1) “American Ninja Warrior,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. The summertime reality shows are starting to wrap up now. For “Ninja” (shown here in a previous episode), this is the last of three semi-final rounds, with side-by-side races; next week, the survivors go for $250,000. Read more…
The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks will bring a fresh wave of media attention.
One three-part documentary airs tonight (Aug. 21) and then streams; another is coming Sept. 1. And several will debut Sept. 11, 25 years after planes hit the World Trade Center towers (shown here) and the Pentagon.
Here’s a chronological round-up of what’s been announced so far:
— Tonight: “9/11 Reunited” debuted from 8-11 p.m.on the National Geographic Channel and then goes to Disney+ and Hulu. It brings together some of the strangers whose lives intersected that day, often through lifesaving heroics,
— Sept. 1: “9/11 United We Stand: 25 Years Later” debuts from 9-11 p.m. on ABC, reaches Hulu and Disney+ the next day and returns to ABC Sept. 11. Read more…
1) “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” 9 p.m., AMC. In this post-apocalyptic world, zombies are a mere inconvenience; other problems loom. Last week ended with an earthquake taking away much of the food supply; this one ends with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, shown here) launching a fresh and intensely personal crisis. It’s well-made, but messy. Read more…
1) “Big Brother,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, CBS. In its 28th summer, the show has its 1,000th episode. That’s on Thursday and includes references to the past. (Shown here is Barrett Pfeiffer in the Aug. 19 episode.) Now “BB” trails only Ed Sullivan’s 1,068 episodes among primetime entertainment shows (anthologies excluded). Others include “Funniest Videos,” 835; and “The Simpsons,” 808. Read more…
Two first-year shows jumped to the top of this year’s Television Critics Association awards.
“Heated Rivalry” (shown here) was named program of the year; “Widow’s Bay” won for best comedy and for best new show.
Freshman shows also won the awards for individuals in a comedy (Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay”) and drama (Rhea Seahorn in “Pluribus”).
The list does have some familiar names, however: “The Pitt” repeated as best drama; “Traitors” had its third straight reality-show win. And for the fifth time, a Ken Burns film — this time “The American Revolution” — won for news and-information. Read more…
1) “The Run For a Million,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. Two pieces of rodeo life overlap. On CW (7:30-10 p.m.), it’s NBR bull-riding. (An NBR event is shown here.) And on CBS, 16 horse-riders try elaborate courses, competing for $1 million, The latter is produced by Taylor Sheridan, who does both fiction (“Yellowstone,” “Dutton Ranch”) and non-fiction (“The Road,” “Pure Grit,” “The Last Cowboy”). Read more…
(NOTE: Also Aug. 21 is a National Geographic special re-uniting people from 9/11; see “Stories.))
1) “Conan O’Brien Must Go” season-opener, 9 p.m., HBO, rerunning at 11:03. After two streaming-only seasons on Max, the travel series adds HBO. First, the previous seven episodes air, starting with Norway at 4 p.m. Then comes this new one, in India, where (shown here) a 6-foot-4 redhead might stand out. The next three Fridays visit the Netherlands, Morocco and the Philippines. Read more…
1) “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. This may be the best-acted movie ever. It won Oscars for Vivien Leigh (shown here), Kim Hunter and Karl Malden. There were 11 nominations over all, including ones for best picture and for the searingly brilliant work of Marlon Brando (shown here), whose films are on TCM all day today. Read more…
If you’re keeping track of new shows on broadcast-TV channels this fall, here’s a surprise:
The tiny CW network is third on the list, topping both ABC and Fox.
That’s because CW will have one new show — “Private Eyes West Coast” (shown here), announced today (Aug. 17). ABC and Fox will have none until mid-season. Read more…
1) “The Lion” opener, 9 and 10 p.m., National Geographic. Brilliantly crafted, this is an epic two-week, four-hour documentary. Jon Favreau, who directed the non-cartoon “Lion King,” produced it; Hans Zimmer — who won an Oscar for the animated “Lion King” — did the music. (The photo here is not from the film, however.) For four years, a crew got great footage of a young cub’s rise to power. Read more…
