1) Movies. This is a night of terrific films and A-list stars. At 8 p.m., it’s Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” (shown here, 1986) on CMT, Harrison Ford in “The Fugitive” (1993) on BBC America and George Clooney and friends in “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) on TBS. And E has star-stuffed films — “Goodfellas” at 1 and 7:30 p.m., “The Departed” at 4 and 10:30. Read more…
1) “The ’90s Boy Band Boom,” 8-10 pm., CW. As the ’90s began, A.J. McLean said, pop music was ignored. “It was grunge or rap.” His group (Backstreet Boys, shown here) sputtered in the U.S., but soared in Europe; it has sold130 million records. Amid attacks — one rocker called them “the spawn of Satan”– boy bands thrived, as this lively film shows Read more…
1) “Big Brother” opener, 8-9:30 p.m., CBS. This 27th season starts with an expanded episode to introduce the housemates and usher them into their re-designed home (shown here). After that, it has an hour on Thursdays and Sundays, 90 minutes on Wednesdays … and (starting July 25) an hour-long “Big Brother Unlocked” on alternate Fridays. Read more…
Don’t you hate it when kids want to play with toys while adults are still using them?
Now they’re even taking over the Legos. “Lego Masters Jr.” will have a four-Monday, end-of-summer run.
“Lego Masters” (shown here in its episode tonight, July 7) is at 8 p.m. Mondays on Fox and also has Christmastime tournaments. When its current season ends, the new show will take over the spot for four weeks. Read more…
1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” season-opener, 9 p.m., FX and FXX. Last season, the “Sunny” people (shown here) did an “Abbott Elementary” episode, “helping” at the school. Now the “Abbott” people offer extra footage of what happened that day. It’s hilarious… and R-rated. Janine, the gentle grade-school teacher, even manages a harsh word. Read more…
For years, Melissa Johns was in the “Grantchester” background, unnoticed and underused. We all know the feeling.
Still, she says, she felt OK. After all, she got the job during the pandemic.
“I actually assumed that it (show business) was over and most of us would never work again and there wouldn’t be an industry,” Johns said by Zoom.
Now her patience is rewarded. Over the next two Sundays (9 p.m. July 13 and 20, on PBS), there are great moments for Johns and for Brad Hall (both shown here). Read more…
1) “The 1% Club,” 8 p.m., Fox. After a one-week break, “Club” (shown here) — slick and smart — is back. The questions are clever and the contestants are quirky, including Lego and roller-coaster buffs and all four guys from the first “Farmer Wants a Wife.” Joel McHale toys with them verbally. Read more…
At a sleepy time for the big networks, two mini-nets offer some variety.
For UPtv, there will be cop shows this month: Reruns of “The Rookie” (shown here)now and a new season of “Hudson & Rex,” starting July 17,
And for the CW, it will be this fall. There will be a series (the Canadian version of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”) and six movies, based on Harlequin romance novels. Read more…
1) “Bachelor in Paradise” opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. “Bachelorette” is gone for a year (undergoing a makeover), so “Paradise” gets the top summer spot. It has seven people from last year’s “Bachelorette,” three (Alexa Godin, Bailey Brown, Zoe McGrady) from the recent “Bachelor” and more, including “Golden Bachelor” and “Golden Bachelorette.” Jesse Palmer hosts, with Wes Adams (shown here) as bartender and Hannah Brown leading “Paradise relations.” Read more…
In Hollywood history, some big moments came when wise souls chose to do nothing.
Consider two blockbusters that almost weren’t:
–In 1974, “Jaws” (shown here) veered wildly over its budget and beyond its schedule. “I was terrified I was going to be fired,” Steven Spielberg recalled. Sid Sheinberg, the head of Universal Pictures, flew to Martha’s Vineyard, had a gentle chat with his young director … and decided to leave him be.
— Two decades later, “Titanic” was in the same sort of trouble. Bill Mechanic, head of Fox, drove to the film site to talk to James Cameron. Read more…
Best-bets for Feb. 7: First full day of Olympics 
Best-bets for Feb. 6: The games begin 
Best-bets for Feb. 5: fun chefs, serious sports 
