Here’s another sign that Madonna is forever:
She’ll do the opening number in this year’s Video Music Awards — 42 years after she was nominated as best new artist.
Back then, the VMA’s were strictly on MTV; this year, they’re 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET Sept. 27 on CBS, MTV and other networks. And this year, at 68, Madonna (shown here_ leads with 11 nominations, including song of the year (“Bring Your Love”) and artist of the year. Read more…
It will be a different sort of season-opener for “Saturday Night Live” this fall: No movie star, no comedian … but, instead, a basketball player.
That’s Jalen Brunson (shown here), who led the Knicks to the championship. He’ll host on Sept. 26, with Katseye as the music guest.
That will be followed by more-traditional hosts — a movie star (Dakota Johnson), a comedian (Shane Gillis) and — appropriately, on Halloween — a horror-film star (Inde Navarrette). Details, at 11:29 p.m. on NBC, are: Read more…
Apparently, we don’t have to wait until next month to get really, terribly, awfully frightened.
October is when Freeform has its “31 Days of Halloween” (with fairly gentle tales) and others — AMC, Syfy, etc. — have variations. But Paramount+ now helpfully tells us about the horror films it already has.
That includes all three “A Quiet Place” films, all four “Pet Semetary,” all seven “Paranormal Activity: and all eight “Scream” (depicted here). Horror movies seem to have lots of sequels. Read more…
In the new TV world, award shows and specials have become more important. Now CBS is planning a flurry for this fall.
That includes a three-Sunday stretch of “Video Music Awards” specials (Sept. 13, 20 and 27), sandwiched around one special with Cedric the Entertainer and another with “Judge Judy” (shown here). All of those are before the network starts its new season, in the first week of October. Read more…
It will be a double Dolly night Sunday (Aug. 30) on TV.
Both CBS and ABC will have new Dolly Parton specials. ABC will also include her movie, “9 to 5.”
Parton (shown here) died Tuesday at 80, in the cancer wing of a Nashville hospital. There have been waves of tributes for her music, her philanthropy and the sheer joy of her personality.
CBS had a special that night, but will follow with another Sunday. “Remembering Dolly: A Rhinestone Life” will be at 8 p.m., nudging “Big Brother” to 9 and removing “Tracker.” Read more…
Shelley Fabares fit neatly into many eras.
In a time of gentle comedies, she was the “Donna Reed Show” daughter. In an age of rock stars, she played the love interest of everyone — Elvis (three times!), Fabian, Peter Noone (of Herman’s Hermits), even Hank Williams Jr.
In better times, Fabares — who died Saturday (Aug. 22) at 82 — played a strong-willed TV newswoman on “Coach” and a villainous sort on “One Day at a Time.” She was a producer on 14 Screen Actors Guild award shows and shared the passionate human-rights causes of her husband, Mike Farrell.
But there was one quirky blip I wanted to mention here: In the anyone-can-do-it era, Fabares was a pop star … sort of against her will. Read more…
The decline of beauty pageants has reached a new extreme.
Now the CW network had decided not to air the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, Aug. 26 and 27. It also bailed out last year … but this time, the decision came, with no explanation, less than a week before the events.
The network did air it in 2024 (shown here is winner Alma Cooper) and 2023.
Instead, it will air reruns — a Freddie Mercury film Wednesday and game shows Thursday. The pageants will air on the Queen Beauty Network, an obscure streamer that requires payment. Read more…
Two first-year shows jumped to the top of this year’s Television Critics Association awards.
“Heated Rivalry” (shown here) was named program of the year; “Widow’s Bay” won for best comedy and for best new show.
Freshman shows also won the awards for individuals in a comedy (Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay”) and drama (Rhea Seahorn in “Pluribus”).
The list does have some familiar names, however: “The Pitt” repeated as best drama; “Traitors” had its third straight reality-show win. And for the fifth time, a Ken Burns film — this time “The American Revolution” — won for news and-information. Read more…
If you’re keeping track of new shows on broadcast-TV channels this fall, here’s a surprise:
The tiny CW network is third on the list, topping both ABC and Fox.
That’s because CW will have one new show — “Private Eyes West Coast” (shown here), announced today (Aug. 17). ABC and Fox will have none until mid-season. Read more…
The Disney+ people plan to stuff autumn with fantasy and science-fiction,
That starts Sept. 2, with the Mandalorian movie (shown here). It will be followed by series with Vision (Oct. 14), Percy Jackson (Nov. 20) and Ahsoka (Jan. 20).
All will be on the streaming channel, which already has one season of “Ahsoka,” two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” and three of “The Mandalorian,” plus the “WandaVision” series and its spin-off. Read more…
