1) “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” season-opener, 9 p.m., NBC. The 27th season begins for “SVU,” which was already the longest-running primetime drama in U.S. TV history. Now Benson (Mariska Hargitay, shown here) and others try to protect a key witness in a rape case. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent” finale, 8-11 p.m., NBC. On Tuesday, the final 10 acts (including Jessica Snchez, shown here in an earlier episode) got their last chance to impress us. Those performances will be recapped at 8 p.m.; then the next two hours have lots of guests and the 20th champion. Read more…
1) “Murder in a Small Town” season-opener, 8 p.m., Fox. This was one of last season’s best surprises, filled with subtlety and humanity. There’s a soft-spoken police chief, his librarian lover (they’re shown here) and diligent deputies. The second season starts with a domestic dispute gone bad. With the exception of an out-of-sync character (the mayor), it’s an excellent hour. Read more…
1) “The Voice,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. For reality shows, this is a pivotal week. There are finales (“America’s Got Talent” on Wednesday, “Project Runway” Thursday, “Big Brother” Sunday) and eight season-openers. That includes “Voice,” with its people — Snoop Dogg (shown here in tonight’s opener), Reba McEntire, Michael Buble and Niall Horan — starting to find their singers. Read more…
In old movies and TV shows, we saw journalists like Woodward and Bernstein, Lou Grant and Murphy Brown, Edward R. Murrow and maybe Clark Kent.
Some were fictional, some weren’t. Most were unscarred; they had thriving news organizations backing them.
And now? Meet Lee Raybon (the central figure in the poster here), the jey character in “The Lowdown,” which debuts at 9 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 23) on FX. He’s battered, bruised and broke; he works free-lance, with no employer to shield him.
“I think that’s all we have left, you know?” writer-director-producer Sterlin Harjo said in a Zoom press conference. “We have citizen journalists.” Read more…
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…
Best-bets for Dec. 15: music, massive or personal 
Best-bets for Dec. 14: Sci-fi epic leads busy night 
Best-bets for Dec. 13: swift and steady, stars soar 
