TV viewers get used to bad news. Shows are cancelled or delayed; promises are broken.
So the flip side was a fine surprise: “Will & Grace” is back much earlier than expected; and its return (9:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24), after a wobbly start, is hilarious.
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Michael Douglas has had to rethink this whole notion of retirement.
He’s 75, an age when retiring might seem reasonable. But in “The Kominsky Method” (shown here), his co-star (Alan Arkin) is 85; also, his dad (Kirk Douglas) will turn 103 on Dec. 9.
“I’ve got a long ways to go,” said Douglas, whose second “Kominsky” season starts Friday on Netflix. “It’s very exciting. I never anticipated (these) options as I reach the three-quarter-century mark.” Read more…
1) “Evil,” 10 p.m., CBS. A week before the holiday, here are four Halloween-night plotlines, including two compelling ones for Kristen and her kids (shown here). She’s at an exorcism gone bad; they’re at a party with a scary newcomer … and Ben is trying to debunk a ghost-hunter show. Mixed in are some scenes that are brilliantly played by two gifted Emmy-winners — Michael Emerson as the creepy/crafty Leland and Christine Lahti as Kristen’s mom. Blend these together and you have a great hour. Read more…
Just how long is Halloween, anyway?
It used to be one day; some cable networks seem to think it’s an entire month. But for most TV viewers, it’s one crowded week: From Oct. 25-31, Halloween overruns our TV sets.
The Disney properties (ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel) lead, but others jump in. Here are some highlights of what’s new; the days listed refer to the 25th through 31st: Read more…
1) “Moana” (2016) and “The Simpsons,” 5:30 p.m. and 8-11 p.m., Freeform. Here are the opposite extremes of animation: “Moana” (shown here) is light, bright and family-friendly, with appealing songs (co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda) sung by Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson and others. Then comes dark – and sometimes gory – wit from Bart Simpson and family in six “Treehouse of Horror” reruns. Read more…
1) World Series, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fox; pre-game at 7:30. It’s a match-up no one expected. The Washington Nationals’ franchise (which started 50 years ago in Montreal) had never been to the Series; two other franchises spent 70 years in Washington and got there three times – most recently in 1933. After starting this season at 19-31, the Nationals won 66 per cent of their games … won the wildcard game … beat the Dodgers three-out-of-five … and swept the Cardinals; now they face the Houston Astros. Read more…
1) “Catherine the Great” opener, 10 p.m., HBO, rerunning at 11. Helen Mirren has been three queens – Charlotte and both Elizabeths; now it’s her turn to be a Russian empress. Catherine – previously played by Marlene Dietrich and Catherine Zeta-Jones – was 32 when her husband became the Russian emperor in 1762 … and 33 when she ousted him via a coup. She ruled for 34 years, amid modernizing and conquest. This four-part mini-series was filmed in palaces in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. Read more…
There are some careers that job counselors don’t seem to encourage – cowboys, shepherds and, especially, explorers.
“By middle school and high school,” Albert Lin said, “we’re told that everything has been discovered …. We’ve been to the moon; we’ve been to the bottom of every ocean.”
What’s left? Re-discovery, using modern tools. Lin (shown here “has completely re-invented how we explore, using cutting-edge technology,” said Courteney Monroe, head of the National Geographic Channel.
So now her channel has “Lost Cities with Albert Lin,” a six-week series that crosses the globe. Read more…
1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. It’s the 30th annual “Treehouse of Horrors” and, in a nifty bonus, it’s “Simpsons” episode No. 666. That’s considered Satan’s number and this has lots of devilish fun. Homer trades a second son for an evil female spawn; he also keeps getting a new body for himself … and promptly ruining it. Milhouse hits a “Stranger Things” portal. And Selma (shown here has an affair with a fish creature. Parts of this are too harsh for some viewers; much of it is hilarious. Read more…
It’s called the “Trump bump” and it seems to be universal.
Donald Trump has been very good for the journalism field he mocks … and for the satirists he hates.
A new example of the latter has just arrived: CBS has extended Stephen Colbert’s contract for three more years, through August of 2023. Read more…
