1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a busy spurt, with eight new episodes in 10 weeks, “SNL” is on a month-long break. It has reruns tonight (Jason Momoa, shown here with Chloe Fineman, hosts, with Tate McCrae as music guest) and next week, before returning to a new episode Jan. 20, with Jack Elordi and Renee Rapp. Read more…
At times, it seemed like Hollywood had made its last musical.
The genre felt wobbly and weary. And then …
Well, then we got bursts like this, with two big-deal musicals side-by-side in theaters. They are opposites: “Wonka” starts in a place of joy, “The Color Purple” (shown here) in a place of despair. Yet they both stir us, musically and emotionally. Read more…
1) “Greatest @Home Videos,” 8 p.m., CBS. Born amid the pandemic’s burst of online originality, this has its 10th special. It’s the second with an award-show theme. Cedric the Entertainer picks the best videos from around the world, settles on a top two and lets viewers choose. Max Greenfield, who stars with him in “The Neighborhood” (shown here) shows up as “verifier of the results of stuff.” Read more…
1) “The Conners,” 8:30 and 9 p.m.,, CW. This is a first: A show that still has new episodes on one broadcast network will have reruns on another. “The Conners” (shown here) starts its sixth season Feb. 7 on ABC, but now it reruns its first season here. That starts with some terrific episodes – the first with the family impacted by Roseanne’s death, the second with David (Johnny Galecki) visiting. Read more…
1) “Magnum P.I.” finale, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. This often juggles opposites — a sleek crime tale and a clumsy drama. That’s true in the first hour, with a clever crime scheme sharing time with a flat phone-hotline story. But the second hour (shown here) handles personal stories briskly and focuses on the crime. With one flaw – this guy was foolish to hire Magnum – it’s a winner, a good way to end the series. Read more…
1) “Only Murders in the Building,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. For three seasons on Hulu (with a fourth coming), this has combined murder mysteries with quietly clever glimpses of eccentric New Yorkers. Now the first season reruns over four Tuesdays on ABC. A has-been actor and a never-was director (played by Steve Martin and Martin Short) link with a neighbor (Selena Gomez, they’re shown here) for a true-crime podcast. Read more…
Tom Smothers (shown here) was many things – a clever comedian, an adequate singer, a great finder of new talent and new ideas.
He was also a champion gymnast and, much later, a yo-yo master.
Still, Smothers – who died Tuesday (Dec. 26) at 86 – will be remembered mainly as the guy who nudged American TV into the modern world. And that was partly by accident. Read more…
1) Rose Parade, 11 a.m. ET, NBC, ABC and RFD-TV (which repeats it at 1 p.m.). The new year starts with bursts of color and sound. The parade (shown here in a previous year) has a music theme today. It includes 19 marching bands and (as grand marshal) Audra McDonald; she’s a Broadway star with 10 Tony nominations and six wins, half of them in musicals. There are also 18 horse units and about 39 floats. Read more…
1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 8-10 p.m. and 10:30p.m. to 2:13 a.m. Sunday, ABC. This year’s party goes global, with Ryan Seacrest (shown here in a previous year) cutting to music in Korea (NewJeans), Puerto Rico (Ivy Queen) and Las Vegas (Post Malone.). He’ll be in Times Square, with live music from Megan Thee Stallion, Jelly Roll , Sabrina Carpenter and Tyla. He also hasa taped California party with Janelle Monae, Ludacris, Bebe Rexha, Green day, Ellie Goulding, Doechi and more. Read more…
It seems logical that we celebrate these two great lives in the same month.
Norman Lear died Dec. 5 at 101; Tommy Smothers died Dec. 26 at 86. Together, they nudged TV into the modern era.
Both were on CBS, the leading network. Both created shows that were younger and sharper. Both battled censors; Smothers (shown here, right, with his brother Dick) lost, Lear won, viewers won.
There’s more to it than that, though. These guys did much more than fight censors and tip windmills; they made shows that were innovative and funny. If you had stripped out every controversial moment, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “All in the Family” would still have been TV gems. Read more…
Best-bets for Feb. 13: a day for love and skates 
Best-bets for Feb. 12: Olympians and a “6-8 lunch lady” 
Best-bets for Feb. 11: early mammals, evolved skaters 
