1) “Jeopardy Masters” opener, 8-9 p.m., ABC. In nine hours, spread over four weeks, top players will compete. James Holzhauer (shown here with host Ken Jennings), Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Victoria Groce and Yogesh Raut are involved. That takes the next four Wednesdays (nudging “The Conners” to 9:30), plus three Mondays and two Fridays. Read more…
1) “The Veil” opener, Hulu. This starts with a bleak, barren stretch of snow. In a refugee camp in Turkey, a woman is suspected of being a lethal ISIS leader. Now a spy has arrived. We don’t know her real name or her mission; she doesn’t know what to think of the suspect. What emerges are tautly written moments for two gifted people, Elisabeth Moss (shown here) and Lebanese actress Yumna Marwan. Read more…
Two real-life stories – involving a retiring grandma and a retired spy – helped propel “The Veil” (shown here), the deeply layered mini-series streaming on Hulu.
The first comes from Steven Knight, who wrote the six-parter: A British friend, he told the Television Critics Association, “had a grandmother, and she was 65, and she was retiring. She called everyone to Sunday lunch (and) said: ‘For the past 35 years, I’ve been an MI6 spy.’”
Yes, Grandma was a British spy, sort of like James Bond. Then there’s the other story, from producer Denise Di Novi.
The French spy agency, the DGSE, is intensely quiet, she told the TCA. But one night, at a hotel bar, a retired agent “had too much to drink and started telling me these things about how difficult it was that they had to start working with other agencies.” Read more…
1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. Gina Yashere has been key to this deceptively clever show. Her character (Kemi) is mostly just brash and bold, but Yashere also co-created and co-produces “Bob,” molding the contrast between casual Midwesterners and blunt Nigerians. Now it’s time for Kemi’s Las Vegas wedding (shown here). A week later – way too soon – the fifth and final season ends. Read more…
Convinced that its ratings surge will last, “The Daily Show” has finally beefed up its team of correspondents.
The show has added Troy Iwata, Josh Johnson and Grace Kuhlenschmidt. Previously, the team had dwindled to four main people – Ronny Chieng, Desi Lydic, Jordan Klepper and Michael Kosta – plus occasional use of Dulce Sloan and Lewis Black.
Comedy Central is giving the show a one-week break now (stuffing the week with marathons of “Seinfeld,” “The Office” and “South Park”), but will return to its schedule on May 6: New “Daily Show” episodes are at 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, rerunning at 1:25 a.m. and then going to Paramount+.
The Monday hours are hosted by Jon Stewart (shown here) – the source of the recent surge. Comedy Central said the new hires are “on the heels of ‘The Daily Show’s’ huge ratings growth,” a claim that Nielsen seem to back up. Read more…
1) “Guilt” season-opener, 10 p.m., PBS. Max is an upscale schemer; Jake is his down-market brother, a decent chap who’s along for the ride. In the first two seasons, Max went to prison and Jake found love. Now they’re in Chicago with Jake’s girlfriend, running a bar; in their native Scotland, others rage and run. By the end of the first hour, things merge in wild and entertaining way; they’re shown here, executing a mucky escape. Read more…
1) “Ghosts” season-finale, 8:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS. This wraps its season early, leaving room for “Young Sheldon” to have a couple two-episode Thursdays. It’s time for Isaac to have something he wouldn’t have imagined in his lifetime – a wedding (shown here) to another man … who was a British officer … whom Isaac killed in the Revolutionary War. Then a surprise guest complicate the celebration. Read more…
1) White House Correspondents Dinner, CNN. This is listed as 8 p.m. ET, but treat that warily; the good part is often closer to 10. And yes, there have been good parts, rippling with satire from comedians and presidents. That sagged with a so-so outing by Michelle Wolf in 2018, no comedian in 2019 and Covid cancellation in 2020-21. After a rebound with Trevor Noah and Roy Wood, Colin Jost (shown here with his wife, Scarlett Johanssoon) gets a turn. Read more…
On the “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” set, people were semi-celebrating a semi-successful run.
The show has spent much of its five seasons in the top-25 of Nielsen ratings. It’s been a rare throwback to the days when comedy was king.
So members of the Television Critics Association directed questions to its stars (Billy Gardell, Folake Olowofoyeku) and producer Chuck Lorre — who made one thing clear: “We would have never gone far with the show had we not found Gina.”
That’s Gina Yashere, ready for her close-up. In the show, she’s Kemi, a noisy friend who’s there for a few quick laughs. In the second-to-last episode (8:30 p.m. Monday, April 29, on CBS), she finally gets the focus (shown here), with a Las Vegas wedding.
But the core of the show – including its culture conflict – springs from Yashere.
“They found me on Google,” she said later. “I turned it down. But my best friend and my brother said, ‘You’re being stupid.’” Read more…
1) “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” opener, Hulu and Disney+. This four-parter juggles two stories: One is semi-interesting: Jon Bon Jovi, now 62, battles throat problems, hoping to launch his band’s 40th-year tour. The other is compelling – a story of “five guys from nowhere” (led by a young Jon Bon Jovi, shown here) becoming, at times, the world’s leading rock band. Read more…
