Month: October 2023

1) “Saturday Night Live, 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a 23-week gap, “SNL” finally returned last week and … well, brought scattered laughs. There were some great early moments from host Pete Davidson, some good ones on “Weekend Update” and brief surprise visits from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce; there were also lots of so-so sketches. Now Bad Bunny (shown here), who’s had two No. 1 albums and 11 top-10 singles, will double as host and music guest. Read more…

1) “Checkin’ It Twice,” 8 p.m., Hallmark. The surge of new Christmas movies speeds up; the Hallmark channels have 40 in the next 66 days. There are 20 new ones on Great American Family (including one at 8 p.m. today), nine on UpTV, more on Lifetime and beyond. This one stars Kim Matula (Hope in “The Bold and the Beautiful”). Kevin McGarry (shown here, who is Nathan the Mountie in “When Calls the Heart”) is a newly traded hockey player who rents a cottage owned by her hockey-mad family. Read more…

PLEASE NOTE: President Biden plans to have a televised address tonight (8 p.m. ET, Oct. 19), to discuss the Ukraine and Israeli wars. That is expected to push back the regular schedules of some networks, in some time zone, by about 22 minutes. These are the Thursday highlights prior to that change.

1) “The Challenge: USA” finale (shown here), 10 p.m., CBS. “Survivor” alumni have thrived, with four of seven contestants reaching the finals – Chris Underwood, Desi Williams, Michaela Bradshaw and Chanelle Howell. By comparison, Faysal Shafaat is the lone finalist among nine from “Big Brother.” It’s two (Johnny “Bananas,” Cory Wharton) of four for “Real World,” zero of two for “Amazing Race,” one (Tori Deal) of two for “Are You the One?” Read more…

1) “Quantum Leap,” 8 p.m., NBC. Now Ben (shown here, right) is in the body of a UFO investigator in 1949. Hearing a teen’s wild story, he admits: “I have seen things that are hard to explain.” Like leaping into past people’s bodies and getting help from a hologram of his ex-fiancee (center), who’s dating someone else because he vanished for three years. This is a smart story that will tickle both UFO buffs and doubters, while offering neat sub-plots about the sheriff (left) and a waitress. Read more…

1) “Frasier,” 9:30 and 10 p.m., CBS. It was almost 20 years ago that Kelsey Grammer tried to convince CBS to take “Frasier,” after NBC had canceled it. For one night, he gets his wish: This revival streams on Paramount+, but its first two episodes rerun tonight on CBS. We see Frasier Crane return to Boston, meet his son and the son’s roommate (shown here) … and soon feud over a souvenir. Eight more episodes – basically with only Grammer from the original cast – will stream on Thursdays. Read more…

1) “The America Buffalo,” 8-10 p.m., PBS; rerunning at 10 and concluding Tuesday. This is classic Ken Burns (almost). It has deep insights, great visuals, painful details. Missing (until near the end) is optimism Burns (shown here) usually offers. We see the buffalo (and, separately, native Americans) pushed to the edge of extinction. Late in Tuesday’s finale, decency emerges. We’re left with some hope for the buffalo, the natives and the human soul. Read more…

1) “Encanto,” 8 p.m,, ABC. On the eve of the Disney studio’s 100th birthday, a three-day celebration begins. Tonight, a short (“Once Upon a Studio”) has cartoon characters trying to assemble for a photo; that’s followed by “Encanto” (2021, shown here), with vibrant animation and splendid Lin-Manuel Miranda songs. On Monday, “Studio” reruns at 11:51 a.m. on FXX, 8 p.m. on Disney and 8:30 on Freeform. Also, Disney+ has the restored “Snow White” on Monday; the next day, “Dancing With the Stars” has Disney night. Read more…