Best-bets for Jan. 3: Action in Hawaii, music in Tennessee

1) “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. When you have two Hawaiian action shows back-to-back, a crossover seems inevitable. Now Magnum is on private-eye business, shadowing a husband who may be cheating. Then there’s something bigger: The guy might have stonen a list of undercover CIA agents. Soon, there’s a joint effort (shown here) by McGarrett’s “Five-0” squad and Magnum and friends. That’s complicated by a kidnapping and by CIA resistance. Read more…

1) “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. When you have two Hawaiian action shows back-to-back, a crossover seems inevitable. Now Magnum is on private-eye business, shadowing a husband who may be cheating. Then there’s something bigger: The guy might have stonen a list of undercover CIA agents. Soon, there’s a joint effort (shown here) by McGarrett’s “Five-0” squad and Magnum and friends. That’s complicated by a kidnapping and by CIA resistance.

2) “Country Music” opener, 9-11 p.m., PBS. One of the greatest shows of 2019 gets a quick rerun, as a weekly series. This opener goes back to the start: In 1927, a New York producer held recording sessions in Bristol, Tenn.; he found the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers and a passionate genre. For this opener, filmmaker Ken Burns had all the obstacles – no first-hand interviews, little film of the era – and overcame them beautifully. He tells the personal stories of music emerging from America’s core.

3) “Life of Brian” (1979) and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975), 7 and 9 p.m., BBC America. Here is Monty Python at its silliest – and often its funniest. “Holy Grail” is scattered and low-budget, but has great moments. “Brian” then showed how good these guys could be with a fully developed story. We meet Brian of Nazareth, often confused with the Messiah.

4) “American Housewife” and “Fresh Off the Boat,” 8 and 8:30 p.m. ABC. These comedies are in a five-week break, with no new episodes until Jan. 17. In tonight’s “Housewife” rerun, Katie needs to tap her son’s business skills; on “Boat” – which will have its final episode Feb. 21 – Eddie and his dad must give a sex talk to his younger brother.

5) “Anne With an E” new season, any time, Netflix. Fridays are often filled with new streaming shows, but this time Netflix released two of them (“Messiah” and “Spinning Out”) on New Year’s Day. Today it has the third and final season of this show, based on the “Anne of Green Gables” novels.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *