Month: March 2023

Best-bets for April 2: Lots of drama, lots of Nashville

1) “CMT Music Awards,” 8-11 p.m, CBS. One married couple (Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani) will perform separately; another (Kane and Katelyn Brown, shown here) will perform together. Other pairings include Wynonna Judd with Ashley McBryde, Darius Rucker with the Black Crowes, and Alanis Morissette with past “Next Women” winners. Also performing: Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini (who hosts with Kane Brown), Carly Pearce and more. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for April 3: CBS has surf sounds, FBI, more

1) “A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys,” 8-10 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Nine days after PBS’ Joni Mitchell tribute, here’s another nod to great songwriting. It again has Brandi Carlile (doing “In My Room” and, with John Legend, “God Only Knows”) and many more The music of the Beach Boys (shown here) is sung by people from country (Lady A, LeAnn Rimes, Little Big Town) and pop (Beck, Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Fall Out Boy, Norah Joneas, Mumford & Sons, etc.) Read more…

Best-bets for April 1: Quinta, Moses, more

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. As a triple threat (writer-producer-star), Quinta Brunson (shown here) is sweeping up the awards. Last fall, she won an Emmy for her “Abbott Elementary” pilot script; in January, she won Golden Globes for best comedy series and best comedy actress. Now Brunson, 33, is scheduled for her first time hosting “SNL”; Lil Yachty is the music guest. Read more…

Best-bets for March 31: a splendid night of sight and sound

1) Gershwin Prize, 9 p.m., PBS. Joni Mitchell has created immense depth and beauty; now she’s the focus of a gorgeous event: With her paintings as a backdrop, Mitchell (shown here early in her career), 79, is serenaded by her contemporaries (James Taylor, Graham Nash, Cyndi Lauper) and others. Ledisi links with Herbie Hancock for “River,” Annie Lennox sings a beautiful “Both Sides Now” and Brandi Cartlisle offers a stunning version of the more-recent (2007) “Shine.” Read more…

Joni’s artful, musical world gets tribute

In her first 79 years, Joni Mitchell has done approximately everything.
She survived polio when she was young and an aneurysm when she was old. She lived in tiny towns in Canada and big cities in the U.S. She smoked, drank, partied. And she became the 13th winner of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Music; the show – 9 p.m. Friday (March 31) on PBS – highlights her as:
— A painter. “The visual side of Joni Mitchell is incredible,” said Ken Ehrlich, the show’s producer. As a backdrop to the performances (James Taylor, Lennox, Ledisi, Herbie Hancock, Brandi Carlile, more), he’s using Mitchell’s paintings; a self-portrait is shown here. “She’s a world-class artist.”
— A songwriter. This is music that “came into my soul …. It’s poetry that is embodied with music,” Lennox told the Television Critics Association. Read more…

Best-bets for March 30: CBS’ shows return; ABC’s leaves

1) “CSI: Vegas,” 10 p.m., CBS. After a two-week basketball break, this returns with a deeply moving episode. There’s great work from Paula Newsome, as the CSI chief, and Regina Taylor, as a vicitm who has retained anger (and a bullet) for decades. (They’re shown here, right and centr.) She rages, justifiably, about past police who seemed to give Black victims less attention. Now she has people on her side. Read more…

Best-bets for March 29: Archie time-treks,Ted prospers

1) “Riverdale” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. The Archie comics offered sweet Americana – a cheery chap and his pals at the soda shop. This series, however, has rippled with murder and despair. Now a comet has transported everyone to 1955, when teens (including Cheryl, shown here) can focus on fun, not murder. Only Jughead remembers anything. It’s a clever idea that wobbles a bit in the opener, but works well. We see ‘50s sunniness, darkened by a world that seemed to ignore racism and more. Read more…

Best-bets for March 28: tough times in Brooklyn and Gotham

1) “Accused,” 9 p.m., Fox. This anthology again delivers an hour that is both beautifully crafted and deeply depressing. Abigail Breslin (the former child star of “Little Miss Sunshine”) and Aisha Dee (“The Bold Type”) — shown here, left and center — are perfect as young lovers who witness an atrocity in Brooklyn, then become obsessed with vengeance. There are a couple lapses in believability, but this story is compelling, emotional … and devastating. Read more…

ABC’s summer: lots of games and some “Wonder”

ABC is planning another few-rerun summer.
That includes lots of game shows, filling two nights and sprawling into two more. But it also has:
— The long-delayed season-opener of “The Wonder Years” (shown here).
— The next “Bachelorette,” this time centering on Charity Lawson, 26, who finished fourth in the current “Bachelor.” She has a Master’s Degree from Auburn and works as a child and family therapist.
— And some pre-summer games. “Jeopardy” will have its “Masters” tournament, May 8-24; the pro basketball tournament will continue through mid-June. Read more…

Best-bets for March 27: “Bachelor” and “Eye” conclude; Pink sings

1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8 p.m., ABC, with follow-up at 10. Zach Shallcross started with 30 women, including four nurses, a nursing student, a therapist (Charity Lawson, the next “Bachelorette” star) and a rodeo racer. Now Shallcross, 26, a 6-foot-4 sales guy from California, is down to two: Kaity Biggar (shown here with Shallcross), 27, is a Canadian travel nurse; Gabi Elnicki, 25, is a marketer from Vermont. Read more…