Best-bets for Nov. 18: Joni music, Josh music, more

1) “Next at the Kennedy Center,” 9 p.m., PBS. Joni Mitchell’s two orchestral albums drew praise, but only had a brief tour with local orchestras. Now the National Symphony backs elegant vocals by Renee Fleming, Aoife O’Donovan, Jimmie Herrod and (on “Both Sides Now”) Lalah Hathaway. Amid these beautifully written Mitchell ballads, Raul Milon (shown here in a previous concert) adds pulsating renditions of “Be Cool” and (with Hathaway) “Sex Kills.” Read more…

1) “Next at the Kennedy Center,” 9 p.m., PBS. Joni Mitchell’s two orchestral albums drew praise, but only had a brief tour with local orchestras. Now the National Symphony backs elegant vocals by Renee Fleming, Aoife O’Donovan, Jimmie Herrod and (on “Both Sides Now”) Lalah Hathaway. Amid these beautifully written Mitchell ballads, Raul Milon (shown here in a previous concert) adds pulsating renditions of “Be Cool” and (with Hathaway) “Sex Kills.”

2) “Fire Country,” 9 p.m., CBS. There’s been good news for this show about prisoners volunteering as firefighters: Ratings have been strong, the show has been picked up for the full season … and on Jan. 29, it will get the spot after football’s AFC championship game. Tonight, Bode (Max Thieriot) gets devastating news. Also, he and Jake must put aside their differences and try a daring rescue.

3) “Josh Turner: King Size Manger,” 7 p.m. ET, UpTV, rerunning at 2 a.m. There’s a deluge of Christmas specials this year – few of them mentioning the reason for the holiday. Here’s an exception, with the country star singing four new songs, including “King Size Merger,” and some classics.

4) “Country Christmas Harmony,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. After a funny start – a country star’s inept Christmas video – this tumbles downhill. The star (Brooke Elliott) is sent to her home town, where all the expected things happen. The film is blessed only by pleasant blackdrops and a good supporting cast: Danny Pintauro plays her manager; Brandon Quinn gives a nuanced, naturalistic performance, in a film that doesn’t really deserve it.

5) Streaming. This is a week when Disney+ has its biggest stars: On Wednesday, it added Tim Allen (in the fairly funny “The Santa Clauses” series) and Chris Hemsworth (in the “Limitless” documentary series). Now it celebrates its biggest star, with a documentary: “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.” Also streaming this week – the “Gangs of London” season-opener on AMC+ and a comedy movie, “The People We Hate at the Wedding,” on Amazon Prime.

Leave a Reply

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