Best bets for June 18: disco, diving, Doc & Don

1) “Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. On the surface, disco was all flash and fun. At its core, this documentary says, were gays battered by bias and forming an alternate world. The next couple Tuesdays may get to the fun part – remember Travolta (shown here), BeeGees, etc.? – but this opener offers a fairly somber view of the early days. Read more…

1) “Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. On the surface, disco was all flash and fun. At its core, this documentary says, were gays battered by bias and forming an alternate world. The next couple Tuesdays may get to the fun part – remember Travolta (shown here), BeeGees, etc.? – but this opener offers a fairly somber view of the early days.

2) Sports. This is supposed to be the fifth game of hockey’s best-of-seven finals; that’s 8 p.m. ET on ABC – unless Florida completed its four-game sweep of Edmonton. If so, try the Olympic trials. The USA Network has swimming at 6 p.m. and diving at 7:15; NBC has then at 8 and 9:30. Peacock has most of that, plus more at 11 a.m.

3) “Clipped,” Hulu. After showing the chaos around Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2013, this pauses for flashbacks. The middle two – involving Sterling’s wife and his girlfriend – are so-so. More compelling are the first (Doc Rivers, a young player during the 1992 riots) and last, with Elgin Baylor being dumped as general manager.

4) Musicals. In the past 55 years, only one musical has won the best-picture Oscar. That’s “Chicago” (2002); ir’s at 9:55 p.m. on MGM+, which has more musicals, from “Hair” (1:40 p.m.) to “Mean Girls” (8). Other musicals include “Sweet Charity” (1969), 5:30 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies, and the animated “Moana” (2016), 8 p.m., FX.

5) More movies. FX has another animated gem — “Inside Out” (2015),an Oscar-nominee for best script – at 7 p.m. And Syfy has Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” (2018), at 7:27 and 10:30 p.m.; Olivia Cooke, now Queen Alicent in “House of the Dragon,” is terrific as a young video-gamer.
— Mike Hughes, TV America

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