Earth Day is gone now, but its impact lingers on our TV sets and computer screens.
There’s PBS’ Greta Thunberg film (see separate story), which now reruns on three Wednesdays. And a surge of films on the streaming channels, including the splendid “Secrets of the Whales” (see separate story) and the fun “The Year the Earth Changed.”
And on April 23, there’s the back half of a two-day rerun marathon. Let’s start there: Read more…
1) Academy of Country Music awards, 8-11 p.m., CBS. Miranda Lambert will open the show, singing “Drunk” with Elle King (they’re shown here); she’ll also link with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall for “In His Arms.” Her ex-husband Blake Shelton will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Austin” and also do “Minimum Wage.” From three Nashville locations, others include Carrie Underwood (with gospel great CeCe Winans), Dierks Bentley, Luke Combs, Kane Brown, hosts Brad Paisley and Mickey Guyton, and many more. Read more…
1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. For the third straight year, the Oscars will go without a host … and might pay little attention to the songs. That can be disastrous: Humor and music are key, when many winners give dreary speeches (thanking agents and such) and many viewers haven’t seen the films. Nominated for best picture are “Promising Young Woman” (shown here with Carey Mulligan), “Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Father” and “Sound of Metal.” Read more…
1) “Envy,” 8-10 p.m., Lifetime. Serayah (shown here) – who made an impressive TV debut in “Empire” (as Tiana, Hakeem’s es-wife) gets the title role, sort of. Learning she has a prosperous half-sister, she suddenly wants it all. This is the second faith-based film produced by Bishop TD Jakes, based on novels about the seven deadly sins. “Lust” was last week; production on “Greed” was delayed by the pandemic. The others – including, alas, sloth and gluttony – may take a while. Read more…
In rare moments, a master actor gets to play a double or triple role.
That includes comedy guys – Eddie Murphy, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers – and various Englishmen who become Jekyll and Hyde. And now, sort of, there’s Chiara Aurelia.
No, you probably haven’t heard of her. She’s 18 and has had some roles … five of them playing the younger version of a main character. But when “Cruel Summer” debuts (9 and 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, on Freeform), she has virtually a triple role – the same teen-ager (Jeanette, shown here, center, at the start), over three summers that transform her completely.
“Each year kind of represents a different element of all of our lives,” Aurelia told the Television Critics Association. “You know – the darkness, the sadness, the youthfulness.” Read more…
1) “Van Helsing” season-opener, 10 p.m., Syfy. After four seasons with Vanessa Van Helsing (shown here) in a near-future world, this goes back to the roots of vampire-hunting: It starts its final season with three episodes set in old Romania. This opener was beautifully directed by Jonathan Scarfe, a gifted actor (and son of Canadian star Sara Botsford) who later will return to his role as Axel. Jack (Nicole Munoz) has been flung into the past, told only to “kill the Dark One.” That’s not easy, amid castle schemes. Read more…
1) “Mom,” 9 p.m., CBS. Only five episodes remain in this show’s great, eight-year run. For a time (after “Big Bang” left), this was TV’s best comedy. It slipped a tad this season, with Anna Faris (as Christy) leaving; still, it has sharp scripts and one of TV’s great characters. That’s Bonnie, perfectly played by Alison Janney, who has two Emmys in the role … plus five in other roles and an Oscar. Tonight (shown here), after a fairly funny “United States of Al” at 8:30, Bonnie is jealous of Tammy’s success. Read more…
1) “Tough as Nails” finale, 8 p.m., CBS. The final four compete for the top prize of $200,000 and a truck. There’s Sarah Burkett, 41, a pipe welder; Scott Henry, 44, a construction superintendent; “Swifty” Sanders (shown here), 43, a steelworker; and “Zeus” Ontai, 29, a lineworker. The others stick around for the team competition; Ontai is on part of one team, with the other finalists on the other. Read more…
Scattered around Hollywood, it seems, are warehouses (or hard drives) stuffed with scripts.
They’ve been purchased and pondered and then ignored. Few survive; one exception is the “Big Shot” series, which starts streaming Friday (April 16) on the Disney+ service.
“When Disney+ started, they … said, ‘Have you seen any scripts over the years that didn’t get made that you might like?’” John Stamos (shown here) – who stars as a guy who was once big in men’s college basketball, but now coaches high school girls – told the Television Critics Association. Read more…
1) “Prodigal Son” return, 9 p.m., Fox. Here’s talent from all over the British Isles. Tom Payne (from England) stars, with Michael Sheen (Wales) as his dad, who’s a doctor and a convicted serial killer. Now Catherine Zeta-Jones (also Wales) has joined the cast as the prison doctor. And Alan Cumming (Scotland) arrives as a British detective. Cumming (showh nere with Bellamy Young) has an over-the-top style that dominates, but the hour ends with a great scene between Sheen and Zeta-Jones. Read more…
