After a long Olympic break, “Saturday Night Live” will return with three new episodes.
They’ll be hosted by Ryan Gosling (shown here), Connor Storrie and … well, somebody.
The Winter Olympics bump “SNL” on Feb. 7, 14 and 21. Once that’s done, however, there will be new episodes: Read more…
For a big-time attorney, Mickey Haller seems to be in perpetual jeopardy.
In the first three “Lincoln Lawyer” (shown here) seasons, thugs chased, threatened and beat him. He survived, with the help of brains, guts, two ex-wives and a biker.
But in this fourth season, those thugs have badges and subpoenas. Things get a lot more complicated.
The 10-part season just arrived on Netflix. It has a few flaws — some detours that are kind of empty stuffing, plus an ending that feels anti-climactic. Still, it’s a terrific story, with Mickey facing huge stakes and getting great help. Read more…
Two series — both of them popular and praised — have new homes for their reruns:
— “Schitt’s Creek” has just moved to HBO Max; and
— “Downton Abbey” (shown here) has set a deal that will put the first three seasons at 10 p.m. Sundays on PBS, from May 17 to Sept. 13. The other three seasons will rerun a year later. Read more…
So it turns out that Italy has quite an impressive history.
The early minutes of the Olympic ceremony remind us of that. It has hints of fashion and film, art and opera and more. It referred to Verdi and Da Vinci and Armani and Fellini; it didn’t mention Mussolini, but time was limited.
It even played the Lone Ranger theme song, although in Italy (and most of the world) that’s a tune about an archer shooting an apple off his kid’s head.
(Italy, it should be noted, had made some of the greatest cowboy films in history, just none about masked men. It’s also pretty good at art and opera.) Read more…
If you encase a story with elegance — beautiful people wearing gorgeous things in stately places — you can get away with a lot.
That pops up now, with two lush productions:
— “Bridgerton” (shown here) has just aired the first half of its eight-episode season on Netflix. The second half arrives Feb. 26.
— “Forsytes” debuts March 22 on PBS’ “Masterpiece,” for a six-week run. Read more…
CBS has announced some reality-show and soap-opera details. They include:
— The 16 chefs — all of them award-winners or nominees — in “America’s Culinary Challenge,” which starts March 4.
— The 10 “classic episodes” that will rerun at 8 p.m. weekdays, leading into the Feb. 25 start of the 50th “Survivor.”
— And, jumping ahead to June, a multi-episode crossover between two soap operas — “Beyond the Gates” (shown here), which has its first anniversary Feb. 24, and “The Young and the Restless,” which began 53 years ago.
These came out during Zoom press conferences today with the Television Critics Association. Details include: Read more…
CBS is continuing a familiar habit — sticking with shows that work.
In one swoop, it has renewed 10 shows for next season. They join four previous renewals, making it easier to ask what shows are still pending.
It’s a tiny list that includes: Read more…
Sometimes you just have to learn by getting it wrong.
That’s especially true if you’re working the media and/or battling demi-gods. Just ask Walker Scobell (shown here), whose “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” airs its second-season finale today (Jan. 21).
Both seasons are on Disney+, where you can see Scobell evolve — from a 13-year-old novice to … well, a 17-year-old who’s still learning.
On Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show this week, he started talking into the microphone on the desk. Kimmel had to explain that it was a fake mic, just a decoration. Read more…
Before settling into tonight’s college football championship game — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19 on ESPN — let’s flash back a bit.
It’s Oct. 5, 1991, and the Indiana Hoosiers are hosting Michigan State. Folks in Indiana are interested … somewhat.
With some tickets unsold, the crowd is listed at 46,882. That’s less than half the size of the crowd that will be in Ann Arbor two weeks later, when the Hoosiers visit Michigan.
And don’t expect to see all 46,000 in their seats. As the game starts, many students are still outside the stadium, tailgating. Read more…
Another TV network is adapting Fox’s idea: If you REALLY want someone to sample a new show, put it after a football game.
Now it’s NBC’s turn: In a late change, it will air “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” (shown here) at about 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) Sunday, Jan. 18, after the Rams-Bears playoff game.
That will be a week before Fox does the same thing: It will debut Patrick Dempsey’s “Memory of a Killer” at about 10 p.m. ET Jan. 25, after the game that decides which NFC team will be in the Super Bowl. Read more…
