1) “POV: King Coal,” 10 p.m., PBS. Here’s a documentary (shown here) that has drawn praise and awards at film festivals, including a Sundance nomination. It uses a personal approach, focusing on generations in coal country. Read more…
1) “Orphan Black: Echoes” opener, 10 p.m., AMC and BBC America. Here are two gifted actresses. One (Keeley Hawes) knows a secret; the other (Krysten Ritter) doesn’t know anything, including her own identity. Then this becomes a brisk adventure, with Ritter (shown here) running from and toward unknown forces. It’s a great start. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. On Thursday, the entire third season of the Emmy-winning “The Bear” will debut on Hulu. Now “SNL” reruns the hour hosted by Ayo Edebiri, who has already won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for “Bear.” Jennifer Lopez (left, with Edebiri and Heidi Gardner) is the music guest.
1) CMA Fest,” 8-11 p.m. Tuesday,. ABC. An annual summer highlight,, this is culled from four nights of Nashville concetss. Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde host, with music from Lainey Wilson (shown here), Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini, Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Clint Black, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Post Malone, Big & Rich and more. Read more…
At times, the streaming world seems full of sad souls and crumbling kingdoms. Eva Longoria decided to go another way.
“We’ve had a wave of dystopian shows and I’m always, ‘Ugh, I’m so depressed,” she told the Television Critics Associatdion.
So she stars in “Land of Women,” a six-parter (the poster is shown here) that starts Wednesday (June 26) on Apple TV+. “This show is so blue-skies, it’s so escapism,” she said, inspiring viewers to think: “I want to go to Spain and drink wine.”
Which is what she did. She went to Peralada, a winemaking village of 1,860 people, in Spain’s Catelonia region. There, the film crew dictated the pace. Read more…
1) Olympic track-and-field trials begin, 6:30 p.m., USA Network, 9 p.m., NBC, both also on Peacock. This is what used to dominate the Olympics, filled with running and leaping (shown here). It continues through Monday, pauses, then returns June 27, Also today: swimming at 5:30 p.m. on USA and 8 on NBC, swimming and diving in the daytime on Peacock. Read more…
In other lands, film fans might argue about auteurs or noir or such.
But in the U.S., we have a bigger issue – defining which ones are the “Brat Pack” movies. That came up now, as Hulu:
— Released the “Brats” documentary. Andrew McCarthy visited colleagues who – almost 40 years ago – were tarnished by that “Brat Pack” tag.
— Then sent an announcement that: “All nine Brat Pack films are now streaming on Hulu.”
There are only nine? For a while, it seemed like there were 900.
Apparently, Hulu meant all nine that it has. It’s a decent enough collection, led by “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Taps” (shown here with Tim Hutton) and “Ferris Bueller,” but it’s just a start. And three of the nine don’t include any of the original Brat-Packers Read more…
1) “Masters of Illusion” return, 9 p.m., CW. Two reality shows have ended and CW lightens up on Thursdays. At 8 and 8:30 p.m., it has “Conners” reruns from 2021. At 9, this show is back from a five-month pause. In a brisk half-hour, Dean Cain (shown here) introduces magicians Chipper Lowell, Reza, Eric Eaton. Joel Meyers, Adam Wylie and Trigg Watson. Read more…
1) “Hope in the Water” opener, 9 p.m.,, PBS. Around the world, people find ways to make oceans more productive. In Puerto Rico, they turn squid into a treat. In Hawaii, the idea of a natural fish reservoir is revived. And on an island, population 4,600, two long-time divers (shown here) won a long struggle with the Scottish government to create a “no-take” zone; aquatic life revived. Read more…
OK, that was a reminder that award shows can, on occasion, be really good.
The Tony Award show was high-octane, high-spirited and mostly very entertaining. It started with two big production numbers – one with Alicia Keys joining the music from her “Hell’s Kitchen” – and ended with a moderate surpise: “The Outsiders,” (shown here) not “Hell’s Kitchen,” was for best musical.
The rest offered few surprises. Of course, “Stereophonic” – most nominated play in Tony history – won for best play. Of course, “Merrily We Roll Along” – finally repairing a show that Stephen Sondheim never quite fixed – won for best revival, alongside two of its stars.
But the real surprise was how the show kept soaring. Read more…
