1) “A Grammy Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire: The 21at Night of September,” 8-10 p.m. ET, CBS. With its vibrant blend of pop, jazz, R&B and more, EWF (shown here) has had seven top-10 singles; one asks: “Do you remember the 21st night of September?” Now, on Sept. 21, we get EWF, Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monae, Jon Batiste, the Jonas Brothers and the London Philharmonic. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent” finale, 9-11 p.m. Tuesday and 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. The final 10 acts get one more shot. There are seven music acts (including an improv rapper and, shown here, a high school choir), plus dancers, acrobats and a spectacular projection act. Their performances Tuesday will be recapped at 8 Wednesday, setting up a two-hour finale. Read more…
TV’s retro-surge has another player.
Now CW is jumping in, with a series of one-hour documentaries. Over eight Mondays (starting Oct. 13), “TV We Love” will range from the esteemed “I Love Lucy” (shown here) to … well, “The Brady Bunch.”
Retro-TV took hold with the changeover to HDTV. Suddenly, each station had three extra channels that viewers could reach without cable.
PBS used those to create PBS Kids and other specialties. Most stations, however, simply lined up channels that offer oldies, from “Star Trek” to “All in the Family” to cowboy movies. Read more…
1) “The Groomsmen: Last Dance,” 8-10 p.m., Hallmark. This wraps up a sunny trilogy that has three pals (shown here)looking for love in Europe. The first film (rerunning at 10:01) focused on Pete (B.J. Britt), the second on Danny (Jonathan Bennett). Now Jackson (Tyler Hynes) moves to Italy, to be near his children. Read more…
The “Downton Abbey” era began with two rejections. Then came the flip side, with soaring success.
That has included six PBS seasons, 69 Emmy nominations (with 15 wins) and three movies.
The third — “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” (shown here) — is in theaters now; “Downton” fans will love it, others will find it kind of interesting. It wraps up a splendid stretch that began with rejection. Read more…
1) CBS fall preview, 9 p.m., CBS. This is the one place that has much to preview. The other three big networks, combined, have only four new shows (only one of them scripted) this fall. But CBS has a sharp comedy (“DMV,” shown here), two cop dramas (the strong “Boston Blue” and so-so “Sheriff Country”) and a promising music competition (“The Road”). Read more…
1) “Law & Order” (shown here) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. Next week, these shows begin their 25th and 27th seasons. First, here are reruns of the season-finales, involving the murder of a model and sexual assaults on female psychiatrists. At 10, “L&O” reruns a January episode, focusing on the murder of a music mogul. Read more…
1) “MasterChef” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. Three-course dinners offer broad choices. We see shrimp, salmon, lobster, short ribs, torte, mousse and more. Stretched over two hours, this feel-good finale does gets repetitious. Still, the duos — Julio Figuerdo and Rachel Sanchez (shown here), Jessica Bosworth and Jesse Rosenwald, Aivan Tran and Tina Duong — are impressive. Read more…
1) “The 1% Club” season-finale, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. This is a great way to end a terrific season. Each hour brings back 100 people who were ousted on a previous show — ranging all the way from early losers (missing a question that 90 percent of people got) to people who reached the finals. With fun contestants and banter from Joel McHale (shown here), it’s a delight. Read more…
1) “Celebrity Weakest Link” debut, 9 p.m., Fox. Celebrity versions may work for some games, but not this one. “Weakest Link” is a dog-eat-dog game, based on dumping the others and getting the money. It doesn’t work with friends playing for charity. (Tonight has former “Glee” co-stars including, shown here, Jenna Ushkowitz and Amber Riley.) Jane Lynch adds quips, but it feels forced, a variation on her “Glee” character. Read more…
Best-bets for Dec. 7: near the end of “The Road” 
Best-bets for Dec. 6: big games and big laughs 
Best-bets for Dec. 5: Battles begin, Rudolph returns 
