Month: August 2021

Actresses elevate a compelling “Impeachment”

There are some near-miracles that only great talent can achieve.
Now “Impeachment” – the compelling mini-series that opens at 10 p.m. Sept. 7 on FX – has accomplished two of them: It makes us like Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones. A lot.
You can credit the sharp script by playwright Sarah Burgess, adapting the story of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (shown here in real life). And credit two gifted actress.
Playing Lewinsky is Beanie Feldstein, who drew paise in “Booksmart” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Playing Jones is Annaleigh Ashford, a Tony-winner who is perfect in “B Positive.” Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 2: Country stars lead a busy night

1) “CMA Summer Jam,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. For two summers, the Fan Fest was cancelled because of COVID. This second time, however, the gap was filled by a two-day Nashville concert. Darius Rucker sang on a new downtown stage, Eric Church on a pedestrian bridge, Dierks Bentley at his club, others at an amphitheater. There are Lukes (Bryan and Combs) plus Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Miranda Lambert (shown here), Jimmie Allen, Dwight Yoakam, Mickey Guyton, Thomas Rhett and more. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 1: Memories of Pryor and Jessica Walter

1) “Superstar: Richard Pryor,” 10 p.m., ABC. Pryor (shown here) had a life filled with tragedy. Raised in his grandmother’s brothel, he was abandoned by his mother at 10, expelled at 14, jailed by the Army at 18. Then he soared in show business – both in the mainstream and with R-rated wit. Trouble persisted – seven marriages, three heart attacks, a freebasing accident – but so did his skill. He won the first Mark Twain Prize and was named (by both Comedy Central and Rolling Stone) as the best stand-up ever. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 31: 9/11 films bring deep humanity

1) “Generaton 9/11,” 9-11 p.m Tuesday, PBS. There were 105 babies born in the U.S. after their fathers died because of the Sept. 11 attack. This compelling documentary introduces six of them (along with one man who was 3 when his dad died). At 19, they are a varied group, from the intense – a criminal-justice student planning to be a lawyer, an ROTC student planning to be a soldier – to an athlete and to a musician (Megan Fehling, shown here) who rereads “Catcher in the Rye.” They push ahead with promising lives. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 30: The somber and the silly

1) “Housebroken” season-finale, 9:01 p.m., Fox. Clever enough for grown-ups, yet silly enough for kids, this animated show has been a summer surprise. Honey (Lisa Kudrow) is a wise poodle who holds group-therapy sessions (shown here) for neighborhood animals. Beneath her calm exterior is a lust for the wild world of Coyote. Now she has a night with him … and a change-of-heart. She and Chief – a St. Bernard with no cares and few thoughts – are in mortal danger; the group tries to save them. Read more…

Condo crime comedy for these amigos

Let’s think of this as “Three Amigos Go Manhattan.” Only with a murder mystery. And a new amigo.
“Three Amigos,” in 1986, was the first pairing of Steve Martin and Martin Short; the third star was Chevy Chase. Now comes “Only Murders in the Building,” a droll, 10-part series that starts Tuesday (Aug. 31) on Hulu; the third star (shown here) is Selena Gomez.
Yes, one of these is not like the others. Martin is 76, Short is 71 … Gomez is 29. “I had no idea who they were,” she joked, at a Television Critics Association virtual press conference. Read more…

20 years ago, their dads died on 9/11

The teen-agers featured on PBS would seem to have little in common.
Ronald Milam was an athlete; Nick Gorki was a cheerleader. Luke Taylor is an ROTC cadet, planning to be a soldier; Megan Fehling plays the guitar and re-reads “Catcher in the Rye.” Dina Retik promotes togetherness; Claudia Szurkowski (shown here) says she “loves to argue.”
But “Generation 9/11” (9-11 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, rerunning on Sept. 10) points to a much bigger link: Each is 19; each was born after his or her father died on Sept. 11, 2001. Read more…

The news: Asner’s death, musical gem, “Manifest” rescued

The website was down for a couple days of technical fix-ups, but now we’re back during a busy time. I wanted to briefly mention:
— The death of Ed Asner today (Sunday, Aug. 29) at 91. This was someone who mastered both comedy and drama … inside the same character. Playing Lou Grant, he won three Emmys for comedy (“Mary Tyler Moore Show”) and two more for drama (“Lou Grant”). He could range from crusty to lovable; he laughed once when I mentioned that he holds the Jewish record for the most times playing Santa Claus.
— The upcoming debut of “Come From Away” (shown here), Sept. 10 on Apple TV+. More on that in a minute.
— And the surprise: “Manifest” is returning . Netflix will give it a final, 20-episode season, with the details pending.
Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 29: riveting memories, wicked songs

1) “9/11: One Day in America,” 9-10:30 p.m., National Geographic, rerunning at 11:30. This launches a three-night stretch of riveting television. Working with the 9/11 memorial (shown here), people dug through 950 hours of film from Sept. 11, 2001, added fresh interviews, then assembled it all with skill and restraint. There are deep waves of tragedy, but also surprising bursts of feel-good stories. Here is human nature at its best – heroism and stoic survival, mixed in with bursts of sheer luck. The stories are beautifully related. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Aug. 30: country fun, 9/11 despair

1) “CMA Summer Jam,” 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. For two summers, the Fan Fest was cancelled because of COVID. This year, however, the gap was filled by a two-day mega-concert in Nashville. Dierks Bentley sang at his club, Eric Church on a pedestrian bridge, Darius Rucker on a downtown stage and others at an amphitheater. That includes two Lukes (Bryan and Combs) plus Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani (shown here), Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Mianda Lambert, Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Thomas Rhett. Read more…