Best-bets for April 23: “Shogun” ends, amid reruns

1) “Shogun” finale, 10-11:30 p.m., FX; also, Hulu. Gorgeous visually, yet relentlessly morose, the finale ends solemnly. We see the lethal result of the castle raid and its aftershocks. We also learn of Toranaga’s long-range scheme and see hints of the fate of Blackthorne, the English mariner. Overall, the miniseries (shown here) could be considered masterful or merely a long monotone. Read more…

1) “Shogun” finale, 10-11:30 p.m., FX; also, Hulu. Gorgeous visually, yet relentlessly morose, the finale ends solemnly. We see the lethal result of the castle raid and its aftershocks. We also learn of Toranaga’s long-range scheme and see hints of the fate of Blackthorne, the English mariner. Overall, the miniseries (shown here) could be considered masterful or merely a long monotone.

2) “TMZ” special, 8 p.m., Fox. For an odd stretch, there was a direct correlation between torso size and box-office impact. Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo” and “Rocky” films combined for $2 billion worldwide; so did Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator” films. This hour talks to the former rivals (now 77 and 76), who eventually linked for three “Expendables” films.

3) “Alert: Missing Persons Unit,” 9 p.m., Fox. This reruns a lighter-than-usual hour, with someone hiding in plain sight: He’s a Ben Franklin impersonator, giving walking tours in Philadelphia. The hour also extends the cliché of a forensic scientist with odd social skills. Credibility is strained everywhere, but it’s still a fairly interesting episode.

4) “The Express Way with Dule Hill,” 9 p.m., PBS. Hill grew up with steady access to the arts. He started in ballet; by 10, he had understudied the title role in “The Tap Dance Kid” on Broadway and starred in the road tour. After long-running roles in “The West Wing” and “Psych,” he has this low-key show, visiting a variety of arts programs.

5) FBI shows, 8-11 p.m., CBS. The usual Tuesday dramas on ABC and Fox have reruns or replacements this week, so CBS has the field to itself. On “FBI” (8 p.m.), a pregnant woman has been kidnapped; on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10), a judge has been killed. In between, “FBI: International” (9) probes a death in Amsterdam’s red-light district.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *