1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Kim Kardashian West (shown here) is someone the show usually likes to mock; now, instead, she’s the host. It will be her first time on “SNL,” but her estranged husband Kanye West has been the music guest seven times. He usually brings a visually ambitious number – as does Halsey, who tonight has her fourth turn as music guest. Read more…
As the pandemic persisted, some actors and musicians felt the world closing in on them.
“Most of us went through a period of depression,” soprano Isabel Leonard (shown here, left) told the Television Critics Association. “I think we … felt sort of at odds with our existence.”
Working from home may be fine for people pounding on laptops; it’s less satisfying if you sing arias in packed concert halls. Leonard did some teaching, some video work and some fidgeting.
But she also helped plan a semi-solution: “Three Divas at Versailles” (10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8) puts sopranos on a sparse stage in a grand setting – the concert hall of the Palace of Versailles. Read more…
1) “Nancy Drew” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. In the early books, Nancy was 16, poking around crime scenes after school; not any more. She’s a waitress, applying to an Ivy League school. She’s learned she’s an heiress. And she confronts nastiness, human and supernatural. Tonight, a mystery begins and a nemesis returns. Those parts are so-so, but two character portions are excellent: Nancy (shown here with her friend Ace) meets an FBI profiler who may be her equal; and her friend, who proposed to Nick, anxiously awaits a response. Read more…
Charlie Brown cartoons – new and old – will have a fresh life during the holidays.
The new is “For Auld Lang Syne,” which starts streaming Dec. 10 on Apple TV+. After a disappointing Christmas, Lucy vows to throw herself the best New Year’s Eve party ever.
And the old are classics — led by “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (shown here), one of the all-time greats — that will air on PBS and PBS Kids (each at 7:30 p.m.) and on Apple. They are: Read more…
1) “Ghosts” debut, 9:01 and 9:30 p.m., CBS. The Thursday comedies often fit a formula: Most are from Chuck Lorre, the “Big Bang” producer; most (except “Young Sheldon”) are done in front of a studio audience. Now comes a bold step – giving the best slot to a non-Lorre show that’s filmed movie-style (no audence), awash in sight gags and special effects. Rose McIver (“iZombie”) is terrific; at first (shown here), she and her husband don’t see the ghosts in her house. Then a near-death experience changes everything; big laughs ensue. Read more…
As the AIDS crisis grew, some people pointed their rage at Dr. Anthony Fauci (shown here).
He wasa “Dr. Doom.” His infectious-disease team was filled with “incompetent idiocy,” said a leader of the ACT UP protest group, adding: ”I call you a murderer.”
Then the doctor came to an ACT UP meeting. In “Fauci” – the compelling Disney+ documentary – Peter Staley recalls thinking: “We’re dealing with Brooklyn here.” Read more…
CBS’ notion seems logical: Want a new hit? Just freshen up an old one.
“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” debuted back in 2000. A sometimes-chaotic world met some calm, science-based crimefighters.
And now? “The world, weirdly enough, is even more topsy-turvy than it was in 2000,” said Jorja Fox, who starred in the original and returns in “CSI: Vegas,” debuting at 10 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 6).
The new show brings back William Petersen and Fox (they’re shown here), as Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle, who married and retired from the “CSI” world … until an emergency brings them back. Other originals (Paul Guilfoyle and Wallace Langham as Brass and Hodges) also show up. Read more…
1) “CSI: Vegas” debut, 10 p.m., CBS. Six years after “CSI” ended – and 21 years after it began – it’s back. There’s a new name, a new lab and a new set of regulars. Still, the others are also there: We see Brass in the first scenes, Grissom in the final seconds. Sidle (shown here, second from left) is busy; Hodges will be key in the weeks ahead. The newcomers are fairly interesting, with the always-great Mel Rodriguez as the chief medical examiner. They solve a case-of-the-week way too easily, leaving more time for a tangled, ongoing case. Read more…
1) “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,” 9 p.m., PBS. At 5, Moreno moved with her mother from Puerto Rico to Long Island. She took dance lessons, was on Broadway at 13, signed a movie deal as a teen … and endured stereotype roles. The exception was “West Side Story”; she won an Oscar, vowed to wait for good roles … and didn’t do another movie for seven years. She survived that (and a toxic romance with Marlon Brando) and is still working at 89 (shown here). It’s a great story. Read more…
When “Diana The Musical” debuted on Netflix, Broadway’s trickle-down tradition wobbled.
The system has been in place for generations: Shows are seen by a few people who have the right location (New York) and bank account (flush). The rest of us must wait for a tour … or a local production … or, occasionally, a movie.
But “Diana” (shown here) goes in reverse. It reached Netflix on Oct.1, seven weeks before its Broadway opening. Read more…
Best-bets for July 14: stars of space and sports 
Best-bets for July 13: One show debuts, three return 
Best-bets for July 12: double-Joel, plus sharks 
