1) “Only Murders in the Building,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. For three seasons on Hulu (with a fourth coming), this has combined murder mysteries with quietly clever glimpses of eccentric New Yorkers. Now the first season reruns over four Tuesdays on ABC. A has-been actor and a never-was director (played by Steve Martin and Martin Short) link with a neighbor (Selena Gomez, they’re shown here) for a true-crime podcast. Read more…
Tom Smothers (shown here) was many things – a clever comedian, an adequate singer, a great finder of new talent and new ideas.
He was also a champion gymnast and, much later, a yo-yo master.
Still, Smothers – who died Tuesday (Dec. 26) at 86 – will be remembered mainly as the guy who nudged American TV into the modern world. And that was partly by accident. Read more…
1) Rose Parade, 11 a.m. ET, NBC, ABC and RFD-TV (which repeats it at 1 p.m.). The new year starts with bursts of color and sound. The parade (shown here in a previous year) has a music theme today. It includes 19 marching bands and (as grand marshal) Audra McDonald; she’s a Broadway star with 10 Tony nominations and six wins, half of them in musicals. There are also 18 horse units and about 39 floats. Read more…
1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 8-10 p.m. and 10:30p.m. to 2:13 a.m. Sunday, ABC. This year’s party goes global, with Ryan Seacrest (shown here in a previous year) cutting to music in Korea (NewJeans), Puerto Rico (Ivy Queen) and Las Vegas (Post Malone.). He’ll be in Times Square, with live music from Megan Thee Stallion, Jelly Roll , Sabrina Carpenter and Tyla. He also hasa taped California party with Janelle Monae, Ludacris, Bebe Rexha, Green day, Ellie Goulding, Doechi and more. Read more…
It seems logical that we celebrate these two great lives in the same month.
Norman Lear died Dec. 5 at 101; Tommy Smothers died Dec. 26 at 86. Together, they nudged TV into the modern era.
Both were on CBS, the leading network. Both created shows that were younger and sharper. Both battled censors; Smothers (shown here, right, with his brother Dick) lost, Lear won, viewers won.
There’s more to it than that, though. These guys did much more than fight censors and tip windmills; they made shows that were innovative and funny. If you had stripped out every controversial moment, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “All in the Family” would still have been TV gems. Read more…
1) Orange Bowl, 4 p.m. ET , ESPN. The regular season ended with two jolts: Top-ranked Georgia lost and slid to No. 6; Florida State (shown here) was undefeated, but stayed at No. 5. Fans fumed about missing the four-team playoffs. Now their teams collide, seeking some sort of consolation victory. Read more…
1) Rose Parade, 11 a.m. ET today, NBC, ABC and RFD-TV (which repeats it at 1 p.m.). The new year gets off to a bright, brassy start. There’s a music theme and 19 marching bands; the grand marshal is Audra McDonald, a Broadway star with 10 Tony nominations and six wins, half of them in musicals. There are also 18 horse units and about 39 floats. The parade (shown here in a previous year) is a Pasadena event that goes back to 1890; a football game (now the Rose Bowl) was added in 1902. Read more…
1) “Must Love Christmas” (2022), 9-11 p.m., CBS. Last year, CBS debuted three Christmas films – one poor, one so-so and this one, which is actually quite good. It has a likable star (Liza Lapira of “Equalizer,” shown here), lush visuals and a solid gimmick: She’s struggling with her Christmas novel and we glimpse at scenes from it. And unlike most of these, we keep guessing about her romantic future. Read more…
1) “Transplant,” 9 p.m., NBC. After a month-long break, “Transplant” returns with perhaps the best episode since its debut, three years ago. Desperate to become a Canadian citizen, Bash (shown here in a previous episode) has gathered paperwork from his Syrian war years. Now an official is asking about his workday; we jump between that government office and hectic moments in the hospital. “Transplant” skillfully shows life-and-death crises and subtle human moments. Read more…
As his career soared, Burt Reynolds created a new niche.
“He was a hero to the South,” director Adam Rifkin says in “I Am Burt Reynolds,” which airs at 8 p.m. ET Saturday (Dec. 30) on CW, launching a series of biographical movies. He was the perfect “sweaty, stout tough guy.”
It’s a regional-rogue image he molded through three “Smokey and the Bandit” films (shown here) and others, from “Gator” to “The Longest Yard” and “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” And it persisted despite a quirk: Reynolds was a native Northerner who didn’t move South (to Florida) until he was 10. Read more…
