Here’s a double dose of good news. Two of TV’s best shows are finally returning, less than a month apart.
It will be:
— “Poker Face,” May 8 on Peacock. It has three episodes that first day, then seven more on consecutive Thursdays.
— “Resident Alien,” at 11 p.m. — yes, 11 p.m. — Friday, June 6 on both Syfy and USA Read more…
1) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8-10 p.m., Wednesday, Fox. Last week, the show propelled all four singers to the finals. Instead, it unmasked its “Lucky Duck” helper — Taika Waititi, the director, producer, actor, Oscar-winning writer (“Jojo Rabbit”) … and husband of panelist Rita Ora. Now Ora (shown here in a previous event) starts the finale by singing “Pink Pony Club” with the final four. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a two-week pause, “SNL” starts its season’s final three episodes.. Tonight, Quina Brunson, the “Abbott Elementary” star, has her second turn as host (her first is shown here) and Benson Boone has his first as music guest. Next week has Walton Goggins and Arcade Fire; the May 17 season-finale has Scarlett Johansson and Bad Bunny. Read more…
(This is the latest chapter in the book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the full book (so far) in order, click “The Book” under “categories.”)
For a brief, pleasant time, the cable universe seemed logical.
A few networks tried to do everything. Those were the early arrivals — TBS in 1976, USA in ’77 — plus TNT in 1988.
The others settled for handy niches. Cable was like a magazine rack or a radio dial, filled with specialized choices.
You could find channels for rock music (shown here) and country music and classical arts; for young kids and old movies; for religion and Playboy; for news and weather and sports; for food and travel and learning and more.
And then? Well, everything got jumbled. Read more…
