1) “Matlock” debut, 8 p.m. Sunday, CBS. This may be the best new show on any of the broadcast networks. In a tradition that goes from Miss Marple to Elsbeth, it gives us an older woman who’s underestimated until she solves the case. Then, however, it flips that cleverly. Kathy Bates (shown here) is perfect as a lawyer who bears the same surname as an old TV lawyer. Read more…
1) Emmy awards. 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC (5 and 8 p.m. on the West Coast.. It’s time to honor the best of a strike-shattered season … then move on to a better one. Eugene and Dan Levy are the father-son hosts. Netflix has 107 nominations, but FX has the top individual shows – “Shogun” (shown here) for drama (25), “The Bear” for comedy (23). Read more…
1) Pro football openers, 8:20 p.m. ET, Thursday and Sunday, NBC; pre-game at 4. The season starts with rematches. Last year, the Chiefs (shown here) beat the Ravens 17-10 in the conference finals, then won the Super Bowl; they meet Thursday. And last year, the Lions edged the Rams 24-23 in the wild-card round; their game is Sunday. Read more…
1) “Toby Keith: American Icon,” 9-11 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. By one count, Keith (shown here) had 20 No. 1 country songs, starting with his debut, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” He died of cancer at 62; now his music is sung by Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Lainey Wilson, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Ashley McBryde and more. Read more…
1) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10 p.m. today, ABC. Jenn Tran (shown here) visits home towns of her final four guys. She’s 26 and becoming a physician’s assistant. The guys: Marcus Shoberg, 32, former Army Ranger; Jeremy Simon, 29, real-estate investor; Jonathan Jackson, 27, creative director; Devin Strater, 28, freight-company owner. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent” return, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. After eight weeks of auditions and a two-week Olympic break, the summertime ratings leader (shown here) finally reaches its live episodes, with viewers voting. That will be on five Tuesdays (with a results hour at 8 p.m. Wednesdays), pointing to the Sept. 17-18 finals. Read more…
1) Olympics final week. This is when track-and-field (shown here in a previous year) — the original core of any Olympics – starts piling up medals. There are finals live at 1:30 p.m. ET today, 1:35 Tuesday, 1 Wednesday, 11:35 Thursday, 1:30 Friday and 10 Saturday, Others include swimming, diving and more, with a recap each day, 8-11 p.m. Read more…
1) Olympics: gymnastics team finals, NBC. This sport (shown here) reaches gold-medal peaks early – then re-sets and goes again. First are the team finals. You can catch them live – men starting at 8:30 a.m. ET today, women at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday — or wait for the recap, 8-11 p.m. nightly. Starting Wednesday, the individual medals begin. Read more…
1) Olympics begin, Saturday and Sunday. In a bold change, every event will be shown live (via NBC, USA, Peacock, etc.), despite a difference of six hours ET, nine PT. NBC also repackages the day, from 8-11 p.m. Track and field wait until Aug. 1, but others start now, including gymnastics, basketball and medals in swimming (shown here) and diving. Read more…
1) “Big Brother” opener, 9 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. This began in 2000 with a high-tech, futuristic notion: Strangers shared a house filled with cameras; the world could peek in at any time. Now life is even higher-tech and this edition is being dubbed “BB:AI.” Julie Chen Moonves (shown here) hosts, as always, with new hours also at 9 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. Read more…
