1) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m., Tuesday, NBC. The show has already sent 28 acts to the live episodes, which start Aug. 18. Twelve are musical; five are acrobatic; others range from dancers to dogs. But now comes a new twist: Another 23 acts have “callbacks”; they perform now for individual judges, hoping for the final spots in the live shows. (Shown here is the dancing-robot act from the season-opener.) Read more…
1) “Grantchester” series finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. For 11 seasons and three vicars, this has given us warm people and smart crime stories. The finale fumbles the latter; the search for the man who shot Geordie is so-so, at best. It also overdoses the drama at times, amid a crisis in faith for Alphy (right, with Geordie). But its final, moving minutes remind us that this has been a terrific series. Read more…
1) “Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” season-opener, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Things start with two interesting duos. First, Larry David is paired with his daughter Cazzie, a writer and actress. Then Ben Affleck teams with Jamie Ding (shown here), who won 31 straight nights of “Jeopardy.” That’s followed by reruns of Tim Allen’s “Shifting Gears.” Read more…
1) “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro” debut, 8 p.m. today, ABC. Here are all the elements of a ratings-leader: a dozen dancers … two sweet-faced guys, Robert Irwin as host and Derek Hough (shown here with the female contestants) as the first mentor … and a notable prize — a spot as one of the pros paired with celebrities on “Dancing With the Stars.” Tonight, the dancers work on jive and samba. Read more…
1) “Big Brother” season-opener, 8-9:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS. The 28th season begins, this time in a house with a “time trip” theme (shown here). That ranges from a crazy-clock entry to design elements that span the centuries. There’s another 90-minute episode at 8 p.m. Sunday, then a weekly pattern — 8-9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. Read more…
1) “Disney Celebrates America,” all week, ABC. This start from 8-10 p.m. today, ranging from Disney parks to Jon Batiste in New Orleans and Savannah Bananas baseball. That repeats at 8 Friday, launching a marathon that reaches Nashville at 8 Saturday, with Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, Nick Jonas and Fourth of July fireworks. Read more…
1) CMA Fest, 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. Riley Green and Lara Spencer host a night with country’s top stars. There are long-timers — Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw –plus relatively fresh forces. They include Ella Langley (shown here with Green), Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Shaboozey and Molly Tuttle. Read more…
1) “House of the Dragon” season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO and HBO Max. This is epic filming — TV on a mega-movie scale. At one point, the show had expected to close its second season with the Battle of the Gullet. Now, instead, it uses that to give the third season a huge start. Dragons, ships and (shown here) warriors collide in the water between two kingdoms. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent” season-opener, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The ratings leader is back, ready to spend most of the summer on auditions. The panel — Simon Cowell (shown here), Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel and Mel B — will see lots of acts, some of them weird and most of them talented. On Aug. 18, they’ll finally shift to live shows, with viewers voting, Read more…
1) Stephen Colbert farewell, 11:35 p.m. Thursday, CBS. After floundering in late-night for decades, CBS scored big — 22 years of David Letterman and 11 of Colbert. The show often drew big ratings, always had smart comedy. Now it’s been canceled; CBS says that’s to save money, others say it was to appease Donald Trump. Either way, Letterman will be on the finale. Read more…
