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…
1) “The Neighborhood” and “DMV” series finales, 8 and 8:30 p.m. today, CBS. This fall, CBS will trim from four comedies to two. “Neighborhood” has always known that this season (its eighth) would be its last, so it planned to go out with the weddings of the brothers, Malcolm and Marty. Then the clever “DMV” (shown here in its first episode) wraps its only season with some power shifts. Read more…
1) “Suffs,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. For the next four Fridays, PBS delivers Broadway-style specials. That starts with this musical (shown here) about women’s struggle to get the vote; Shaina Taub won Tonys for her words and music; she also stars as Alice Paul. Coming up: “Top Hat” silliness … a powerhouse Nicole Scherzinger concert … and a fascinating documentary. Read more…
1) “Grey’s Anatomy” return, 10 p.m. Thursday, ABC. After a three-week rest, “Grey’s” (shown here in a previous episode) is back for the final two episodes of its 22nd season. Next week will see the departure of Teddy and Owen, plus cliffhangers. This week, however, it’s the sort of big-deal event the show savors: The Royal Bridge collapses, putting all the doctors in crisis mode. Read more…
1) “Matlock” season-finale, 9-11 p.m. Thursday, CBS. It may be a long time before we see some more new episodes: “Matlock” is this year’s first CBS drama to wrap its season … and it won’t be on the fall schedule, waiting until mid-season. For now, Matty and colleagues (shown here) are close to nailing Senior, until a hurdle appears. Also, they have two new cases in court. Read more…
1) “The Voice” finale, NBC. Trimmed to half its usual length, this wraps abruptly. Today (9-11 p.m.), we hear Liv Ciara, 16; Mikenley Brown, 19; Lucas West (shown here), 20; Syd Millevoi, 23; J.W. Griffin, 25; Alexia Jayy, 31; Jared Shoemaker, 32; K.J. Willis, 35; and Jeremy Keith, 40. On Tuesday, there’s a recap at 8 p.m. and the final four, from 9-11 p.m. Read more…
1) “Best Medicine” season-finale, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. Last week’s hour set this up neatly: Visiting Norwegians tricked the town into a damaging deal … Greg and George (shown here, left) mentioned they’d secretly married … and Dr. Best pointed Louisa to his ex-girlfriend, a fertility expert. Now that blends beautifully, in an episode that mixes fun with strong emotion. Read more…
1) “Henry David Thoreau” 9-11 p.m., today, 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. We might think of Thoreau as a hermit in a cabin, but Ken Burns’ splendid film finds someone much more interesting: Thoreau was a social man who loved to talk, write and think. He was a teacher, philosopher and pencil-maker; in his two years in the cabin (shown here), he wrote memorably about man and nature. Read more…
1) Sports surge. The baseball season starts with one game Wednesday (Yankees-Giants, 8:05 p.m. ET on Netflix) and lots on Thursday, including two on NBC — Pirates and Mets at 1:15 p.m., Dodgers (shown here) and Diamondback at 8:30. Also, Thursday is when the college basketball tourney starts a new round, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. on CBS, 7:30 and 10 on TBS. Read more…
