Best-bets for June 3: Papp, Pride & “Pistol”

1) “American Masters: Joe Papp in Five Acts,” 9 p.m., PBS. Papp had an audacious plan, bringing free Shakespeare to New York’s parks. He fought the city’s parks chief, won and built a permanent Central Park theater. (He’s shown here during construction.). Then he added indoor shows, launching “Hair,” “A Chorus Line,” “A Normal Heart,” “For Colored Girls (etc.)” and more. This “new” film (which reached film festivals a decade ago) offers a fascinating view of a strong public figure who kept much of his life – including four marriages and a hard-scrabble childhood – semi-hidden. Read more…

1) “American Masters: Joe Papp in Five Acts,” 9 p.m., PBS. Papp had an audacious plan, bringing free Shakespeare to New York’s parks. He fought the city’s parks chief, won and built a permanent Central Park theater. (He’s shown here during construction.). Then he added indoor shows, launching “Hair,” “A Chorus Line,” “A Normal Heart,” “For Colored Girls (etc.)” and more. This “new” film (which reached film festivals a decade ago) offers a fascinating view of a strong public figure who kept much of his life – including four marriages and a hard-scrabble childhood – semi-hidden.

2) “American Ninja Warrior,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Here’s a quick rerun of Monday’s “all-star spectacular,” pitting past contestants. That gets us ready for the new season, with try-outs starting Monday.

3) “Blue Bloods,” 10 p.m., CBS. Frank (Tom Selleck) and his friend Archbishop Kearns (Stacy Keach) collide. Keeping the confessional seal, Kearns can only say the wrong man was arrested for murder … but can’t reveal the true killer. Now Frank’s son Danny uses unorthodox methods fo find out. That’s in a busy rerun – including Jamie and his nephew arguing over police practices – that follows a “Magnum P.I.” with a twist: Before the wedding, a groom wants his bride investigated.

4) “Hollywood Stargirl,” any time, Disney+. Back when she was 12, Grace VanderWaal was the “America’s Got Talent” champion. Six years later, she has her second film playing a sweet-voiced teen; now she moves to Hollywood with her mom. Also new today is Netflix’s action film “Interceptor.” Arriving earlier this week on streamers were “This is Going to Hurt” (a somberly well-craftedmedical drama starring Ben Whishaw) on AMC+ and two major Hulu shows – “Pistol” (a Sex Pistols mini-series) and “The Orville,” the Seth MacFarlane space drama that started on Fox.

5) ALSO: Two ambitious documentary series rerun. “Pride” (8 p.m. to 2:04 a.m. on FX) debuted last year.; it’s a six-part gay-rights history. “Planet Earth” debuted in 2006, offering spectacular nature views. It airs six episodes from 3-9 p.m. on BBC America, pauses for a rerun of “Dynasties II: Elephant,” then repeats three of the hours from 10:23 p.m. to 1:25 a.m.

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