If you have a calendar handy, you might want to put a circle around June 20.
That will be a strong night to see … well, something. There’s “Jaws” and Janis Ian, Grammy greats and (shown here) Minecraft men.
That’s during a generally sleepy summer of TV. Suddenly, different networks all shoveled key specials into the same night: Read more…
It’s really not that hard to steal food from a lion during its meal. Simply:
1) Ask a friend to bite the lion’s tail; and
2) While the lion is distracted, take the food.
One other thought: Suggest to the friend that he run very, very fast.
“As far as I know, the lions never get wise to it,” said Dan Rees, one of the producers of “The Underdogs” (shown here), which debuts June 15 on the National Geographic Channel and ABC. “It’s a fairly well-documented behavior.” Read more…
Les Moonves, a very wise (and sometimes foolish) man, once told me, “There’s no such thing as trying too hard.”
He was wrong, of course. (Wise people sometimes are.) And the latest proof is “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” (shown here).
Granted, there are many good things about the film. Its action scenes are sensational; a marathon biplane chase through canyon country is about as good visually as a movie can be. Tom Cruise is intense (as usual) and perfect; his cast is full of top people in small roles. (We only see Oscar-winner Angela Bassett briefly. She does, however, save the world.)
The script, by director Christopher McQuarry and Erik Jendresen is smart … to an excess. There’s a lot of excess here. Read more…
Let’s officially designate this as “The Summer of Laurence Leboeuf.”
For most of her 39 years, Leboeuf (shown here) has been in obscurity and/or Montreal. But now that can’t continue: Her subtly perfect performance in “Transplant” (8 p.m. Thursdays on NBC) demands attention.
Granted, Leboeuf is already fairly well-known in quieter (and, perhaps, saner) parts of the world. For two decades, she’s been busy in Canadian films and TV shows, working in French or English. She’s drawn nominations for roles ranging from a cop (“19-2”) to a teen tennis star (“15/Love”), a bike-racer caught in a cheating scandal (“The Little Queen”) and a free-spirited, post-apocalyptic hero (“Turbo Kid”).
But most of those never got here; her U.S. roles have been rare. Read more…
The Wednesday-night Canadian connection will continue this summer.
The CW network will air the fourth season of “Family Law” (shown here) at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, starting July 23. That comes a week after the season-finale of “Sullivan’s Crossing” … which took the timeslot after “Wild Cards.”
All three are from Canadian networks, a steady source of middle-of-the-road shows on CW. Read more…
There was a time when TV networks seemed to take long summer snoozes.
Viewers could just watch reruns. After all, there weren’t many alternatives.
Not any more. With streamers and pay-cable channels pouring out new shows year-around, the broadcast networks struggle to remain relevant. This summer, they’ll have scripted dramas (a few), sports (A LOT), specials and the usual collection of reality and game shows, including “Bachelor in Paradise” (shown here in a previous year). Read more…
While some networks plan a summer snooze, the FX people will offer some counterpoint.
They’ll have major shows in June (“The Bear”), August (“Alien: Earth,” shown here) and September (Ethan Hawke in “The Lowdown”).
All three are produced by FX; two will be on FX and Hulu, with “The Bear” only on Hulu. Details are: Read more…
After decades of expansion, the TV world is throwing itself into reverse.
NBC is now the second network to announce a September schedule with no new scripted shows. Fox had done the same.
For NBC, at least, there are some redeeming steps:
— Two spots remain vacant. In November, they’ll apparently go to new comedies, nestled behind “St. Denis Medical” and “Happy’s Place” (shown here), on Mondays and Fridays.
— Seven scripted shows will return Fox only has two, except for cartoons. Read more…
Can the droll charm of an English village be transformed into an American TV series?
We’ll find out next season, when Fox tries a new version of the “Doc Martin” series. Josh Charles (“The Good Wife,” “Sports Night”) will star as the displaced doctor.
This version will be produced by Ben Silverman, whose best success has been with U.S. versions of overseas hits. That has included “The Office,” “Ugly Betty” and “Jane the Virgin.”
In this case, he’s adapting a show (shown here) that had a thoroughly English flavor: Read more…
CBS will put some familiar shows in unfamiliar places next season.
It will also try two new reality shows and four spin-offs, one of them with strong potential to be a hit: Kayce Dutton (the honest one on “Yellowstone,” played by Luke Grimes, shown here) gets his own series, as a U.S. marshal.
That series — tentatively called “Y: Marshals” — won’t arrive until mid-season. In the fall, viewers have some schedule shifts to worry about: Read more…
