1) “Young Sheldon” season-finale rerun, 8 p.m., CBS. Unlike some comedies, this is at its best when it has a busy story; now that peaks. In last week’s rerun, Sheldon and his mom planned to go to Germany for his summer classes also, his brother finally had his marriage proposal accepted. Now comes the trip and a tornado (shown here), setting up next week’s great start for the final season. Read more…
1) “Abbott Elementary” (shown here) season-opener, 9 and 9:30 p.m., ABC. One of TV’s top shows is back. In its first two seasons, it’s had 15 Emmy nominations (including two for best comedy) and four wins – writer and actress (both Quinta Brunson), supporting actress (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and casting. This two-part opener has Janine (Brunson) planning a district-wide Career Day Read more…
1) “Extended Family,” 8:30 p.m., NBC. This show often has Jon Cryer (right) as TV’s usual bumbling dad. Tonight, however, offers a neat exception: With his ex-wife elsewhere, Jim (Cryer) and her new boyfriend (Donald Faison, left) are supposed to watch the kids. Emerging is a teen trauma – the sort of thing Jim is really good at. Cryer, who used to star in teen-trauma movies, handles it neatly. Read more…
1) “NCIS” season-finale rerun, 9 p.m., CBS. For CBS, this is recap week. After the Super Bowl on Sunday, it will start the season for virtually all of its shows. First, this pre-Super week has eight of them rerunning their season-finales. On “NCIS,” Torres (Wilmer Valderrama, shown here) is in jail as a terrorist attack looms. Read more…
1) Grammy awards, 8-11:30 p.m. ET, CBS. Trevor Noah hosts a night stuffed with music. Performers includes Sza (shown here), Billy Joel, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish, Luke Combs, Joni Mitchell, Burna Boy and Olivia Rodrigo. Sza leads with nine nominations; for album of the year, she faces Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, Janelle Monae, Boygenius and Jon Batiste. Read more…
1) “The Grio Awards,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. This aired on Thanksgiving weekend, when viewers were scarce; now it gets a second chance. There’s music (Jennifer Hudson, Coco Jones (shown here), Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, Boyz II Men) plus awards for Black icons – Denzel Washington, Mariah Carey, Eddie Murphy. Misty Copeland, Al Sharpton and more. Sheryl Underwood and Roy Wood Jr. host. Read more…
1) “American Masters,” 9 p.m., PBS. Before glam rock, before the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” was popular, there was Little Richard (shown here). Ringo Starr and Keith Richards were both teen fans. They’re included in this documentary; so is Pat Boone, now 89, who covered “Tutti Frutti,” blissfully unaware of any sexual connotations. It’s a fascinating story that sees Richard survive drugs, deceit and bias. Read more…
1) “Genius: MLK/X” openers (shown here), 9 and 10:15 p.m., National Geographic Channel. These two men had little in common … yet everything in common. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in clergy comfort, had his own church at 25 and mastered non-violent protest. Malcolm X grew up roughly, went to prison, ignited rage. Yet they helped reach the same goals; this eight-parter tells the story well. Read more…
1) “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” openers, 10 and 11:30 p.m., FX. This starts with a delicate glimpse (shown here): A cheated-on wife despairs; a guy deftly calms her with words and pills. She’s Babe Paley, wife of the CBS chairman; he’s Truman Capote, a brilliant writer and eccentric soul. Perfectly played by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland, they launch a mini-serieis that is elegant, intelligent and not for everyone.
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1) “Quantum Leap” return,10 p.m., NBC. “Quantum” leaped from a fairly good first season to an excellent second. Alongside its time-trekking, it now has Ben’s personal pain, after he vanished into a time-twisted fog, His ex-fiancee has a new guy who plans to propose. Also, Ben keeps bumping across Hannah, a physicist he loves. This episode (he’s a bounty-hunter, shown here) brings much of that together Read more…
