1) Vienna Philharmonic, 9 p.m., PBS. Each year, PBS has a lush, end-of-summer concert (shown here), amid palace gardens. This time, Lorenzo Viotti, 36, a second-generation, Swiss conductor has a busy program, from a cavalry overture to encores with a high-octane Brazilian piece and a Strauss waltz. Also, baritone-bass Bryn Terfel ranges from Tevye to Satan. Read more…
Barbara Walters interviewed approximately three zillion people, but when I asked about her favorite, she didn’t hesitate.
It was Dolly Parton.
Yes, Dolly — who died today (Aug. 25) at 80 — had the three elements of great interviewees: They need to be open and unfiltered, of course, but they also need to have given some real thought to their life. And they need to have a great life to recount.
Parton (shown here) had them all, as people will keep reminding us. At 10 p.m. today, CBS has a special about her. The news channels, I’m sure, have much more. Search the streamers and you’ll find movies and dramas based on her songs, on Netflix and Peacock. You’ll also find “9 to 5,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Rhinestone,” “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and more. Read more…
1) “Adults” season-openers, 9 and 9:34 p.m., FX and FXX. Five friends (shown here) share a house in Queens; in their mid-20s, they face the looming possibility of grown-up lives and jobs. That’s been done before (from “Real World” to “Friends”), but never with such exuberant twists. Some people will find it too gen-Z or too R-rated; others will find it hilarious. Read more…
Shelley Fabares fit neatly into many eras.
In a time of gentle comedies, she was the “Donna Reed Show” daughter. In an age of rock stars, she played the love interest of everyone — Elvis (three times!), Fabian, Peter Noone (of Herman’s Hermits), even Hank Williams Jr.
In better times, Fabares — who died Saturday (Aug. 22) at 82 — played a strong-willed TV newswoman on “Coach” and a villainous sort on “One Day at a Time.” She was a producer on 14 Screen Actors Guild award shows and shared the passionate human-rights causes of her husband, Mike Farrell.
But there was one quirky blip I wanted to mention here: In the anyone-can-do-it era, Fabares was a pop star … sort of against her will. Read more…
1) “Freddie Mercury — The Final Act,” 8-10 p.m., CW. For the second straight year, CW announced it was airing the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, then bailed out. This time, the reversal was just six days before the teen pageant. Now that reverts to the internet (8 p.m. today, apparently charging about $35); CW reruns a film that focuses on Mercury (shown here) — his death and the massive the memorial concert. Read more…
1) “American Masters,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. In her childhood, Mary Oliver (shown here in her early years) found despair at home and joy in nature. She became a poet at 15, worked on Edna St. Vincent Milay’s papers at 17, then became a Pulitzer Prize-winner and the best-selling American poet. This fascinating profile is filled with admirers, from Stephen Colbert to John Waters Read more…
The decline of beauty pageants has reached a new extreme.
Now the CW network had decided not to air the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, Aug. 26 and 27. It also bailed out last year … but this time, the decision came, with no explanation, less than a week before the events.
The network did air it in 2024 (shown here is winner Alma Cooper) and 2023.
Instead, it will air reruns — a Freddie Mercury film Wednesday and game shows Thursday. The pageants will air on the Queen Beauty Network, an obscure streamer that requires payment. Read more…
1) “American Ninja Warrior,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. The summertime reality shows are starting to wrap up now. For “Ninja” (shown here in a previous episode), this is the last of three semi-final rounds, with side-by-side races; next week, the survivors go for $250,000. Read more…
The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks will bring a fresh wave of media attention.
One three-part documentary airs tonight (Aug. 21) and then streams; another is coming Sept. 1. And several will debut Sept. 11, 25 years after planes hit the World Trade Center towers (shown here) and the Pentagon.
Here’s a chronological round-up of what’s been announced so far:
— Tonight: “9/11 Reunited” debuted from 8-11 p.m.on the National Geographic Channel and then goes to Disney+ and Hulu. It brings together some of the strangers whose lives intersected that day, often through lifesaving heroics,
— Sept. 1: “9/11 United We Stand: 25 Years Later” debuts from 9-11 p.m. on ABC, reaches Hulu and Disney+ the next day and returns to ABC Sept. 11. Read more…
1) “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” 9 p.m., AMC. In this post-apocalyptic world, zombies are a mere inconvenience; other problems loom. Last week ended with an earthquake taking away much of the food supply; this one ends with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, shown here) launching a fresh and intensely personal crisis. It’s well-made, but messy. Read more…
Best-bets for Aug. 28: Viennese beauty, American football and a jerk 
Best-bets for Aug. 27: Sharp comedies; 1,000th “BB” 
Best-bets for Aug. 26: Freddie, lions and teen terror 
