USA TODAY’s Robert Bianco previews October 16th’s TV lineup from the Critic’s Corner, with an all-new TV special ‘Toy Story of Terror’ and ‘Law and Order: SVU’ says good-bye to a longtime castmate. VPC
Toy Story OF TERROR! | ABC, 8 ET/PT
Here’s good news for fans of Pixar, holiday specials or the Toy Story movies – which, combined, sweeps in almost everybody. For its first-ever TV special, Pixar has come up with a Toy Story spinoff with this Halloween-themed outing that finds the characters on a road trip that turns spooky. Many of your favorites return, as do their star voices, led by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.
CRITIC’S CORNER CHAT: Read the latest transcript, tweet early questions to @BiancoRobert using hashtag #AskBianco[1]
Burton and Taylor | BBC America, 9 ET/PT
Most film biographies of movie stars fail for the same fairly obvious reason: The actors cast are unable to capture the magic of the stars at their heights. (See: Lindsay Lohan in Liz & Dick.) This latest attempt to film the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton has a way around that dilemma – the story is centered on their way-past-peak 1982 Broadway reunion in Private Lives. Dominic West is Dick; Helena Bonham Carter is Liz in this British production.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | NBC, 9 ET/PT
One of longest and oddest runs for a TV character comes to a temporary halt tonight – at least as a regular – as Richard Belzer’s Sergeant Munch retires from the unit. Since he created the character on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1993, Belzer has played Munch on The X-Files, Law & Order, The Beat, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The Wire, 30 Rock, Arrested Development and, of course, SVU. Odds are there’s more in store.
