Month: January 2021

Best-bets for Feb. 2: troubled China, carefree (?) Zoey

1) “Frontline,” 10 p.m., PBS. Who deserves blame for the slow COVID response? Almost everyone, “Frontline” has found. Earlier, it pointed to the Trump response; now here’s the case against China (shown here) and the World Health Organization. On Dec.26, 25 days after the first case, Chinese officials and hospitals were finally warned of the danger; still, the government remained in denial for four crucial weeks. Secret tapes of WHO meetings show deep worries … but spokesmen kept downplaying the problem. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb.1: great “Roots,” greatly awful “Plan 9”

1) “Roots” (shown here), 3-10 p.m., Sundance. As Black History Month begins, here’s one of TV’s great projects, portraying the slavery experience. It set ratings records in 1977, then won nine Emmys and a Peabody. Tonight has the first half, with the rest airing from 3-10 p.m. Tuesday. This part also reruns from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, so you can catch the epic in one 14-hour sweep. Read more…

Let’s celebrate the very worst

We spend a lot of time talking about good shows, so it’s time for the opposite.
Let’s consider a show that is really, truly awful – but in a fun way that’s worth watching: “Plan 9 From Out Space” (shown here) has its primetime moment, at 8 p.m. ET Monday (Feb. 1) on Turner Classic Movies.
“Plan 9” is a 1959 film that jumped to fame in 1980, when the book “Golden Turkey Awards” proclaimed it the worst movie ever. Since then, it has shown up at bad-film festivals and more. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 31: Dramas ponder slavery and sexism

1) “Masterpiece: The Long Song,” 10 p.m., PBS. Here is Jamaica in the 1830s, offering visual beauty and emotional pain. Hayley Atwell – thoroughly transformed from her work as Peggy Carter in the Captain America films – plays an empty-headed plantation-owner, with Tamara Lawrence as her slave. Then a man (Jack Lowden, shown here with the women) arrives with news. This three-week story veers toward soap-opera turf, then evolves into a nuanced drama – beautifully filmed, skillfully acted and, at times, wrenching to watch. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 1: Black history, super Sunday

1) “The Equalizer” debut, about 10:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. This is, very simply, the best post-Super-Bowl show since “The Wonder Years” arrived, 33 years ago. It’s beautifully written, sharply filmed and perfectly played. The original notion had a guy – Edward Woodward in the series, Denzel Washington in two movies – help people who couldn’t turn to officials. Now Queen Latifah (shown here) plays a former CIA agent who has skills, compassion, a teen daughter and high-tech help. It’s a deeply involving debut. Read more…

“Long Song” mingles classy drama and soapy bits

As “The Long Song” begins Sunday (Jan. 31), we’re clearly in a distant time and place.
This is Jamaica, early in the 1800s. It has blue sky, sprawling vistas … and deep, wrenching pain. Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell, shown here with Tamara Lawrance)– who owns the plantation with her brother – mostly stays in the mansion while her sadistic overseer drives the slaves.
Then come all the events – love, lust, rape, revolt, betrayal – that we might find in a Harlequin novel or in a quality production. By the end of the three-week mini-series (9 p.m. Sundays on PBS), we’re left with the same question raised by Netflix’s recent “Bridgerton”mini-series: Where is the line that somehow separates tawdry soap opera from classy, period-piece drama? Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 30: “SNL” starts its Biden era

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a five-week rest, the show begins its Biden era. John Krasinski hosts, Machine Gun Kelly is the music guest and the presidential focus shifts. In the most-recent new episode (Dec. 19), Alex Moffat – who had often played Eric Trump (as he does here, left) – became Joe Biden. Previously, that role went to Jason Sudeikis and then, for six election-time episodes, Jim Carrey. Read more…

CBS may have all-Lorre comedy night

By this spring, CBS could reach a worthy goal – an all-Chuck-Lorre comedy block.
The network announced today (Wednesday), that “United States of Al” (shown here) will debut at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 1, after “The Unicorn” finishes its season.
If nothing else changes, that would put it after three other Lorre comedies – “Young Sheldon,” “B Positive” and “Mom.” Lorre also has “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” at 8:30 p.m. Mondays. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 29: “Kane” leads a great movie night

1) “Citizen Kane” (1941), 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. The American Film Institute’s best-movie list covers a century-plus of masterworks. This is No. 1 – just above “The Godfafher” and “Casablanca.” It’s a prime example of “auteur” filmmaking, molded by one person’s vision. Orson Welles (shown here) conceived, directed and starred in it; he also claimed he’d co-written it. (He only offered a couple ideas to the writer, but co-accepted an Oscar for the script.) The result weaves words and pictures perfectly. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 28: comedy, college, cable movies

1) “Grown-ish,” 8 p.m., Freeform. This was originally built around the college life of Zoey (shown here), from “Black-sh”; she still narrates, but tonight’s story ranges afar. Ana reaches a turning point in her romance and Aaron finds his activist spirit revived. This isn’t quite a comedy – there are plenty of them on Thursdays – but it is a crisply filmed half-hour, with likable young people exploring life. Read more…