1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m, NBC. Before he became a pop-culture figure (by dating Taylor Swift), Travis Kelce (shown here0 was merely a football star. Three weeks after his Kansas City Chiefs beat his brother Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, he hosted the episode that reruns today. It also includes Jason and the music guest, Kelsea Ballerini. Read more…
For a young actress in her first big role, this was a new world.
Emma Naomi (shown here with Ben Miller) was in Belgium to co-star in “Professor T,” the mystery series that airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on PBS. What struck her about the place?
“The horses,” she said. “There are horses everywhere.”
She’s a city kid who grew up in London, the daughter of two nurses. For “T,” she was often living in Antwerp, which seemed familiar enough; “it’s a fashion capital, lots of coffee shops.” Still, many of the locations took her into the horse-filled countryside. Read more…
ABC has finally answered a key question: What will fill that gaping hole on Sundays?
In its makeshift, strike-time schedule, the network simply listed “Wonderful World of Disney” movies for 8-11 p.m. Sundays, starting Oct. 1. Still, it never said which movies and when.
Now we know; the early line-up has three films from 2021, a vintage year for Disney: Read more…
1) “A Song for Cesar,” 10-11:30 p.m., PBS. Cesar Chavez (shown here), friends says, loved to dance. He savored jazz and comedy; he was “this guy with an urban soul.” So his farmworkers’ movement rippled with music – from the back of flat-bed trucks, then in arenas. This vibrant film offers brief bursts of music. Much of it is way too brief; still, it’s fascinating to see the show bounce between a white-haired musician and his young self, almost 60 years ago. Read more…
1) “Hell’s Kitchen” opener, 8 p.m., Fox. After lots of flash and hype about the American dream, we meet the contestants – an appealing bunch of dreamers. At one extreme is a young Texan (shown here, left), now a chef in Chicago, who’s also a professional quidditch player. At another is a Mississippi chef, a single mom raising her six children and her sister’s three. They make their specialties and Gordon Ramsay seems genial enough. Next week, he’ll start screaming. Read more…
This is clearly not the way Hollywood works.
“Reservation Dogs” (shown here) was filmed in small-town Oklahoma, using lots of locals. It starred four young indigenous actors, two making their professional debuts. Its style was casual and natural and …
And then it all worked. The show has its series finale Wednesday on Hulu, where people can watch all three seasons. It has won a Peabody Award, two American Film Institute Awards and nominations from the Golden Globes, the Television Critics Association and more.
Much of the credit goes to its creators (Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi) and its other writers and directors. But some goes to that surprising cast. Read more…
New TV seasons used to arrive on wave of hope and hype. This one, however, just sort of arrived.
The official season starts today, Sept. 25, without much fuss. The writers’ (which reached a tentative agreement on Sept. 24) and actors’ strike (ongoing) have blocked most new, scripted shows.
Still, there are things to catch – a few good shows (including “The Spencer Sisters,” shown here) and a lot of adequate ones. Here’s an updated look in three main categories – dramas, comedies and reality shows – followed by a sampling of shows from streaming networks. We’ll start with the most promising genre, dramas. Read more…
1) “Survivor” opener, 8-9:30 p.m., CBS. This is the 45th edition, filled with people who obsess on the show. Indeed, there are three lawyers … and two of them lie about their profession, so they won’t be considered schemers. Returning is Bruce Perreault, who was seriously injured in the previous opener; now there’s another rough challenge (shown here) and another person needing medical attention. It’s a fun start, right up to the closing surprise. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent,” 9-11 p.m., NBC. After a summer of spectacle, the show has its 11 finalists. There are singers from Massachusetts and Indonesia, choirs from South Africa and North Carolina. There are two dance groups from Japan (including Avantgardey, the judges’ wild-card pick, shown here) and one from France, plus an Italian dog act, a Canadian comedian, a New Jersey magician and an acrobat duo from Tanzania. Now they perform and viewers vote; Wednesday has a recap at 8 and finale at 9. Read more…
1) “The Irrational” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. After surviving a tragedy, Alec (Jesse L. Martin, shown here) began studying the criminal mind. Now he’s a behavioral science professor, working with the police, including his ex-wife. Tonight’s opening scene is a gem and the story that follows is quite good. After that, there are no guarantees; the second hour is so-so, the third bounces back. As one of the few new, scripted shows this season, this is worth trying. Read more…
Best-bets for July 4: lots of music, lots of fireworks 
Best-bets for July 3: The party starts a day early 
Best-bets for July 2: bison, “Bear,” baseball 
