Month: April 2020

(Here are the five TV best-bets for Saturday, April 18; feel free to use in any form, all or some, print and/or web)

1) “One World: Together at Home,” 2-8 p.m. on streamers (YouTube, Facebook, etc.), 8-10 p.m. on ABC. CBS, NBC and CW. Here’s a music mega-show, with Lada Gaga lining up top stars, including Taylor Swift (shown here), Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Eddie Vedder. Other musicians, working from home, include Alicia Keys, Camila Cabello, John Legend, Keith Urban, Kacey Musgraves and more. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert co-host the network part.
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1) “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story” (2015), 8-10 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Harold Michelson drew movie storyboards, then became a production designer, Oscar-nominated for “Star Trek” and “Terms of Endearment.” His wife Lillian was a researcher; married for 60 years, they were even the namesakes for King Harold and Queen Lillian in “Shrek.” This documentary is sandwiched by two terrific films – “Some Like It Hot” (1959) at 5:45 p.m. ET and “Deliverance” (1972) at 10. That’s on a strong Hollywood night, including Jack Nicholson (shown here) in “The Departed”; see next paragraph. Read more…

1) “In the Dark” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. The first season started strong, meandered, then ended fiercely. Murphy (Perry Mattfeld), who is blind, realized Dean is a crooked cop who killed her friend. She kicked him into a car crash, barely surviving. Now “Dark” is in strong shape, thanks to two supporting characters – Brooke Markham (shown here withg Mattfeld) as Murph’s only friend and Morgan Krantz as the oft-hapless owner of a guide-dog business. Desperate to keep the business going, they stole drug money. Consequences follow. Read more…

1) “Chicago P.D.” season-finale, 10 p.m., NBC. The seventh season ends (earlier than planned) with a quietly powerful episode. It starts with trying to catch thugs selling mini-Uzis. There are complications – there usually are – and then the real plot takes over. We won’t spoil any twists, except to say it’s a deep dilemma for Atwater, superbly played by LaRoyce Hawkins (shown here). The advice he gets – from his boss and from an ex-alderman (Wendell Pierce) now in prison – is complex and layered. So is the story. Read more…

1) “New Amsterdam” season-finale, 9 p.m., NBC. This is an extraordinary episode. That’s partly because of the prologue, which we aren’t supposed to tell about. But it’s mostly because of the rare subtlety: Medical shows tend to crank up the emotion; they assume it’s more dramatic to have kin weeping and wailing. In truth, we suspect, it’s more common to have muted resolve. That’s what you get in tough moments here, played with subtle perfection by the actors (including Janet Montgomery, shown here) and new director Dinh Thai. Read more…