Week’s top 10 for April 4: Ben, basketball, BBC
1) “Benjamin Franklin,” 8 p.m. today and Tuesday, PBS, repeating at 10. Here is Ken Read more…
Weekly Previews
Week’s top-10 for March 28: Grammys lead a music surge
1) Grammy awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. After a Covid surge, the Grammys were delayed by nine weeks and moved to Las Vegas. Now they’re here, with Trevor Noah as host. Performers include Billie Eilish (a week after her Oscars performance), Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, Brothers Osborne (shown here), Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow and more. Jon Batiste leads with 11 nominations, with eight for Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R.; Eilish and Rodrigo have seven. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for March 21: Oscars Week and more
1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. The worst is over now. For three humorless years, there was no host; last year, there was little music, no fun … and lots of time for winners to drone on, thanking agents and such. Now the Oscars try to make up for that with three hosts, two (Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes) quite funny; the third is a gifted actress, Regina Hall. Still, the early list of presenters had only a few (Chris Rock, for instance) capable of fun. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for March 14: Finales for “Bachelor,” “Alien,” more
1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8-10 p.m. today and Tuesday, ABC. Last week, Clayton Echard planned to spend “fantasy suite” nights with the final three women. The first night, he told Rachel Recchia (a pilot, shown here) that he loves her. The second, he told Gabby Windey he’s falling in love with her. The third, he found that Susie Evans was unhappy about the first two, even after he explained that “I am the most in love with you.” She ended up leaving, maybe forever. Now the show has four hours to straighten this all out. Read more…
Week’s top 10 for March 7: Reality shows start and end
1) “Survivor” opener (shown here), 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. The 42nd edition has 18 contestants, ranging from a 19-year-old Ivy League student to a 58-year-old retired firefighter. As usual, there are people with light-hearted jobs – waitress, pageant coach, fitness consultant. But there’s also a data scientist, a therapist, a veterinarian and a Yale Law School grad. One person is listed as a stay-at-home dad, another (who’s also a Black Studies teacher) as a stay-at-home mom. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for Feb. 28: “Race” and “Chef” end; others arrive
1) “The Amazing Race” finale, 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. TV’s longest race ends. Filming started two years ago, then was delayed by Covid. The final stretch (Greece to Portugal to Los Angeles) has four duos. Kim and Penn Holderness (shown here) launched an Internet career with “Xmas Jammies.” Others are Ryan Ferguson (exonerated after a decade in prison) and his friend Dusty Harris; Arun Kumar and his daughter Natalia; and flight attendants Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for Feb. 21: It’s makeover time for NBC
1)“Endgame” debut, 10 p.m. today, NBC. It’s makeover week for NBC, with a transformed line-up after the Olympics. That starts today with “America’s Got Talent: Extreme” (same Simon, bigger stunts) at 8 p.m. and then “Endgame.” A master criminal (Morena Baccarin, left) and a brilliant FBI agent (Ryan Michelle Bathe, right) collide. The former is under arrest, but still able to trigger mega-crimes. It’s big and ambitious, but strains believability at every turn. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for Feb. 14: Olympics end; Abe and zombies begin
1) Olympic figure-skating gala, 11:30 p.m. ET, NBC. Here’s a chance for all the medal-winners to show off. There are no rules, no judges – just flash, flair and fun. That will include Nathan Chen (shown here), the American who won individual gold, and the ice dancers who concluded after the Super Bowl. The women will compete live on the USA Network early Tuesday (4-9:25 a.m.) and Thursday (5-9 a.m.), rerunning at night on NBC. Pairs have a similar plan, Friday and Saturday. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for Feb. 7: a super (and Olympic) time
1) Super Bowl, 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC. It’s a battle of newcomers: Until this year, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (shown here) hadn’t won a play-off game in his 12 seasons; the Cincinnati Bengals hadn’t won one in 31 years. Now they collide, with the world watching. The Rams were 12-5 during the regular season; the Bengals were 10-7, in a remarkable turnaround. Two years earlier, they were 2-14; that brought the first draft choice (Joe Burrow) and new life. Read more…
Week’s top-10 for Jan. 31: Olympics loom large
1) Olympics opening ceremony, 6:30 a.m. ET Friday, NBC, Peacock, Olympic Channel; then 8 p.m., NBC. In 2008, Beijing had a spectacular Summer Olympics ceremony (shown here), with 15,000 performers and a reported $100-million budget. Now it becomes the first city to host the summer and winter games. This ceremony has the same director, in the same building, but with a smaller scale. About 3,000 performers are expected, plus 2,900 athletes from 90 countries. Read more…