Zombies are hot. But leave it to the British to make them cool. And smart. And a shade more human than many of those they left behind. Turns out that being dead, or undead, is the ultimate wake-up call. While watching BBC America's fascinating and unexpectedly moving three-part miniseries In the Flesh (Thursday through Saturday, 10/9c), I was reminded less of AMC's blockbuster thriller The Walking Dead than of Sundance Channel's recent triumph, the artful Rectify, another searing drama of an outsider adjusting ...
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At 86, Mel Brooks is still the life of the party, a consummate ham and peerless joke-spinning storyteller. "I've come to stop the show," announces the irrepressible comic dynamo as he does just that, breaking into song mid-interview and reinforcing why PBS' American Masters titled its latest must-see career profile Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (Monday, check tvguide.com listings). His brilliant career in TV (Your Show of Shows, Get Smart), the movies and Broadway makes him an overdue American Masters subject, and his unflagging comic energy keeps everyone amused — including an intrusively visible camera crew. "I'm head over heels in love with myself," Brooks says, only half-joking.
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Question: Two slightly related questions. First, in recent weeks, we've had the return of (at least) three classic TV stars guest starring on hit shows, with Bob Newhart on The Big Bang Theory and Patty Duke and Meredith Baxter on Glee. While a large part of me got a kick out of seeing them again (especially Newhart), part of me was kind of saddened to see how much they've aged. Newhart seemed fairly frail (granted, it has been almost 25 years since Newhart left the airwaves), though still funny.
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Time for some serious soul-searching on the usually glib Castle, so it must be the end of another season. "With any luck, this could be your last case," crows the tone deaf-as-usual Capt. "Sir" Gates as the boss lady celebrates the prospect of Kate Beckett being "headed for bigger things" — or so promises the FBI Deputy Director (guest star Kyle Secor) who recruits the sultry homicide pro for a federal task force based in Washington, D.C. And what would that mean for Beckett's still budding but not quite defined romance with Castle? "I think our plot just thickened," quips the mystery writer-turned-crime solver — though he's talking about the week's murder case, not yet aware of his squeeze's big opportunity. With Castle fuming over trust issues that expose doubts in both parties, Beckett is left at an emotional crossroads: "What happens when the music stops? What if all we were in love with was the dance?" ABC dropped the last minutes of the episode (Monday, 10:01/9:01c) from the advance screener, so it's anyone's guess what their next step will be.
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Cher loves her mom. No reason to think Rihanna doesn't, but for now, the career comes first. Two of pop's highest-profile divas take the spotlight in new docu-specials, with Lifetime's Dear Mom, Love Cher (Monday, 10/9c) going for the heart-strings as Cher pays tribute to her 86-year-old mom, Georgia Holt, who uprooted her family from Arkansas to Hollywood to pursue stardom that would take another generation to achieve. Cher performs a duet with Georgia and introduces recordings her mom taped more than 30 years ago that Cher is preparing to release commercially. Think of this as a helpful reminder if you haven't done your own Mother's Day shopping yet. Rihanna's love-fest in Fox's self-promotional vanity production Rihanna 777 (8/7c) is with the fans who follow her on a world concert tour, packing a 777 airliner along with journalists and a film crew capturing her every move.
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