1) Football season-opener, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC. The pros are back, ready to gobble our TV time. There’s a pre-game show at 7 p.m. and then a Super Bowl rematch, with the Seahawks and (shown here) the Patriots. The next day, Netflix has 49ers-Rams. And on Sunday (plus one game Monday) it will be all the rest. Read more…
1) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-11 p.m., NBC. There’s no waiting this time: Ten acts will perform — including an acrobat, a naked singer-comedian and (shown here) dancing robots — and viewers will vote. From 10-11 p.m., they’ll learn which acts will reach the semi-finals, next Tuesday. Read more…
In the new TV world, award shows and specials have become more important. Now CBS is planning a flurry for this fall.
That includes a three-Sunday stretch of “Video Music Awards” specials (Sept. 13, 20 and 27), sandwiched around one special with Cedric the Entertainer and another with “Judge Judy” (shown here). All of those are before the network starts its new season, in the first week of October. Read more…
In her early days as a free-lance journalist, Gloria Steinem said, one editor dismissed her abruptly.
That was at Life magazine. “We don’t want a pretty girl,” he said. “We want a writer.”
Steinem told the story in “Famous Last Words,” a fascinating Netflix show whose interviews aren’t released until after the person’s death. This one debuted Thursday (Sept. 3), the day after her death at 92.
What it shows is the Steinem (shown here) we’re accustomed to. She joked, laughed, recalled her decades of women’s-rights struggles fondly. “It doesn’t feel hard,” she said. “It feels like fun.” Read more…
1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 9 p.m., FX and FXX. The gang is sort of in its natural habitat here — a Renaissance fair (shown here), where weirdness is normal. Naturally, they take it too far, in an episode that’s erratic, but quite funny. That’s followed by a good “Adults” rerun, with Anton finding that people do, unfortunately, sometimes listen to him. Read more…
1) “Marble Hall Murders” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. The fall TV season gets an early start here. It’s the third mini-series with an editor (Lesley Manville, shown here) probing a murder, while imagining chats with a fictional detective … whom we see in a related novel. This six-parter has deep characters and sharp twists — in the main murders and in the novel. Read more…
1) Football season-opener, 8:20 p.m. ET Wednesday, NBC. The pros are back, ready to gobble up our TV time. There’s a pre-game show at 7 p.m. and then a Super Bowl rematch, with the Seahawks (shown here last season) and Patriots. The next day, Netflix has the 49ers and Rams at 8:35. Then a stuffed Sunday will be capped by the Cowboys and Giants, at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Read more…
1) College football. On the season’s first full day, games abound. At noon ET, Fox has national champion Indiana (shown here from last season), ranked No. 6 pre-season, and North Texas. ABC has Alabama (No. 13) and East Carolina; ESPN has No. Houston (No. 23) and Oregon State. At 7:30 p.m., it’s LSU (No. 14) and Clemson on ABC, Michigan (No. 16) and Western Michigan on NBC. Read more…
1) “Sheriff Country” and “Boston Blue,” 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. After being bumped by football last week, both are back with reruns. First, the sheriff (shown here in a previous episode) is wedged between the DEA and loyalty to her people. Then the Silvers mark the anniversary of their patriarch’s death, but also tackle cases, including the murder of a beloved shop owner. Read more…
Streaming networks have done some thing splendidly.
They’ve shown us action and adventure, love and lust, scares and thrills. What they haven’t done nearly as often is make us laugh.
But now we’re in a good stretch, stuffed with half-hour comedies. Some — “Adults” (shown here) on Hulu, “Colin From Accounts” on Paramount+ — are terrific; most are at least fun.
Granted, the streamers have given us lots of stand-up comics and hour-long comedy-dramas. But half-hour sitcoms? They’ve been scarce, but now we’re into a busy stretch, with: Read more…
Best-bets for Sept. 21: opener for “Voice” and more 
Best-bets for Sept. 20: fine dramas, light or somber 
Best-bets for Sept. 19: Ferrell wraps the “SNL” summer 
