He’s a supremely diligent (and talented) actor

I’ve never had anyone wave millions of dollars at me, begging me to star in an action movie or a cute romance.
But if that did happen, I’d be tempted. Which is why I have such esteem for Timothee Chalamet.
He’s had all the things that create pop-culture fame — two “Dune” epics that made a combined $1.3 billion … a romantic supporting role in one great film (“Little Women”) … a musical role in another great one (“Wonka”) … and a photogenic romance with Kylie Jenner.
From there, he could have made easy money anywhere — from sci-fi to rom-coms to hair-gel ads. Instead, he took two roles that are amazingly complex and (in some ways) totally opposite — first as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” then as the supremely hyper Marty (shown here) in “Marty Supreme.” Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 30: He’s our favorite 100-year-old

1) “American Masters,” 8-10 p.m., PBS. Now that Dick Van Dyke (shown here) has turned 100, we can savor a rerun of this fun profile. We see his start, using his elastic face and body for a goofy lip-sync act. He had a string of failures on CBS, until Carl Reiner created the delightful “Dick Van Dyke Show.” Then came “Mary Poppins,” some OK comedies and even a few dramas. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 29: reviewing the year, rerunning the shows

1) “The Year: 2025,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. Others have taken one-hour looks at the year in pop culture, but now ABC takes two hours to do it both ways. There’s the serious side — wars, wildfires, domestic turmoil, new pope, etc. — and the light side. The latter has interviews with Robert Irwin (shown here), the Jonas Brothers, Luke Bryan, podcasters, influencers and more. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 28: lots of music, plus animals

1) “A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. The night is stuffed with music from Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada, Angela Aguilar (shown here), Andrea Bocelli, Luis Fonsi, Michael Buble, Robin Thicke, the cast of Broadway’s “Buena Vista Social Club” and more. Also, there are comments by Carlos Santana, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno and others. Read more…

New Year’s Eve on TV: There’s less … and more

For TV viewers, this will be a New Year’s Eve of fewer and more.
Fewer networks are trying full-scale, music parties. NBC announced one, then dropped it. Fox and the cable networks never got that far. Only ABC and CBS are going ahead.
But ABC’s will be bigger than ever. It will sprawl across four cities (including New York City, shown here) and run for eight hours (minus a newscast), with at least 40 performers and 85 songs.
Once you add some more things — a couple mostly-talk shows and some musical reruns — you have lots of choices. Details include: Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Dec. 29: lots of New Year fuss

1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 8 p.m. Wednesday to 4 a.m., ABC. It’s the longest Eve show ever — eight hours (minus the news at 10). Ryan Seacrest (shown here in a previous year) is at Times Square, where Diana Ross sings live. Others are in Chicago, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico, with music (mostly taped) ranging from Mariah Carey to Post Malone, Chappell Roan and BigXthePlug. Read more…