1) “What We Do in the Shadows,” 10 p.m., FX. A week from its season-finale, this offbeat comedy takes a neat detour. Laszlo (shown here in last week’s episode) has been in a funk lately, so Nandor plans a good-natured “roast.” Vampires, alas, aren’t adept at giving (or receiving) gentle jests. Tied into that is the fact that Guillermo is turning into a vampire – secretly, slowly and clumsily. It’s an odd and funny episode. Read more…
1) “Riverdale” finale, 9 p.m., CW. For decades, CW has been the home of shows based on comic books or youth novels. Now, under new owners, that era is ending. “Riverdale” (shown here) has had strong production and solid acting (especially by Lili Reinhart as Betty), but bizarre plot twists. This season, the characters slid back to the 1950s, then returned. Now we flash forward; Betty is 86 and wants to relive the final day of her senior year. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. It’s finally time for live episodes; 55 acts have survived, led by seven “golden buzzer” awards from the judges and host (trhey’re shown here) and audeince. Two buzzer acts (Lavender Darcangel, 27, of Massachusetts, and Putri Ariani, 17, of Indonesia) are blind singers. There’s another singer (Gabriel Henrique, 28, of Brazil), plus a youth choir from South Africa, dancers from Japan, a hands-based dance troupe from France and young drummers from Atlanta. Read more…
1) “The Bachelorette” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC. For a while, Charity Lawson (a Georgia therapist, 27, shown here) was down to two guys — Joey Graziadel (a Hawaii tennis pro, 27) and Dotun Olubeko (a Fresno medical consultant, 30). But then Aaron Bryant (a Texas software salesman, 29), whom she’d already dismissed, somehow returned. Now she confers with her family and makes her choice. Also, we meet the new “Bachelor” and peek at “Bachelor in Paradise.” Read more…
1) “761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers,” 8 p.m., History. Tonight is filled with pioneering Black military units. Reruns tell of the Tuskegee Airmen (7 p.m.), Buffalo Soldiers (10:03) and Civil War heroes (11:05). This new film, produced by Morgan Freeman (shown here), tells of the unit that trained for two years, then was sent to Europe shortly after D-Day. It fought in the Battle of the Bulge and its men won 11 Silver Stars and a Medal of Honor. Read more…
1) “Stand Up to Cancer,” 8 p.m., ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and more. Every two years, people combine for comedy sketches and talks, raising millions for cancer research. This show, the eighth, comes during the writers’ and actors’ strikes, so it will rerun sketches with Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Melissa McCarthy Bill Hader and more. It also reruns music by The Who, Brittany Howard (shown here) and the widow of Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer at 43. Read more…
1) “CMT Summer Sessions,” 9 p.m., CMT, On most Fridays in July and August, CMT has a concert by one country star. This time, it brings most of the previous people togethet for a “90s Country” half-hour. “Strawberry Wine,” “Maybe It Was Memphis,” “A Little Too Late” and more are performed by Lee Brice (shown here, who hosts), Tanyya Tucker, Chris Janson, Breland and Ashley McBryde. A week later, McBryde’s solo show will close the season. Read more…
1) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. Elsewhere, reality shows seem to take over the summer schedules and the strike-torn fall line-ups. Still, “Sheldon” reruns remain in the top-10 in the weekly Nielsen ratings. Now the show is back near the start of this season, with some sharp twists. Sheldon’s mom lost her church job because of ill-feelings involving Georgie being an unwed father-to-be. With finances shaky, Sheldon and Missy (shown here) try to help. Read more…
1) “The Wonder Years” finale, 9 and 9:30 p.m., ABC. It’s been a so-so season for this comedy-drama (which, alas, often forgets about the comedy), but it ends surprisingly well. Both episodes have large stories, solid drama and adequate comedy. First (shown here), Dean’s dad (Dule Hill) fumes when his brother (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) makes a splash at their father’s birthday. Then this 1969 Alabama family plans a whirlwind week — a Texas college visit and Disneyland. Read more…
1) “Justified: City Primeval,” 10 p.m., FX. A dangerous book, with notes about bribes, is in the hands of menacing Mansell (shown here, right) and sweet-spirited Sweetie (left). Mansell has already used it to steal a painting; now things get intense. Raylan – a U.S. marshal, transported to Detroit – is sleeping with Mansell’s lawyer; he’s also pursuing her client and a tangled case. This episode, the sixth of eight, is sometimes talky, sometimes lethal, always interesting. Read more…
