Day: October 27, 2021

Best-bets for Oct. 29: The dead (including Beethoven) arise

1) “Now Hear This: Beethoven’s Ghost,” 9 p.m., PBS. In most “Now Hear This” hours, violinist Scott Yoo (shown here) blends music, commentary and a travelog. Now comes a terrific detour: As five musicians record Beethoven’s music, the composer’s ghost (perfectly played by John Hans Tester) roams … wjth Freud’s ghost trying some instant analysis. The music – especially from Yoo and pianist Anna Polonsky – soars. Read more…

TV Halloween: the final, funny/messy stretch

It’s time for one final round-up of Halloween TV.
That starts and ends with “The Simpsons” and its off-brilliant, sometimes-just-messy “Treehouse of Horror” episodes (shown here). A dozen of them rerun Wednesday … then 30 of them air, in order, on Sunday.
There’s much more. We’ll briefly mention the scary stuff at the end (and repeat my “Chucky” story), but first let’s round up the fun stuff, Oct. 27-31: Read more…