1) “Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution” finale, 9 p.m., PBS. This starts in the late ‘70s, at a dsco peak (shown here); 200 radio stations had switched to disco, which had half the spots on the Billboard charts. “They oversaturated,” says music writer Vince Aletti. Then came “a lot of garbage, cash-grab music,” says singer Ana Matronic, alongside a nasty, anti-disco rage. Read more…
1) “The Wall” season-opener, 10 p.m., NBC. After gobbling up most of NBC’s schedule for 16 days, the Olympic trials finally ended Sunday. That lets this show go ahead … for a few weeks, until the Olympics begin July 26. Tonight (shown here), host Chris Hardwick has a dad-daughter duo. Read more…
Loren Allred’s life has swirled with contrasts.
She went from the grunge world of Pittsburgh to the grunge-less world of Salt Lake City. She went from classical music to stadium-style pop.
Now there’s a bigger change: Allred, 34, used to say she was introverted, a backstage soul; she was the unseen mega-voice in “The Greatest Showman.” But on July 4, she’ll be on PBS’ “A Capitol Fourth,” singing to maybe a half-million people in person and more on TV..
“I really believe in exposure therapy.” Allred said with a laugh. Exposed to big audiences, she slowly transformed. “Now I actually enjoy it.” Read more…
1) BET Awards, 8-11:30 p.m., BET; also, MTV, VH1, Pop, Nickelodeon and TV Land. Taraji Henson hosts a night with award for movies, TV, sports and – especially – music. Nominees performing include Ice Spice (shown here), Victoria Monet, Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, Latto, Tyla ad Sexyy Red, Also performing: Lauryn Hill, Shaboozey, and more; Usher gets a special award. Read more…
1) “A Capitol Fourth,” 8 p.m. Thursday, PBS; repeats, 9:30-11. Each year, a vibrant concert closes with fireworks (shown here). This time, the show has Motown great Smokey Robinson and Broadway’s Fantasia, Darren Criss and the “Heart of Rock and Roll” cast. Also: Loren Allred, Chloe Flower, Sheila E and – after PBS’ disco series – ‘70s stars Sister Sledge. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live” alumni. They’re everywhere. Maya Rudolph hosts an “SNL” rerun (11:29 p.m., NBC), with others in movies: Eddie Murphy’s “Coming 2 America” (2021, shown here) is 8 p.m. on BET. Bill Murray has “Stripes” (1981) at 7 p.m. on IFC and “Ghostbusters” films at 2, 4:30, 7 and 9:30 on E. Chevy Chase’s “Vacation” is 6 p.m. on Sundance, plus sequels. Read more…
1) Women’s gymnastics Olympic trials, 8-10 p.m., NBC. This has become the new favorite Olympic sport for many Americans, with past champions (Simone Biles, shown here, and Suni Lee) back for more. The first round of trials is tonight, with the finals at 8 p.m. Sunday; the men have their finals at 3 p.m. Saturday. Read more…
Imagine being trapped in a drive-in theater for three days.
The popcorn and Raisinets would be be fine, the movies would be mercifully brief and this would be kind of fun in a monster-mash way.
That’s roughly what Turner Classic Movies plans: On three Wednesdays, it has films by Roger Corman, the micro-budgeter who died last month, at 98.
The first two nights (July 3 and 10), go from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., In a combined 20 hours, they show 13 films (yes, mercifully short), all directed by Corman, concluding with the surprisngly gppd “Wild Angels” (shown here). Then the final night (July 17) switches to Corman productions directed by his underling – including Martin Scorcese, Francis Coppola, Joe Dante and Jonathan Demme. Read more…
1) “The Bear,” Hulu. It’s the first full day for “Bear.”. (Hulu originally planned to release the entire third season today; then it nudgged that up to 9 p.m. Wednesday.) The first season won 10 Emmys, including best comedy, actor (Jeremy Allen White, shown here) and supporting actor and actress (Ebon Moss-Bacharach, Ayo Edebiri). The second will be up for Emmys in September. Read more…
1) “Walker” series-finale, 8 p.m,, CW. After 13 seasons – nine as “Walker, Texas Ranger” and four as this prequel (shown here) – this ends. “You can’t kill it with a stick,” co-creator Paul Haggis used to say. But you can with economics: The new CW owners want lower-budget shows. The finale brings people together for Walker’s son’s graduation. Read more…
