Day: March 26, 2020

This one is a jet-fueled “Project Runway”

When “Project Runway” began, Tim Gunn had modest expectations.
“I thought, ‘Well, this will be good cocktail-party talk. This will never happen again,’” he recalled.
Then it happened again and again and …
There were 16 seasons with Heidi Klum (shown here) as host and Gunn as mentor; there have been two more since they left to plan “Making the Cut,” the designer show that’s debuting now on Amazon Prime. There have been two junior editions with Klum and Gunn and seven all-star editions without them. Read more…

Country special has … well, almost everyone

When CBS said it would have some country stars for an April 5 special, it wasn’t kidding.
The list, announced this morning (March 26), seems to include most of Nashville and beyond. It has top country stars – Luke Bryan (shown here), Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and more – and even adds pop stars, including John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlisle and Gwen Stefani.
That will be 8 p.m. on April 5. The Academy of Country Music awards were originally scheduled then, but they’ve been pushed back to Sept. 16, with Keith Urban hosting. Read more…

Another postponement: The Tonys

For years, TV has depended on award shows to provide fresh musical energy … and strong ratings.
Not any more. The Tonys (shown here last year, with host James Corden) are the latest to be potponed. They weren’t scheduled until June 7 and follow the postponements of  the Billboard, iHeartRadio, Academy of Country Music and Kids Choice awards.
Two of those will compensate by having specials in which people perform at home. It will be pop music this Sunday (March 29) on Fox, then country music a week later on CBS. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for March 30: Three shows exit, two arrive

1) “Hawaii Five-0” (shown here) series-finale, 9 p.m. Friday, CBS. This has been almost eternal – 12 years in the original series, 10 more for this reboot. Now it closes with flashbacks that include three deceased people – Steve McGarrett’s father, the man who killed him (Victor Hesse) and the man who ordered it (Wo Fat). There’s more: McGarrett finally solves the case that his father left him. Also, Wo Fat’s widow – desperate to get the coded message sent by McGarrett’s late mother – has kidnapped Danny. Read more…

Best bets for March 28: Reruns fill virus-caused gaps

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. For the first time, the coronavirus has forced “SNL” to switch to a rerun. Other latenight shows had adjusted, but “SNL” – with reruns already scheduled – wasn’t affected. But it had planned a new episode tonight, with John Krasinski hosting and Dua Lipa as music guest. Instead, this rerun has Scarlett Johansson (shown here) hosting and mocking her fiance, anchor and head writer Colin Jost; Niall Horan is music guest. Read more…