1) “Independent Lens: The Interrogator,” 10 p.m., PBS. Emerging from a hard-scrabble Houston neighborhood, Barbara Jordan (shown here) was an instant leader. Her Texas Southern University debate team beat Yale and tied Harvard. She got a law degree and was a pioneering state senator and congresswoman, delivering a potent impeachment talk. Here’s a compelling profile. Read more…
(These are slightly out of order; the Feb. 22 one appears below this)
1) Winter Olympics. It’s the last full day, with a flurry of medal finals. The USA Network is mostly live from 4 a.m. ET to the hockey bronze-medal game, at 2:40 p.m. NBC is mostly live from 10 to 6, then repackages the day from 8-11 p.m. And CNBC has curling, from 1-7 p.m.
2) Skating gala, 2:55 to 3:15 p.m. ET and 3:50 to 4:30. Amid all of that competition, here’s the opposite. It’s a figure-skating exhibition, with no rules, no judges and lots of dazzle. The medalists — including the U.S.’ Chock-and-Bates dance duo (shown here) and solo sensation Alysa Liu — can simply have fun. Read more…
1) “Dark Winds,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:03. First is a fresh angle on the shoot-out in last week’s opener. Then things get deeper for Joe (shown her), who’s haunted by his wife’s departure, and his deputies — Bernadette (secretly promised his job when he retires) and Chee (her boyfriend). In a potent hour, they (and a killer) search for a teen runaway and her cousin. Read more…
1) “American Masters” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Sun Ra (shown here) proclaimed he was an angel from Saturn. His concerts matched that mystical feel, merging jazz, dance, poetry and pageantry. In truth, he was Sonny Blount; he had his own big band as a Memphis teen, was disowned by family and friends after resisting World War II, then created a fascinating persona. Read more…
1) Figure skating, 1-5 p.m. ET, NBC. For many viewers, this is the peak, with the women’ long program. It has created pop-culture stars, from the U.S. (Tara Lipinski, who is now NBC’s commentator, Dorothy Hamill, etc.) and beyond (from Sonja Henie to Katarina Witt). Now the current stars — including the U.S.’ Amber Glenn (shown here) and Alysa Liu — get their chance. Read more…
1) “The Beauty,” 9 p.m., FX and Hulu. Two potent monologues propel this hour. One is an intense sales pitch by Ashton Kutcher (shown here), the other a personal reflection by Anthony Ramos. Both– plus FBI agents and fight scenes — are part of this look at a fierce obsession with beauty. Read more…
1) “Best Medicine,” 8 p.m., Fox. For the second straight week, the town has a big, bizarre festival. Last week’s blueberry fest was awash in blue; now a “Blood Factory” event is all-red. That’s trouble for the doctor, who’s allergic to blood … and (shown here) trouble for the participants. “Best” has become the opposite of the show it’s based on. “Doc Martin” was droll, dry and clever; this is just amiably goofy. Read more…
1) Winter Olympics. The final week begins, with NBC going live at 10 a.m. ET (instead of noon on other weekdays) and carrying a women’s hockey semi-final at 10:40. The USA Network starts the pairs figure finals — which includes the U.S. duo of Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam, shown here — at 1:45; at 3:55, NBC takes over and USA catches the other hockey game. And as usual, NBC re-packages it all, from 8-11 p.m. Read more…
1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. The first episode (back in 1989) included the rescuing of a scraggy greyhound. Now the 800th shows what happened next: Homer overindulges him; Marge transforms him into a sleek champion… and takes him to a national dog show in Philadelphia. The rest is awash in Philly (shown here) and “National Treasure” moments, many of them quite funny. Read more…
1) Valentine’s Day movies, Hallmark Channel. For Hallmark, this is like Super Bowl Sunday. Beginning at 8 am., it reruns romance tales every two hours; four have “Valentine” in the title, all have young love. At 8, “Because of Cupid” (shown here) debuts, adding a supernatural touch. Also, Great American Family has its own love marathon, every two hours starting at 6 a.m. Read more…
