suzy Kendall and Judy Geeson, as two of the female students who eventually accept what "Sir" is trying to teach them, are just right -- as is Lulu, who not only plays another student, but sings the still-beautiful title song.
THE SIMPSONS
Fox, 8 p.m. ET
Business at Moe's Pub is even worse than usual -- hardly seems possible, but still. He's so desperate, he'll take advice from anyone. Even Smithers, who takes to the task like Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares, and turns Moe's into a trendy, flashy, popular bar. It's a happy place -- but is it gay? You be the judge.
BIG LOVE
HBO, 9 p.m. ET
The fifth and final season begins, with Bill (Bill Paxton) being elected state senator, and using the occasion to embrace a new sense of honesty in government -- beginning with his own unusual family situation. This sudden public profile makes Margene, especially, a little upset. Make that a lot upset.
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC, 9 p.m. ET
The biggest prime-time soap of the 21st century, so far, meets the biggest star of the biggest prime-time soap of the 20th century. Tonight, beginning a multi-episodic guest star appearance, Larry Hagman shows up, playing the new (yet very old) fiance of Lynette's mom, played by Polly Bergen. Hagman, of course, played J.R. Ewing on the CBS hit Dallas -- and watching him splash around in another prime-time soap ought to be a lot of fun indeed.
DENIS LEARY AND FRIENDS: DOUCHEBAGS AND DONUTS
Comedy Central, 10 p.m. ET
Leary's latest standup comedy special makes room for a few supporting players, making this a small-scale Kings of Comedy type of special. But it's Leary whose venom is still the strongest, even when aimed at such benign and harmless targets as middle-aged men in wool caps.
Oh, and by the way...
We're toying with installing an "Everybody's a Critic" feature appended to the BEST BETS, so readers can offer their own opinions of the selected shows. Counting this list and the regular one for Sunday, there are 10 choices in play. Have anything you'd like to say about any of them?
Now's your chance, in this one-shot beta test...