1) “Marshals” season-opener, 8:30 p.m., CBS (but 8 p.m. on the West Coast). Other networks began earlier, but CBS held its scripted shows until now. It has 14 of them in the next six days (including “Tracker” at 9:30 today), starting here: Kayce likes Dolly Weaver (they’re shown here), but hates her dad, who wants to buy his ranch. The result is high-octane and lethal. Read more…
As the latest “NCIS” spin-off begins, Sam Hanna is finally coming home. So is LL Cool J, who plays him.
Hanna has done 342 episodes in Los Angeles and Hawaii. Now — starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 6) on CBS — “NCIS: New York” (shown here) begins.
It will visit “every kind of nook and cranny of New York, in the five boroughs,” said showrunner Byron Balasco.
That makes this different from other shows, LL Cool J promised. “It’s definitely more gritty …. It gives you so many different people from all over the world, so many different types of energies.”
And it pairs him with a guy who feels like the consummate New Yorker. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. It’s a busy time for Dakota Johnson. She stars in Taylor Swift’s new video and (with Anne Hathaway) in “Verity” (shown here), which reached theaters Friday. And now is her third time as “SNL” host. Turnstile — which won Grammys for best metal performance (“Birds”) and rock album — has its first turn as music guest Read more…
As “Marshals” launches its first full season, it has an ongoing theme.
Yes, this is still an action show. The season-opener — 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 (but 8 p.m. on the West Coast), launching what CBS calls Premiere Week — has guns blazing from horsemen, helicopter and Jeep.
But beyond that are questions about following a strong father. That’s “definitely a theme throughout the season,” said showrunner Spencer Hudnut.
We see that in the opener, with Dolly Weaver and her domineering dad; Kayce Dutton likes one, hates the other. And we see it with Kayce’s struggles with his son (shown here). Read more…
Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month draws shrugs from most networks and glee from PBS.
This year, things seem more gleeful than ever. In an 11-day stretch, there will be three documentaries — looking at jazz, movies (including “La Bamba,” shown here) and guerrilla-style disruption — plus an award show and more.
Officially, National Hispanic Heritage Month starts on Sept. 15 — a key date for the drive toward independence for Mexico and five Central American countries — and continues through Oct. 15. PBS, however, is bunching most of its events into early October. They include: Read more…
1) “Asco: Without Permission,” 10 p.m., PBS. In 1970, four Chicano teens (shown here a few years later) began guerrilla art in Los Angeles. They did parades, performances, graffiti, more. They called their group Asco, expanded it, then folded it in ’87, for separate careers. Now their early work is in the art galleries they mocked. It’s a great story, told with a few unneeded detours. Read more…
1) “Cupertino” (shown here), 10 p.m. Thursday, CBS. He’s a veteran lawyer, big, confident and imposing; she’s a newcomer, a tad timid, from a deeply religious family. They have only one thing in common: Unfairly fired, they’re ready to clash with evil firms. The result is the season’s best new broadcast show. It’s from the “Elsbeth” producers, juggling humor and rage. Read more…
1) “Coven Academy” debut, 8-10 p.m., Freeform. Ready or not, “31 Nights of Halloween” is starting. There are movies — “Edward Scissorhands” at 11:30 a.m., “Addams Family” films at 1:55 and 3:55, “Hocus Pocus” at 5:55. Then “Coven” begins, with teen witches (shown here). You can catch it over three Thursdays, or all 10 episodes Friday on Disney+ and Hulu. Read more…
At first, music videos seemed like minor miracles.
With a shortage of money and an excess of whimsy, people were turning songs into visual experiences. We were amazed; we still are, sometimes.
But what we saw at Video Music Awards on Sunday (Sept. 27) went far beyond that. Numbers done live, onstage numbers felt like video epics.
That went from the first number (Madonna, shown here in a recent performance, linking with Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and a swarm of props and dancers) to the last one (Gener8ion and Yung Lean re-creating their video), this popped with amazing visuals. Read more…
1) “Scrubs” season-openers, 8 and 8:30 p.m., ABC. Half-hour comedies are scarce now. This is the first broadcast-network one (cartoons excluded) with new episodes this fall. It juggles the serious — Dr. Cox has an incurable autoimmune condition — and the fun: Elliot (second from right) finds fresh confidence; J.D. (second from left) schemes an insurance workaround. Read more…
Best-bets for Oct. 4: “Marshals” starts CBS surge 
Best-bets for Oct. 3: Dakota, Tom and lotsa football 
Best-bets for Oct. 2: guerilla art; gorilla homeland 
