1) “Marty Supreme” (2025), 8 p.m., HBO. A terrific film (shown here) makes its cable debut, one day after reaching HBO Max. In 1952 New York, Marty (based on a real guy) obsesses on ping-pong. Director/co-writer Josh Safdie crafted a frantically entertaining story. It drew nine Oscar nominations, including for best picture and for Timothee Chalamet’s brilliant performance. Read more…
1) “Now Hear This,” 9 p.m., PBS. The second half of this four-week series is as much a gorgeous travelog as a music show. Next week is Iceland; today is Istanbul, an ancient city aglow with sights and sounds. Host Scott Yoo (shown here) brings his wife, Alice Dade. He’s a violinist, but its her flute talent that fits the local music. An “International Jazz Day” concert follows at 10. Read more…
To some of us, May might suggest blue skies, baseball and flowers.
In the streaming world, however, it also brings murder.
The second “Murder Mystery May” is coming to Acorn. It assembles TV shows and films from England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada (“Hurdoch Mysteries, shown here), New Zealand, Norway, Tasmania and beyond. Read more…
1) “Matlock” season-finale, 9-11 p.m., CBS. A year overdue, the show finally wraps its main story. This is the episode viewers expected a year ago: Matty and Olympia push to pin blame on the burying of a report that could have saved lives. It starts poorly (a dream scene, rarely a good idea) and has odd twists involving Senior’s ex-wife (shown here) and others, but ultimately gets a good show back on track. Read more…
1) “Orangutan” (shown here), Disney+. Each Earth Day, the DisneyNature unit debuts a richly crafted documentary. Here’s the latest; Disney+ also has the previous Disney films, plus ones from National Geographic. There are also Earth Day films on other streamers — especially HBO Max, Apple and Britbox — and (see next two items) beyond. Read more…
It’s easy to grumble about the upcoming “Matlock” season-finale (shown here).
We could gripe that the two-hour episode (9 p.m. Thursday, April 23, on CBS) starts with that shabby cliche: a long dream scene. Or we could point out that this story is arriving a year late.
But belated or not, this is worth watching. A once-delightful show is finally getting back on track. Read more…
1) “Bear Grylls is Running Wild” opener, 9 p.m., Tuesday. Two 50-ish chaps — Grylls, 51, and Matthew McConaughey, 56 and far from his Texas roots — tackle an imposing stretch of Norway (shown here). They descend a steep, 800-foot granite cliff; eat reindeer testicles and swim in 35-degree water. Also, they chat about Woody Harrelson, “a perpetual 8-year-old.” It’s all fairly entertaining. Read more…
1) “Sullivan’s Crossing” season-opener, 8 p.m., CW. Last season seemed to be ending cheerily. With her dad leaving, Dr. Maggie Sullivan would run his resort, start a clinic and be with Cal. Then Liam showed up, saying he’s her husband. (he’s shown here, right, with Maggie and Cal in the center.) Now more complications (personal and medical) pile up, in a show that manages to remain mostly sunny and likable Read more…
Surveying the twisty history of “The Way Home,” Andie MacDowell offered an understatement.
“This was a reach for Hallmark,” she said.
And then some. The show — starting its fourth and final season on the Hallmark Channel — has time-travel and a magic pond. Hallmark doesn’t even have a card for that.
But here “Way Home” (shown here) is, at 9 p.m. Sundays, starting April 19.This season, it even has Del (MacDowell) jump back a century, to the 1920s. Read more…
“All American” — the show that has survived CW purges — will have its eighth and final season this summer.
When new owners took over the network, they soon canceled most of its scripted shows, which were strong on fantasy and superheroes. The one survivor has been the non-fantasy “All American” (shown here in a recent season). Read more…
Best-bets for April 25: Marty & Freddie & such 
Best-bets for April 24: music, movies, more 
Best-bets for April 23: Seasons end, draft begins 
