1) “Tracker,” 8 p.m., CBS. In a one-time switch, CBS moves this up an hour., for an episode that teams Colter (Jason Hartley) with his nemesis, a fellow tracker. She’s played by Hartley’s wife, Sofia Pernas (shown heere). A Morrocan natiive, she was Marisa on “The Young and the Restless” (where they met), Cataliina in “Jane the Virgin” and starred in CBS’ summer action show, “Blood & Treasure.” Read more…
1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8 p.m. today, ABC, follow-up at 10. Joey Graziadei makes his choice. He’s 28 and teaches tennis in Hawaii; now two women remain, both 25. Kelsey Anderson (right) is from Louisiana. Daisy Kent (center) grew up in Minnesota and went to school and works in San Diego; after longtime hearing troubles (apparently from Lyme disease), she received a cochlear implant. Read more…
1) Figure Skating, 3 p.m., USA Network, and 8 p.m., NBC. It’s the last competition day for the world championship. That has the pairs in the afternoon, men at night … and a clear change. NBC has always highlighted the women, but this time the top American contender is a guy, Ilia Malinin (shown here). The women’s finals were Friday, on cable. Read more…
1) Figure Skating, 8 p.m., USA Network. Approximately forever, women have been top-billed in American coverage of figure-skating. (Shown here is an Olympics skater.) Not this time. The best spot in the World Figure Skating Championships — Saturday night on NBC — goes to the men; women are relegated to tonight on cable. Peacock will start coverage of the women at 6 p.m.; earlier, it has rhythm dance at 11:20 a.m. Read more…
Amid last year’s strike-time scrambling, CBS emerged with at least one good thing:
“NCIS: Sydney” (shown here) was a ratings success; now it’s been renewed for a second season. Read more…
1) Basketball. The college tournament begin with perhaps the day’s best match-up – MSU vs. MSU. Michigan State (shown here) annd Mississippi State, seeded No. 9 and 8 in a 16-team quadrant, collide at 12:15 p.m. on CBS– which also has games at 2:45, 7:10 and 9:40. Other games are on TruTV (12:40, 3:10, 7:25 and 9:55); TNT (1:30, 4, 6:50 and 9:20); and TBS (2, 4:30, 7:25 and 9:55). Read more…
Even in an ordinary year, NBC tends to dominate the ratings. And Olympic years are quite extraordinary.
So the network will stick with what works this summer – “America’s Got Talent,” “American Ninja Warrior” (shown here) and three game shows – “Password,” “The Wall” and “Weakest Link.” It apparently won’t try anything new and won’t need to. Read more…
This was a quick change, sort of like Superman in a phone booth or The Flash anywhere.
Less than two years ago, CW was the network of superheroes and such. Superman was in Smallville, Jughead was in a gang, Batgirl was in charge, The Flash was in a hurry..
And now? The network is a mash-up of cops, crooks and Canadians (lots of Canadians), plus golfers, wrestlers and more. It has shed most of its old shows, with a few exceptons, including “Walker” (shown here), which returns soon. It also shed its brand image.
“What is NBC’s brand?” Brad Schwartz, the CW program chief, asked the Television Critics Association. “What is CBS’ brand? What is ABC’s brand? What is Fox’s brand?” Read more…
For decades, Mariana van Zeller (shown here) has reported about scary people in scary places.
“She really is the bravest person I know,” Courteney Monroe, the president of the National Geographic Channel, told the Television Critics Association.
But she still feels fear and regret. “As a working mom who travels all the time, I live with this eternal guilt of not being there at important moments,“ van Zeller said..
That peaked last summer, in an embattled desert country. The story will be on the season-finale of “Trafficked,” at 9 p.m. Wednesday (March 20) on National Geogeraphic; van Zellar gave the TCA a verbal preview. Read more…
1) “Wild Cards” season-finale, 8 p.m,, CW. For the new, low-budget version of CW, this has been a bright spot, wth likable people in clever plots. But there are only 10 episodes in the first season and talks have dragged on about a second. Giacomo Gianniotti (shown here) plays a cop, working with a semi-reformed scam artist (the delightful Vanessa Morgan). Now he’s drawn into a case from her shaky past. Read more…
