1) “Independent Lens: Out of the Muck” (shown here), 10 p.m., PBS. By some standards, Pahokee, Fla., is troubled. It has hurricanes, alligators, 25-percent unemployment, property values that plunged by a third in seven years. But filmmaker Ira McKinley found much more, while visiting his roots. His film offers warm people who hug, laugh, fish, catch rabbits and dream of their seventh state football championship. Read more…
1) Grammy awards, 8-11:30 p.m. ET (5-8:30 p.m. PT),, CBS. Trevor Noah hosts for the third time and Beyonce leads with nine nominations … tying her husband, Jay-Z, as all-time leaders with 88 apiece. Performers include Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Luke Combs, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Brandi Carlile and many more … including an all-star tribute (organized by Questlove, shown here) to the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop music, dance and art. Read more…
1) “Malcolm X” (1992), 4:30 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. During Black History Month, TCM is stuffing Saturdays with key films. That starts with Denzel Washington(shown here) in Spike Lee’s richly crafted epic. It’s followed by the comedy “Cooley High” (1975) at 8 and the moving drama “Sounder” (1972) at 10. There’s more ahead, led by “A Soldier’s Story” on Feb. 11 and “In the Heat of the Night” and “To Sleep With Anger” on Feb. 18. Read more…
1) “Welcome to Flatch,” 9:01 p.m., Fox. Here’s the season-finale – and, alas, maybe the series-finale – for this erratic show, which is sometimes funny and always interesting. Tonight, Barb (shown here) and Kelly are determined to prove the town should be the permanent home of the Butter Bust Museum. Also, the pastor has been distracted lately; his assistant, Mandy, is in charge of blessing the town’s animals. At 9:30, “Call Me Kat” has a Smoky Mountains road trip. Read more…
1) “Fire Country,” 9 p.m., CBS. After its big showcase (Sunday, following pro-football’s conference championship game), “Fire Country” is back to its regular slot, with another new episode. Firefighters (including Manny, shown here, played by Kevin Alejandro) battle a dangerous forest fire and try to save environmentalists protesting a housing development. Read more…
1) “Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong,” 8 p.m., ABC. It’s the fifth round of “Singalong,” which became a pandemic hit. This time, clever songs about grammar, government, math and more are sung by stars. Derek Hough does “Figure 8”; his sister Julianne does “Interplanet Janet.” Others include Black-Eyed Peas, Ne-Yo, Muppets (shown here), Broadway stars and even Shaquille O’Neal, backed by the Boys and Girls Club for “Conjunction Junction.” Read more…
1) “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World” opener, 9-10 p.m., PBS. On Aug. 11, 1973, a Jamaican-born teen, dubbed DJ Kool Herc (shown here, later), used turntables and mega-speakers to make his sister’s party festive; hip hop was born. It would be six more years before rap records took off; by then, other hip hop facets – break-dancing, graffiti and DJ’s — had soared. This opener of a four-part film follows the early years of a genre that’s now in its 50th year. Read more…
1) “The Watchful Eye” debut, 9 and 10 p.m., Freeform. A young nanny (shown here) starts work, surrounded by secrets, suspicions and despair. She was hired by a guy whose wealthy wife killed herself; the wife’s mother and sister view him warily. But this is a story in which no one can be trusted – including the nanny and her boyfriend. Acted with subtle skill, it adds hints of the supernatural; consider it a gothic flip on “Only Murders in the Building.” Read more…
1) Football. So far, the pro play-offs have been short of surprises. Now the two conference leaders – each with a 15-3 record – host championship games, with the winners going to the Super Bowl two weeks later. At 3 p.m. ET on Fox, the Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers (15-4); at 6:30 on CBS, the Kansas City Chiefs host the Cincinnati Bengals (shown here, 14-4).
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1) “Planet Earth: Frozen Planet II” (shown here), 8 p.m., BBC America. A third of our planet remains mostly frozen, David Attenborough tells us here. Parts of the Arctic are fierce – 200-mile-an-hour winds whipping temperatures of 94-below-zero Fahrenheit. But moving south a tad, there’s spectacular footage of frozen forests, cascading waterfalls, wolves and bison colliding. This is great filmmaking, in a day filled with reruns of other BBC nature gems, Read more…
