Month: November 2020

1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” season-opener (shown here), 8:30 p.m., CBS. Last season’s best new comedy returns, picking up the pace a bit. Last season, Bob slowly and drolly tried to romance Abishola, the Nigerian native who had nursed him back from a heart attack. Now he wants to move faster, but her world is crowded and complicated; that includes aunt, uncle, son, jobs and (back in Nigeria) traditions and a marriage that was never formally ended. This opener, as usual, is a splendid mix of humor and warmth. Read more…

1) “Fargo,” 10 p.m., FX. This is pure “Fargo” – strange and cryptic, yet brilliantly crafted in its own weird way. At the core is Rabbi Milligan (shown here in a previolus episode), a pawn in the 1950 Kansas City power struggle. As a kid, he was twice traded to opposing families, in a futile attempt to keep peace; then a trade gave him young Satchel.  Now they drive the backroads, eluding danger. A mostly black-and-white episode, with hints of “Wizard of Oz,” it’s the sort of episode in which nothing happens … until everything does. Read more…

1) “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Bull,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. This was supposed to be a big night for CBS – a collision between high-scoring Alabama and Louisiana State football teams. But the game was postponed due to COVID at LSU, leaving the network with reruns of unspecified episodes. “Bull” will have its actual season-opener Monday; before that, “NCIS: LA” (shown here) has its second new episode Sunday. Read more…

1) “The Blacklist” season-opener, 8 p.m., NBC. For seven seasons, Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader, shown here in a previous episode) has been pointing Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) and the FBI task force toward big-deal villains. Now he has another, named Roanoke, who specializes in extracting people. He also has bigger problems: Keen is finally bonding with Katarina, who is her mother … and a former Soviet spy … and maybe one of the only people who know Red’s true identity. Read more…

1) “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC) season-openers, both 9 p.m. The two longest-running scripted shows current on TV collide; both are changing with the times. For “SVU,” starting its 22nd year – an investigation faces community distrust of police, And for “Grey’s”, starting its 17th season (the original cast is shown here), the COVID crisis grows. Things get worse when teens accidentally set a fire; that story starts on the “Station 19” season-opener at 8, then spreads into the two-hour “Grey’s” opener. Read more…

1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 pm., ABC. Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and others open the show with a salute to the late Charlie Daniels. That starts a night filled with combinations: Hosts Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker perform together; he also links with Lady Antebellum; she joins Thomas Rhett and more. Gabby Barrett sings with Charlie Puth; also performing are Miranda Lanbert, Luke Combs, Eric Church, Maren Morris and more, plus a lifetime award for Charley Pride. Read more…