1) Basketball, CBS. It’s a triplehader: First are conference-tournament championship games – the Atlantic 10 at 1 p.m. ET and the Big Ten at 3:30. That jumps straight to the 6 p.m. show, announcing the NCAA tourney brackets. (Shown here is Bradley, which qualified by winning the Missouri Valley tourney.) Also today: title games are on ESPN2 (Ivy League, noon) and ESPN (SEC, 1 p.m., and American, 3:15). Read more…
1) “Opry 100,” 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, NBC and Peacock. The Grand Ole Opry will turn 100 on Nov. 28. Now (eight months early), Blake Shelton hosts a live mega-concert. Performers include Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks (shown here), Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Kelsea Ballerini, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Jelly Roll and more. Read more…
1) “Dolly Parton: Here I Am” (2019), 8-10 p.m., CW. One of 12 children in a rural family, Parton (shown here) sang at the Grand Ole Opry at 13 and moved to Nashville the day after graduating from high school. She’s had 110 songs on the country charts (25 at No. 1) and had a 59-year marriage to Carl Dean, who died this month. Here’s a profile, with performance clips. Read more…
For the Fox network, this is changeover time.
Ending their seasons are three scripted shows – one good, one not and one surprisingly excellent. Their spring replacements are coming, but two of them will be back next season.
If you ignore animated ones (please don’t), Fox only has four scripted shows. Now come season-finales for “Animal Control” (shown here) and “Going Dutch” (9 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13) and “Doc” (9 p.m. Tuesday, March 18).
Here’s a glimpse at the three finales, plus a note on what’s next. Read more…
1) “NCIS: Sydney,” 8 p.m., CBS. It’s been a rough time for wellness centers or resorts on TV. We’ve seen them go bad on “Elsbeth,” “Tracker,” “White Lotus” and more; now its this show goes from wellness to guns (shown here). That’s followed by “Fire Country” (trying to keep a ship from crashing during a fierce storm) and “SWAT” (hostages at a bus station. Read more…
1) “Animal Control” season-finale, 9 p.m., Fox. An excellent – but too short – season concludes with a fresh crisis: Frank (Joel McHale, right) botched the funding for a kennel for dogs awaiting adoption; then he reluctantly begged a “dog expert” (Ken Jeong) for the money. Now the kennel’s grand opening is set … but no dogs are available. The team scrambles to find some. Read more…
(This is the ninth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)
We’ve always assumed that three is the logical number for anything.
It’s the number of strikes, outs, Stooges, little pigs, blind mice and little kittens that lost their mittens. But is it the ideal number of over-the-air, commercial TV networks?
It seemed that way. Early efforts at a fourth network sputtered, despite such stars as Jackie Gleason (shown here), Ernie Kovacs, boxers and a bishop. Other tries failed. For 30 years, it was ABC, CBS and NBC. Read more…
1) “Good Cop/Bad Cop,” 9 p.m., CW. With a frothy blend of drama and comedy, this proves that a good mystery doesn’t always need a murder. On her day off from the police station, Lily helps make a low-budget movie based on a local legend. Soon, there are eerie twists and the police survey the woods (shown here). Also, a TV newsman keeps popping up; the result is a delight. Read more…
1) “Night Court,” 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. It’s time for a musical courtroom. An iffy producer claims he’ll put Dan’s life story on Broadway. It takes too long, but the episode does end with a rousing number. Dan and Abby (John Larroquette, shown here, and Melissa Rauch) are OK; others show strong vocal talent. Read more…
\For screenwriters, there’s a helpful chaos theory.
It’s one of the reasons that “Anora” (shown here) – in theaters now, on Hulu starting March 17 – was a worthy winner of five Academy Awards, including best picture.
That still doesn’t mean everyone should rush to see it. This film has enough of many things – sex, nudity, language – to disrupt fragile souls and bring arrests in fragile nations.
But it also has much more – great characters, perfect performances (especially by Oscar-winner Mikey Madison) and clever chaos. Read more…
Best-bets for March 21: Reba/Rex & rebounders 
Best-bets for March 20: Basketball begins; cruise chaos continues 
Best-bets for March 19: big day for Opry, fun, sports 
