Day: February 9, 2021

Best-bets for Feb. 11: “Clarice” and comedies

1) “Clarice” debut, 10 p.m., CBS. Three decades ago, “Silence of the Lambs” won the best-picture Oscar, with Jodie Foster as Clarice, a young FBI agent who catches a serial killer. Now we nudge ahead a year; Clarice (Rebecca Breeds, shown here) wants to stay in her desk job, but she’s nudged into the field. The result is beautifully directed and acted, but a mixed blessing. It has unneeded flashbacks (brief, but gory) and the cop-show cliché of higher-ups who just keep getting in the way. Read more…

Tough talent comes in mixed sizes

“Tough as Nails” is back, giving us toughness in all sizes.
For the supersize, there’s Scott Henry, 40, a lineman. “He’s this big, lovable teddy bear,” Phil Keoghan, the show’s host and co-creator, told the Television Critics Association. “But he’s also 6-foot-7 and he’s a very powerful guy.”
And for the mini-size, there’s Celi Garcia (shown here, foreground), 31, a traveling nurse. “I’m 5-2,” she said, “and we had some really big guys on our show. And a lot of strong women.”
That’s sort of what Keoghan had in mind when he created the show, which is back (8 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS) for its second season. It has people compete in blue-collar tasks. Read more…