For retro-TV fans, here’s a fresh look

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…

“Downton”: from rejection to soaring success

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 Sept. 19: Here’s CBS’ future and past

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…

Best-bets for Sept. 18: Law & Order & 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…

Best-bets for Sept. 17: Two seasons end, two begin

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…

Best-bets for Sept. 16: two openers and a great finish

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…

Best-bets for Sept. 15: Season starts with a weak link

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 Sept. 14: Emmy night, plus “Doc,” more

1) Emmy Awards, 8-11 p.m. ET, CBS. Nate Burgatze hosts on CBS … which has few nominations, beyond reality shows and Stephen Colbert. Instead, streamers dominate: Apple TV+ has two best-comedy nominees (“The Studio, “Shrinking”) and two for drama (“Severance,” “Slow Horses”). HBO has “White Lotus” (shown here) and “The Last of Us,” plus two for HBO Max. Read more…

CBS gives us Earth, Wind & Cyndi

As TV networks scramble for their niches, CBS has found a big one — music, especially the kind that spans generations and continents.
Earlier, the network announced an “Earth, Wind & Fire” celebration for Sept. 21. Now it has added Cyndi Lauper one (shown here) for two weeks later.
Those specials, also on Paramount+, involve top music producers from different eras. The EWF one is from Ben Winston, 43; the Lauper one is from Ken Ehrlich, 82. Read more…