1) Grey’s Anatomy” season-finale, 10 p.m. Thursday, ABC. This week overflows with finales. On Thursday alone, that includes all three NBC shows, CBS’ “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” Fox’s “Next Level Chef” and all three ABC shows, including this “Grey’s” (shown here in a previous episode). The interns are cheerful about ending their first year; then an emergency intervenes. Read more…
1) “The Judd Family: Truth Be Told,” 8 p.m., Lifetime, also 10:03 p.m. and midnight. Here’s the start of a documentary (concluding Sunday) with a great story. Naomi Judd, a nurse and single mother, formed The Judds (shown here) with her daughter Wynonna; they had 14 No. 1 country songs. It’s told by Wynonna and Ashley (a movie star), with clips of their late mom. Read more…
CBS will put some familiar shows in unfamiliar places next season.
It will also try two new reality shows and four spin-offs, one of them with strong potential to be a hit: Kayce Dutton (the honest one on “Yellowstone,” played by Luke Grimes, shown here) gets his own series, as a U.S. marshal.
That series — tentatively called “Y: Marshals” — won’t arrive until mid-season. In the fall, viewers have some schedule shifts to worry about: Read more…
(This is a revised version o the latest chapter of the book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” To read the full book, so far, from the beginning, click “The Book,” under “categories.”)
All in all, the 20th century was quite interesting.
It sort of started (in January of 1901) with the death of Queen Victoria. It ended (in 1999) with the birth of both “The Sopranos” and “The West Wing.”
In short, the century began with the end of the Victorian era and ended with the start of a TV golden age. In between, other stuff happened.
For TV, the new era has gone by different names. John Landgraf, the FX networks chief, calls it “Peak TV.” David Bianculli, a TV critic, calls it “The Platinum Age.” I’ll go with the second golden age of drama. Read more…
1) “Next to Normal,” 9-11:30 p.m., PBS. A four-Friday Broadway series starts with a stunning musical — a roller-coaster through grief and a fractured mind. Some viewers will consider this too painful; more will find it deeply moving. In its original version (shown here), it won a Pulitzer Prize for drama and Tonys for its music. Now cameras can add the subtlety behind quaking emotions. Read more…
So let’s say you’ve been busy.
You’ve battled monsters and searched for Zeus’ lightning bolt. You’ve met centaurs and satyrs and lots of gods –Hades and Hermes and Medusa and Kronos and Poseidon and such.
OK, now it’s time to go start high school.
That’s what happened to Walker Scobell (shown here), star of “Percy Jackson & The Olympians.” The first season (now rerunning Fridays on the Disney Channel) debuted on Disney+ in December of 2023, when he was 14. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth” season-finale, 9 p.m., CBS. It’s a real stretch to plunk Elsbeth into prison, alongside eight people she helped convict. But it’s worth it, to see them again. Several are good singers (Gina Gershon, Retta, Alyssa Milano (shown here), Elizabeth Lail), so there’s even a dream scene of a song from “Chicago.” And there’s a clever, in-prison murder mystery. Read more…
1) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. This gentle gem flows with quiet joy. Injured or orphaned hummingbirds are taken to the massive Beverly Hills home of Terry Masear. She feeds and nurtures them, then nudges them back into the world. The photo here isn’t from the movie, but the hour is beautifully filmed. Read more…
1) “Night Court” season-finales, 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. These may be the final new episodes for a once-strong show has seemed headed to cancellation. Abby (shown here) has been the “fun judge,” as was her dad; now another judge gets the title. In the second episode, she’s in charge of two runaway teens. Read more…
The too-short lifespan of “The Equalizer” (shown here) says a lot about current TV.
Here was one of the heroes of the pandemic. When TV was at its low point, it leaped to No. 2 in the ratings.
Now, after a modest five seasons, it’s been canceled. The season-finale (10 p.m. Sunday, May 4, on CBS) has also become the series-finale.
“Equalizer” had exactly two flaws: It’s expensive and it’s from the wrong company. TV is like that these days. Read more…
