1) Basketball championship, 9 p.m. ET, TBS, TNT and TruTV. After much fuss and occasional upsets, the college tournament concludes. On Saturday, Villanova faced Kansas and Duke (shown here in a previous game) faced North Carolina; now the winners go for the title. TBS has a pre-game show at 7 p.m. and a post-game one at about 11:30. Read more…
1) Grammy awards, 8 p.m., CBS. After a nine-week delay, the show booms ahead with Trevor Noah hosting. Performers include H.E.R. (shown here), Billie Eilish, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Jon Batiste, Lil Nas X, Brandi Carlile, John Legend and J Balvin, plus country’s Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne. A Stephen Sondheim segment has Cynthia Erivo, Ben Platt, Rachel Zegler and Leslie Odom Jr.; there are also gospel, bluegrass and Latin-tropical moments. Read more…
1) Basketball, 6:09 and 8:40 p.m. ET, TBS, TNT and TruTV. We’re down to the final four in the college tournament … only one of which was top-seeded in its quadrant. That’s Kansas, which faces Villanova (a No. 2 seed) in the opener. Then another No. 2 seed – Duke, whose coach (Mike Krzyzewski, shown here) is in his final season, going for his sixth national title – faces a surprise, the 8th-seeded North Carolina. Read more…
1) “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” 9 p.m., PBS. Long before his big-city fame – including as graphic director and columnist for the New York Times – Charles Blow grew up in an impoverished family in rural Louisiana. That became the subject of his memoir, adapted into this opera (shown here). The Metropolitan Opera’s first work by a Black composer (Terence Blanchard), it opened the Met’s post-Covid season. The result ripples with passion, pain and powerhouse music. Read more…
1) “How We Roll” debut, 9:30 p.m., CBS. In real life, Tom Smallwood was laid off after a half-year at an auto factory near Detroit. At 31, he made one last stab at a bowling career — and succeeded. Now that’s been turned into a comedy that’s OK, but no match for CBS’ other Thursday shows. There are some good moments from Pete Holmes, Katie Lowes (as his wife; they’re shown here) and Chi McBride (as the bowling-alley owner), but his mom is poorly written and played. Read more…
1) “Snowfall,” 10 p.m., FX; rerunning at 11:02, 12:04, 1:06. We’re in the aftershocks of the fierce attack that almost wiped out Franklin’s crack-dealing empire. Louise and others want revenge on Kane (whose brother Kevin was killed by Franklin, who’s shown here in a previous episode) and Peaches. Leon resists. “It’s about Black bodies in the street,” he says. “It’s about our people wiping each other out.” And – in a strong, pivotal episode for him – the oft-violent Jerome is torn between the two. Read more…
1) “The Resident,” 8 p.m., Fox. After a so-so start, “Resident” made wise detours. It changed Dr. Bell from scoundrel to hero … and it added Dr. AJ Austin. Both are key tonight. Bell is a crusading member of the medical board; Austin rages over a botched case. He’s played superbly by Malcolm Jamal-Warner (shown here), the former Cosby kid. After decades elsewhere — including four years on a forgotten UPN comedy – he’s a potent part of what has evolved into a good show. Read more…
1) “Snowpiercer” season-finale, 9 p.m., TNT; rerunning at 10:03. For three seasons, this mega-train has spanned a frozen world, holding the only survivors. But now comes the confrontation: On one side is Wilford (Sean Bean), the train’s creator and despot; on the other are Layton (Daveed Diggs, shown here) and the rebels. Layton feels a New Eden micro-climate is livable; Melanie, a master engineer, disagrees. A final face-off looms, in an hour that is beautifully written and executed. Read more…
1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET, ABC. The bad years – with no host, no music and little fun – are apparently behind us now. This will have three hosts — comedians Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall. The best-song nominees, exiled to the pre-show last year, will be performed by Beyonce (shown here), Billie Eilish, Reba McEntire and Sebastian Yatra. And eight of the 23 categories will be handled before the telecast, leaving more time for entertainment. Read more…
1) “Dune” (2021), 8 p.m., HBO. On the eve of the Academy Awards, we can catch some of the best-picture nominees. “Dune” (shown here) repeats at 6:15 p.m. Sunday (overlapping the Oscars, at 8 p.m. ET) and is on HBO Max, which also has “Drive My Car” and shares two others – “Nightmare Alley” (with Hulu) and “West Side Story” (with Disney+). Netflix has “Don’t Look Up” and “The Power of the Dog,” Apple TV+ has “Coda” and the others are video-on-demand. Read more…
