1) NBA draft, 8 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN. Chances are, we’ll be hearing the same teams over and over. Duke? It has three likely first-rounders — Cooper Flagg (shown here), expected at No. 1, plus Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach. Rutgers? Despite a losing record, it may have two (Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey) in the top five. And Brooklyn (prior to trades) has four first-round picks. Read more…
1) “Age of Innocence” (1993), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Some 88 years after her death, Edith Wharton’s tales thrive. A gorgeous (but way too soapy) version of “The Buccaneers” is on Apple TV+; now here’s Martin Scorsese’s masterful take on her Pulitzer-winner,starring Michelle Pfeiffer (shown here), Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis. It won an Oscar for its costumes and drew four more nominations. Read more…
1) “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” Hulu. Walters (shown here) reached “Today” in 1961, when it was still a male domain. She was the latest of the “Today girls” … and then was much more. She dominated mornings, created “The View,” drew huge ratings for primetime specials and led a complicated personal life. Here’s a profile, starting a big week for streamers.
Read more…
A TV tradition — guest hosts of late-night shows — returns this summer.
Jimmy Kimmel has announced a full line-up of people to take his spot, at 11:35 p.m. weekdays on ABC.That starts the week of June 23 with Diego Luna (shown here), then includes such varied souls as Fortune Feimster and Jelly Roll.
Johnny Carson used to have a busy roster of guest hosts, including Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, David Brenner and more. That idea fell out of favor until 2020, when Kimmel — after working year-round for 18 years — decided to spend summers with his family. Read more…
As “The Gilded Age” returns, we see two approaches to life. There’s the:
— American view: Money is really quite essential; and
— Old-world view: Even without money, there’s class and privilege and such.
“I’m always rather fascinated by people who pretend that the loss of money … doesn’t affect them at all,” said Julian Fellowes, the series creator.
As the third season begins (9 p.m. Sunday, June 22, on HBO and Max), that’s the situation for Agnes (Christine Baranski, second from left in this poster) Read more…
1) Basketball, 8 p.m. ET, ABC. Indiana had its back to the wall, one loss away from being eliminated. Then it came up with a huge second quarter (36-17) and a win. Now the teams (shown here) are tied at three apiece, in the best-of-seven finals; they move back to Oklahoma City for the championship game. Read more…
1) “CMA Fest,” 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. The night will be stuffed with 30 country songs, from hosts Cody Johnson (shown here) and Ashley McBryde and others. There’s Blake Shelton, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Ella Langley. Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Riley Green and more, including Shaboozey with Jelly Roll. Read more…
1) “A Minecraft Movie” (2025), 8 p.m., HBO. A doorknob salesman (Jack Black) ends up in an alternate world. Then a game-store guy (Jason Momoa, shown here, center) finds a portal. That may sound silly, but it has helped revive movie theaters. The opening week more than doubled predictions; now close to $1 billion worldwide, the comedy has just reached Max and adds HBO. Read more…
1) “Janis Ian: Breaking Silence,” 9 p.m., PBS. Observing other people’s lives, Ian wrote and sang “Society’s Child” (about inter-racial romance) and the Grammy-winning “At Seventeen” (about a plain teen). Her own love life wasn’t a subject until later, when she discussed her now-wife. This film skillfully blends re-enactments and comments by Ian (shown here), now 74. Read more…
For one long, busy evening, TV will break out of its summer slumber.
That’s when ABC has its annual “CMA Fest” concert. Over three hours (8-11 p.m. June 26), it will have 30 songs from country stars, from Adkins and Aldean to Zach Top and Zimmerman.
There will be serious moments (Scotty McCreery singing “Five More Minutes,” for instance), but there will also be Trace Adkins (shown here) singing “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” Country music is like that. Read more…
Best-bets for June 25: NBA becomes a Dukedom 
Best-bets for June 24: The age of Edith 
Best-bets for June 23: Walters leads a non-fiction night 
