As “BH90210” wraps its noisy little season, we’ll just shrug.
A great idea got so-so execution. The result was almost adequate by lowly, end-of-summer standards.
The finale is 9 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 11) on Fox, promptly rerunning at 8 p.m. Friday. Like previous hours, its self-effacing humor is often quite good; its drama is more-often quite awful. Read more…
From the start, “Snowfall” had delivered sharp jabs.
Lucia had most of her family killed … then vanished. Franklin, the brainy teen, became a drug boss; his friends became killers.
Still, nothing matched the latest jolt: Franklin casually killed Andre, the honest neighborhood cop. On the day of the funeral, Melody – Andre’s daughter, Franklin’s ex-girlfriend– shot him three times and left him to die.
What’s going on? As the season-finale arrives, viewers might incorrectly expect the worst: Maybe Franklin’s being killed and the show – whose co-creator, John Singleton (shown here), died in April at 51, after a stroke – is being cancelled. Read more…
As Conan O’Brien prepares to help Donald Trump buy Greenland, let’s admire the symmetry.
Greenland was discovered (or re-discovered) by Eric the Red. He has:
— A little in common with O’Brien, whose special airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 3) on TBS. Mostly, it’s just the red hair.
— A lot in common with Trump. Eric, it seems, was a felon, a colonialist, a control freak, a slaveholder, a multiple killer and a guy who exaggerated the value of real estate.
.That last one, incidentally, is the part that directly relates to Trump. (I just thought the others provided extra information.) Read more…
Before the new season starts, there’s already encouraging news
.Yes, TV – the regular kind that you don’t pay extra for – is occasionally capable of greatness. Fresh proof arrives Sunday (Sept. 8), wih a country concert on PBS
.I’ve already babbled that “Country Music,” the eight-night documentary that starts Sept. 15, is one of the best shows ever. But that shouldn’t surprise us: It’s directed by Ken Burns, written by Dayton Duncan, with compelling stories to tell; that’s a quick route to greatness.
But the concert is a bonus, packing some of country’s best moments into two hours. Read more…
As TV began, people imagined a grand concert hall – orchestras and opera stars and such.
Or not. Viewers often prefer o see angry people crashing into each other.
Now we’re sort of re-entering that era. That starts Sept. 7, with Tessa Blanchard (shown here) defending her WOW title; wrestling will be expanding on cable and even returning to the broadcast networks.And yes, we’ve been here before. Flash back 70 years, to the fall of 1949. In primetime, viewers had: Read more…
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OK, I’ll quit doing that and start using the “e” again. I just wanted to show what my life was like for a while: Suddenly, inexplicably, my laptop’s “e” didn’t work. In the aftershock, Bjork (shown here) became my favorite star. Read more…
For generations, the women in country music songs have been cheated and mistreated or just ignored until closing time at the bar.
Some have had revenge. Some have shrugged it off because, in Tammy Wynette’s words, “after all, he’s just a man.”
But now they (sometimes) have their day. Just announced is this year’s plan for the Country Music Association awards, Nov. 13: Carrie Underwood (shown here) will host, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton will be special guests and the night will celebrate the women of country music. Read more…
TV critics are suckers for a surprise.
If something great comes from the usual sources – HBO, FX, PBS, AMC, the streaming services, anywhere on the British Isles – we’re sorta happy. But if something pretty good comes from the lesser spots, we’re delighted.
That may be why I was so pleased with “Florida Girls,” a flawed-but-funny show on Pop (which hasn’t yet confirmed that there will be a second season). And it’s why I’m so happy about “I Ship It,” a mini-musical comedy that reaches CW on Monday (Aug. 19), after years in the minors. Read more…
In a moment of exasperation, Christine Baskets says what viewers have been thinking:
“Sometimes, I think you just want to fail at life,” she tells her son Chip.
She’s right, you know. That’s what has kept FX’s “Baskets” from being a good show … and, alas, what dragged down the first season of Showtime’s “Kidding.
”Now “Baskets” is wrapping up its fourth and final season. It has a terrific episode (shown here, with Louie Anderson) this Thursday (Aug. 15), then a so-so finale a week later. “Kidding” will start its second season Nov. 2. Read more…
LOS ANGELES — For two weeks, I’d been seeing shows that promised to be fresh or fun or edgy or some other good thing.
And then, on the final day of the Television Critics Association tour, I saw my new favorite show. It’s called “Perfect Harmony” and it’s a perfectly harmonious blend of comedy, warmth and music. Read more…
