1) “MasterChef: Generations,” 8 p.m., Fox.. Didn’t the baby-boomers start the youthquake? Aren’t they rockers and flower children? Somehow, they’ve aged. It’s their turn to audtion and, one guy says, to “show what the old folks can do.” Joe Bastianich even adds his mom Lidia, 77, as guest judge. (They’re show here with a contestant.) She’s an acclaimed food expert who will get an honorary Daytime Emmy on Friday. Read more…
In baseball’s two-team towns, there’s often been a sad-sibling syndrome.
It’s been the YANKEES and the mets in New York, the DODGERS and the angels in Los Angeles. Other sad siblings ran away from home, looking for love elsewhere; ask fans of the Boston Braves, Philadelphia A’s, St. Louis Browns or New York Giants.
And in pro basketball? Los Angeles has the Lakers and the Clippers, now with opposite TV series: “Winning Time: The Rise of the Laker Dynasty” had fun, flash, magic and Magic; Hulu’s “Clipped” (ahown here) — Tuesdays, starting June 4 — has a grimmer view. Read more…
1) “Clipped” opener, Hulu. On the surface, this is fun and flash: The 2013 Los Angeles Clippers had great players, a respected coach (Doc Rivers, played by Laurence Fishburne, shown here), a Hollywood setting … and a bizarre owner. As his team soared; his girlfriend leaked a tape of his rants. These first two hours try to humanize the people, Still, many viewers will find them hard to like. Read more…
1) “Mayor of Kingstown” season-opener, 9 p.m., Showtime. Now recovered from a near-fatal accident, Jerremy Renner (shown here)is back to playing a tough guy in a hard-scrabble prison town. On Jan. 1, 2023, Renner was severely injured while saving his nephew from a snowplow. Now third season begins, 14 months after the second ended. Read more…
“The Chosen” (shown here) – the Biblical series that has gradually thrived on streaming and cable – is starts its fourth season.
For this one, it has an ongoing tie to BYUtv.. Episodes will stream on BYU on Mondays and Fridays (starting June 3), then appear on its cable channel on Sundays (starting June 9) and Wednesdays. Read more…
1) Gymnastics, 7-9 p.m., NBC and Peacock. The U.S. championships conclude in Fort Worth. The men had their finals Saturday; now the women have their turn. Gabby Douglas (shown here) has withdrawn and scuttled her attempt for an Olympic comeback; for others, however, this is the last major event before the Olympic trials, June 27-30. Read more…
As June arrives, we should propel our search for fun movies.
A few arrived recently, in theaters or via streaming . I’ll mention them (including “Anyone But You,” shown here) in a moment.
This has always been a time to search for bright spirits. “Each year, the summer season presents itself as a blank slate, full of opportunity,” John Malahy wrote in “Summer Movies” (Running Press, 2021), a book that manages to leap from “Gidget” and “Beach Blanket Bingo” to Spike Lee and Ingmar Bergman.
In his introduction to that book, film critic Leonard Maltin agreed: “Summer meant one thing above all else to me: the freedom to go to the movies any day of the week.” But where can we find fun now? A few suggestions: Read more…
1) “The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. June 12 will be the 30th anniversary of the deaths of Simpson (shown here) and Ron Goldman. Now her life is viewed by the people who made documentaries on R. Kelly and Gypsy Rose Blanchard; they include home movies and more than 50 people. That reruns at 10:03, midnight and 2:04, then at noon and 6 p.m. Sunday, before the second half. Read more…
1) Basketball and hockey finals, ABC. This month, ABC turns into Sports Central, with the best-of-seven finals for two pro sports. Basketball — including the Celtics, show here — starts Thursday; hockey’s Stanley Cup finals start Saturday. Other basketball games are Sunday, then June 12, 14 and (if needed) 17, 20 and 23. Hockey continues on June 10, 13, 15 and (if needed) 18, 21 and 24. Most start at 8:30 p.m. ET, with Sundays at 8. Read more…
1) “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary,” 9 p.m., PBS. Here’s a splendid blend – Broadway’s greatest songs, sung by amazing talents. Several of the stars are better known in London (where this was filmed), including a powerful Michael Ball (shown here) and a vibrant Marisha Wallace. But there are also Broadway stats, including Patrick Wilson, Aaron Tveit and the superb Audra McDonald.
Read more…
