1) “Saving Private Ryan” (1999), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. It was 80 years ago today that 24,000 Allied troops stormed the fortified beaches of Normandy. More than 4,000 would be killed on D-Day, another 5,000-plus were wounded, but they changed history. That’s marked here by Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece (shown here), other TCM films and documentaries on two other cable channels. Read more…
TV’s summer doldrums will be broken up by country singers, sharks and (at the end of summer) Jesus and his disciples.
That last one has “The Chosen” returning to the CW network for two-hour slots on September Sundays. The mini-network has also announced the renewal of two shows – “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and (in a surprise) “All American.” Details include:
— “CMA Fest” is culled from concerts during the Country Music Association’s fan days in Nashville. This year it will be June 25, hosted by Ashley McBryde (shown here). That’s on ABC, which is stuffing June with special events – basketball and hockey finals, plus this concert – before returning its summer game shows in July. Read more…
1) “MasterChef: Generations,” 8 p.m., Fox.. Didn’t the baby-boomers start the youthquake? Aren’t they rockers and flower children? Somehow, they’ve aged. It’s their turn to audtion and, one guy says, to “show what the old folks can do.” Joe Bastianich even adds his mom Lidia, 77, as guest judge. (They’re show here with a contestant.) She’s an acclaimed food expert who will get an honorary Daytime Emmy on Friday. Read more…
In baseball’s two-team towns, there’s often been a sad-sibling syndrome.
It’s been the YANKEES and the mets in New York, the DODGERS and the angels in Los Angeles. Other sad siblings ran away from home, looking for love elsewhere; ask fans of the Boston Braves, Philadelphia A’s, St. Louis Browns or New York Giants.
And in pro basketball? Los Angeles has the Lakers and the Clippers, now with opposite TV series: “Winning Time: The Rise of the Laker Dynasty” had fun, flash, magic and Magic; Hulu’s “Clipped” (ahown here) — Tuesdays, starting June 4 — has a grimmer view. Read more…
1) “Clipped” opener, Hulu. On the surface, this is fun and flash: The 2013 Los Angeles Clippers had great players, a respected coach (Doc Rivers, played by Laurence Fishburne, shown here), a Hollywood setting … and a bizarre owner. As his team soared; his girlfriend leaked a tape of his rants. These first two hours try to humanize the people, Still, many viewers will find them hard to like. Read more…
1) “Mayor of Kingstown” season-opener, 9 p.m., Showtime. Now recovered from a near-fatal accident, Jerremy Renner (shown here)is back to playing a tough guy in a hard-scrabble prison town. On Jan. 1, 2023, Renner was severely injured while saving his nephew from a snowplow. Now third season begins, 14 months after the second ended. Read more…
“The Chosen” (shown here) – the Biblical series that has gradually thrived on streaming and cable – is starts its fourth season.
For this one, it has an ongoing tie to BYUtv.. Episodes will stream on BYU on Mondays and Fridays (starting June 3), then appear on its cable channel on Sundays (starting June 9) and Wednesdays. Read more…
1) Gymnastics, 7-9 p.m., NBC and Peacock. The U.S. championships conclude in Fort Worth. The men had their finals Saturday; now the women have their turn. Gabby Douglas (shown here) has withdrawn and scuttled her attempt for an Olympic comeback; for others, however, this is the last major event before the Olympic trials, June 27-30. Read more…
As June arrives, we should propel our search for fun movies.
A few arrived recently, in theaters or via streaming . I’ll mention them (including “Anyone But You,” shown here) in a moment.
This has always been a time to search for bright spirits. “Each year, the summer season presents itself as a blank slate, full of opportunity,” John Malahy wrote in “Summer Movies” (Running Press, 2021), a book that manages to leap from “Gidget” and “Beach Blanket Bingo” to Spike Lee and Ingmar Bergman.
In his introduction to that book, film critic Leonard Maltin agreed: “Summer meant one thing above all else to me: the freedom to go to the movies any day of the week.” But where can we find fun now? A few suggestions: Read more…
1) “The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. June 12 will be the 30th anniversary of the deaths of Simpson (shown here) and Ron Goldman. Now her life is viewed by the people who made documentaries on R. Kelly and Gypsy Rose Blanchard; they include home movies and more than 50 people. That reruns at 10:03, midnight and 2:04, then at noon and 6 p.m. Sunday, before the second half. Read more…
Best-bets for July 2: bison, “Bear,” baseball 
Best-bets for July 1: TV guns for holiday mood 
Best-bets for June 30: R.J., T and soccer 
