Best-bets for Feb. 27: “Idol” leads a superpumped, superbusy day

1) “American Idol” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. Starting its 20th season (and its fifth on ABC), this is a piece of TV history. It hit No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for 2005-6, after two years at No. 2. Ryan Seacrest remains as hosts; the judges (shown here) are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. This year’s tours reach Nashville, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Read more…

1) “American Idol” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. Starting its 20th season (and its fifth on ABC), this is a piece of TV history. It hit No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for 2005-6, after two years at No. 2. Ryan Seacrest remains as hosts; the judges (shown here) are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. This year’s tours reach Nashville, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.

2) “Superpumped: The Battle for Uber” debut, 10 p,m., Showtime. The producers of “Billions” (which continues at 9 p.m.) bring that same flavor here: Intense and articulate men grope for power. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Travis Kalanick, trying to turn Uber into an empire; first, he needs money from Bill Gurley (Kyle Chandler), a soft-spoken Texan. By the end of the hour, you may be simultaneously hating and rooting for Kalanick.

3) “Killing Eve” season-opener, 8 p.m., BBC America. For three seasons, two women have been in lethal pursuit. “Eve” has drawn raves and two Emmy nominations for best drama. Now its final season has a daring shift. Villanelle (Jodie Cover) has found religion; instead of kllling Eve (Sandra Oh), she wants to befriend her; Eve is not pleased. The result is smartly written and beautifully acted and directed.) “The Walking Dead,” 9 p.m., AMC. Like “Eve,” this show is making a sharp, final-season detour. Last week, returning from a four-month break, it ended the hour by flashing forward to Daryl as a uniformed soldier/cop in Commonwealth. That’s where we are in this fairly good hour, as he tries to give Judith some pieces of a pleasant childhood.

5) And more, The Screen Actors Guild awards are 8 p.m. on TBS and TNT. At the same time, CBS has its first new “Equalizer” in seven weeks and Turner Classic Movies has one of the great films, Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” (1992). And at 9, HBO has the season-finale of “Euphoria.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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