Best-bets for Feb. 22: a soulful, dramatic night

1) “Independent Lens: Mr. Soul!” 10 p.m., PBS. Back in 1968, variety shows had … well, little variety. They were mostly white, mostly mainstream. Then “Soul” debuted on public-TV, reflecting the range of host Ellis Haizlip (shown here). It had Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, but it also had jazz, poets and philosophy. Nikki Giovanni talked to James Baldwin; Haizlip talked to Louis Farrakhan and Stokely Carmichael. This vibrant film (by Melissa Haizlip, Ellis’ niece) ends with waves of emotion. Read more…

1) “Independent Lens: Mr. Soul!” 10 p.m., PBS. Back in 1968, variety shows had … well, little variety. They were mostly white, mostly mainstream. Then “Soul” debuted on public-TV, reflecting the range of host Ellis Haizlip (shown here). It had Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, but it also had jazz, poets and philosophy. Nikki Giovanni talked to James Baldwin; Haizlip talked to Louis Farrakhan and Stokely Carmichael. This vibrant film (by Melissa Haizlip, Ellis’ niece) ends with waves of emotion.

2) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. After a strong two-week story, this witty show slowed down, with two reruns in the past three weeks. Now it brings a fresh crisis: The two-parter introduced Tayo, who’s still married to Abishola. He left her and their son Dele in Detroit, returned to Nigeria … then briefly returned eight years later. Dele is a polite kid who wants to be a dancer … but expects to be a doctor, as his mom insists. Now his dad has banned him from dancing; Bob is asked to intervene.

3) “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 9 p.m., Fox. Does everyone on this show have a messed-up family life? This time, it’s Paul’s turn; he’s visited by his mother and estranged sister. Meanwhile, the emergency calls are odd, as usual. Brothers are trapped in a homemade minefield; someone’s conjoined twin is dying.

4) “Snowpiercer,” 9 p.m., TNT, repeating at 10:01. Crises loom throughout this taut hour. There’s Josie, smuggling information about Wilford’s plans … and Audrey, on a perilous date with Wilford … and Melanie, still missing during her balloon mission. All of this brings an ominous feeling that something big is looming. In the final minutes, that turns out to be true.

5) “The Good Doctor,” 10 p.m., ABC. A cyberattack could shut down life-saving machines at the hospital. Now Lea scrambles to outsmart the hackers. Also, one of the patients is a cancer survivor who became a philanthropist, but harbors a dark secret.

Leave a Reply

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