1) “The 1% Club,” 8 p.m., Fox. Joel McHale’s comedy (“Animal Control)” finished its season last week, but he’s still busy hosting TV’s best game show. Amid fascinating questions, McHale (shown here) toys with contestants. Today, they include one person who’s been on Jerry Springer’s show and another who was a zombie on “The Walking Dead.” Read more…
PBS will spend chunks of this summer the way other networks do –with reruns.
They’ll be good reruns, at least. “Downton Abbey” will be there; so will a best-of “American Experience,” ranging from Woodstock to the moon, from John Kennedy to George H.W. Bush.
And there will be some new shows mixed in. They include the final season of “Grantchester” mysteries (shown here), plus documentaries about a poet, a publisher, a Holocaust hero, outer space and the American Southwest. Read more…
1) “The Forsytes” season-finale, 9 p.m., PBS. Amid all the Victorian-age glamour, there are deep waves of emotion. At work, Jo was right; Soames wasn’t, destroying a client. At home, both men’s marriages are crumbling. Jo left after his wife (they’re shown here) banned him from seeing his long-ago lover and their children. Now come great moments, especially from his grandmother. Read more…
1) “Grey’s Anatomy” return, 10 p.m. Thursday, ABC. After a three-week rest, “Grey’s” (shown here in a previous episode) is back for the final two episodes of its 22nd season. Next week will see the departure of Teddy and Owen, plus cliffhangers. This week, however, it’s the sort of big-deal event the show savors: The Royal Bridge collapses, putting all the doctors in crisis mode. Read more…
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…
Best-bets for April 27: The 8 p.m. hour is packed 
Best-bets for April 26: dramas, elegant and audacious 
Best-bets for April 25: Marty & Freddie & such 
