Best-bets for Oct. 24: emotional dancing, native innovation

1) “Dancing With the Stars,” 8-10 p.m., ABC and Disney+. We can expect a night of strong emotion. As a tribute to Len Goodman, the long-time judge who died in April at 78, the pro dancers perform to “Moon River.” Then contestants choose songs from key years in their lives. That ranges from recent (songs by Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran) to Barry Williams (shown here), 69, dancing to “Born to be Wild,” which came out in 1968, just before he joined the Brady Bunch. Read more…

1) “Dancing With the Stars,” 8-10 p.m., ABC and Disney+. We can expect a night of strong emotion. As a tribute to Len Goodman, the long-time judge who died in April at 78, the pro dancers perform to “Moon River.” Then contestants choose songs from key years in their lives. That ranges from recent (songs by Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran) to Barry Williams (shown here), 69, dancing to “Born to be Wild,” which came out in 1968, just before he joined the Brady Bunch.

2) “Native America” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. Over the next four Tuesdays, we’ll see far-ranging portraits of Native Americans. Tonight, Henry Red Cloud tries a modern variation on long-ago methods of affordable housing … the Halluci Nation duo (also featured last Friday) makes electronic music …. And, in a fascinating portion, Aaron Yazzie ranges from NASA (where he designed key parts of the Mars rover) to his roots in the Navajo Nation.

3) “The Swarm,” 9 p.m., CW. A week from the final episode, scientists feel there’s something alive and lethal, stirring trouble in the ocean. Now a ship is in the Arctic and Charlie and Luther test the depths in a submarine. An analyst notices a strange glow – and a crisis sets up the finale.

4) “FBI True,” 9 p.m., CBS. A week after being trimmed to a half-hour (to make room for a sampling of the Paramount+ “Frasier” reboot), “True” gets two hours this week. Tonight traces the effort to find the Boston Marathon bomber; Thursday (10-11 p.m.) includes the 17-year search for Whitey Bulger, a Mob boss charged with 19 murders.

5) Movies. Wisely, Disney sometimes hands classic characters to gifted directors; here are well-crafted examples: “Cinderella” (2015), 7:12 p.m. on Showtime, is from Kenneth Branagh, whose directing has ranged from Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, from “Thor” to “Belfast,” a deeply personal film. “Cruella” (2021) was directed by Craig Gillespie, in-between gems taken from real-life stories – “I, Tonya” and “Dumb Money.”
— Mike Hughes, TV America

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