1) “Henry David Thoreau” 9-11 p.m., today, 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. We might think of Thoreau as a hermit in a cabin, but Ken Burns’ splendid film finds someone much more interesting: Thoreau was a social man who loved to talk, write and think. He was a teacher, philosopher and pencil-maker; in his two years in the cabin (shown here), he wrote memorably about man and nature. Read more…
“Saturday Night Live” will soon have black-and-white Jacks.
Jack Black (shown here in a previous episode) will host the April 4 episode, with Jack White as the music guest.
That comes as the show returns from two weeks of reruns, during the busiest time of the college basketball tournament. Newly announced are: Read more…
1) Skating, 1 p.m. ET, USA Network; 8 p.m., NBC. Ilia Malinin (shown here) had a long string of victories and one miss — in, alas, the Olympics. Now seeks his third title in the World Figure Skating Championships. You can catch the finals live on USA or wait for NBC. It will have highlights of the entire weekend; the women’s finals (including Amber Glenn) were Friday Read more…
1) “Martha Graham Dance Company: We Are Our Time,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. The opener, a three-minute gem, sets up a terrific film that sprawls across two Fridays. Tonight, we see Graham dance in her 30s (including a 1929 film) and coach in her 90s. We hear her words (via Meryl Streep) and see her current company (a performance is shown here), in its 100th season, with immensely gifted dancers. Read more…
The lush “Bridgerton” series still has barriers to break. Its next season will apparently be the first with an LGBT romance at its core.
As filming began in London, the Netflix show said it will focus on Francesca’s relationship with Michaela (they’re shown here), her late husband’s cousin.
Through its first four seasons, “Bridgerton” has brought many inter-racial romances and marriages (including Francesca and her husband, John Stirling) to high society in the early 1800s. The fourth season broke class barriers, when Benedict Bridgerton fell in love with a servant. Gay romance has also been touched upon briefly; now it moves to the center Read more…
1) “iHeartRadio Music Awards,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. Amid a sports surge, we also get pop music. Performers are Ludacris, who hosts, and John Mellencamp (shown here), who gets a special award, plus Alex Warren, Kehlani, Raye, Lainey Wilson and, for the first time, a linking of three classic girl groups — TLC. En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa. Also getting a special award is Miley Cyrus. Read more…
1) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. We’re a week from the finale, with five people left, (One, viewers know, is Kylie Cantrall, shown here in Disney’s “Rise of Red” movie, as “Cat Witch.”) This edition has dumped some singers — Billy Ray Cyrus, Jack Wagner, Tone Loc — and others. Last week it unmasked actor-singer Evan Ross (Diana Ross’ son) and Greg Mathis, of “Judge Mathis” fame. Read more…
In TV’s olden days, situation comedies kept cranking out episodes — 39 a year, year after year.
And a modern-day contrast? Consider Lisa Kudrow’s “The Comeback” (shown here), which has just returned to HBO.
It had 13 episodes in 2005 … rested nine years, before doing eight episodes in 2014 … then rested a dozen years, before this eight-episode final season.
It needed a compelling reason to return, co-creator Michael Patrick King said at a press conference. That came with the rise of artificial intelligence. Read more…
1) “NCIS” 500th episode, 8 p.m., CBS. Yes, 500 episodes. That’ s below “The Simpsons”(805) and the “Law & Order” shows (588 and 538), but it’s 499 above “Turn-on,” “South of Sunset” and others. This episode (shown here) has concocted a way to get everyone involved: A Marine’s son is desperate for help; the fractured team links for an off-the-books operation. Read more…
(This is an updated version of the story, now focusing strictly on April 1-5)
As Easter nears, TV networks are paying attention.
They have sprawling epics from Hollywood’s past, plus shows that are more recent.
A few of the shows are on the big networks. ABC has its annual “Ten Commandments” repeat Saturday (April 4); Fox has its third and final “The Faithful” movie on Easter Sunday.
But the real flurry is on smaller channels, ones that exist on cable or satellite or online or on digital sub-channels carried by local stations. Here are many of the choices, all times ET: Read more…
