After three straight flubs, the Academy Award telecast (9 p.m. Sunday, March 27, on ABC) will try get it right – at last.
It will have three hosts (shown here) … and music … and fewer on-air categories. It will hope viewers forget the recent years.
In those three years, Oscars were hostless and joyless. Ratings tumbled. The telecast went from 29.6 million viewers in 2019 to 23.6 million in 2020 and 10.4 million last year. Read more…
1) “Snowfall,” 10 p.m., FX. Until now, we thought Franklin (shown here) was fearless. Not so; lock him up next to an angry tiger – yes, a TIGER – and he becomes very concerned. The problem started last week, when he and colleagues were attacked while hauling $3 million. Now they must escape the tiger and more gunmen, then ponder the aftershocks. It’s a fierce hour, with way too much brutalizing of defenseless people, but also potent and well-made. Read more…
The two sides of Amy Schumer are filling our TV time.
There’s the standup-comedy side, big and blunt and brash. That may emerge when she co-hosts (with Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall) the Academy Awards, at 8 p.m. Sunday (March 27) on ABC.
And there’s the subtle side, in the richly layered humor of her “Life & Beth,” which has just arrived on Hulu. “I actually am an introvert,” Schumer told the Television Critics Association.
Say what? Surely, this “introvert” can’t be the person who stands onstage, telling intimate details to strangers. “I could probably use a little more self-control in real life …. I’m sure I’ve shared more than some people would have cared” to hear, she said. Read more…
1) “iHeartRadio Music Awards,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. The Grammys were pushed back to April 3, but here’s a temporary substitute. It even has LL Cool J – a five-time Grammy host – as host and performer. Also performing: Megan Thee Stallion, John Legend, Charlie Puth, Jason Aldean, Maneskin and more; Jennifer Lopez gets a special award. Justin Bieber and Olivia Roderigo (shown here) lead with nine and eight nominations, including male and female artist of the year. Read more…
At Oscar time, our attention drifts to top names – Spielberg and Kidman and Denzel and such.
But maybe we’ll also notice Meera Devi and Suneeta Prajapati and others. They’re at the core of “Writing with Fire” (shown here) which is up for an Oscar (best documentary feature) on Sunday, March 27, then reaches PBS’ “Independent Lens” at 10 p.m. the next day.
“The extremely brave actions of these young women is amazing,” Lois Vossen, who started “Lens” 23 years ago, said by phone. “I don’t know whether I would have the guts to do what they do.”
They report for a print-and-online news agency in rural India. They are women from the Dalit caste (previously called “untouchables”), confronting people who distrust women and Dalit and maybe the news in general. Read more…
A week before the Oscars, we’re finally hearing names of some of the music performers.
That’s a step up from last year, when music – and any entertainment, really – was jettisoned. Music was exiled to the preview portion; comedy was also missing, in a no-host, no-fun night.
This year’s ceremony – 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 27 on ABC – will have three hosts (comedians Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall) and music from: Read more…
1) “American Song Contest” debut, 8-10 p.m., NBC. For 65 years, the Eurovision contest has been big in Europe. Now we get an American version, an eight-week tourney (hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg) with 56 acts –one for each state, plus five territories and D.C. Most are unknowns, but the field includes Michael Bolton (Connecticut), Macy Gray (Ohio), Jewel (Alaska), Sisqo (shown here, Maryland) and “Voice” champion Jordan Smith (Kentucky). Read more…
1) “Masterpiece: Sanditon” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. More than two years ago, the first season ended with Charlotte’s life in flux. Her true love, Sidney Parker, had left to marry a rich woman, rescuing the finances of his brother’s shaky resort project. And now? Sidney isn’t back … nor is his sister … or James Stringer, who loved Charlotte from afar. But Charlotte is bringing her giddy sister and there are plenty of new guys, include redcoat soldiers (shown here). It’s a great start. Read more…
1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. The worst is over now. For three humorless years, there was no host; last year, there was little music, no fun … and lots of time for winners to drone on, thanking agents and such. Now the Oscars try to make up for that with three hosts, two (Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes) quite funny; the third is a gifted actress, Regina Hall. Still, the early list of presenters had only a few (Chris Rock, for instance) capable of fun. Read more…
1) “Great Chocolate Showdown” (shown here) finale, 8 p.m., CW. Three pleasant-enough things – chocolate, Canada and reality-TV – combine. This Canadian show started with 10 people – half of them Americans – crafting chocolate goodies. Now it’s down to Casey Hallen from New York City, Renu Matthew from Alberta and T. Lawrence-Simon from Massachusetts. Each gets a previous contestant as an assistant, then fills a shop window with various temptations. Read more…
