1) “A Christmas Story” (1983) marathon, 8 p,m. (TBS) and 9 p.m. (TNT). Each year, we get a 24-hour marathon of this odd gem, viewing a 1940s holiday through the eyes of Ralphie (shown here), who simply wants a BB gun. Cleverly written by Jean Shepherd and others, this somehow manages both warmth and dark humor. With two networks, you can start it at the top of any hour. Read more…
1) “Garth& Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event,” 9 p.m., CBS. This is no longer “Live!”; it’s a rerun of Sunday’s special, with Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (shown here, pre-pandemic) in their home studio. But it’s part of a fun night, following an 8 p.m. rerun of Dolly Parton’s “A Holly Dolly Christmas.” Togther, these people have had about 50 singles reach No, 1 on the Billboard country chart. Brooks sometimes surpasses Elvis Presley as the top-selling solo act in recording history; at 58, he’s still building his total. Read more…
1) “Next” finale, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Monday’s episode ended with LeBlanc stealing a computer virus from his old office … with swarms of cops failing to rush outside and find him. There are many such moments tonight that jettison credibility. (On the first night of a black-out, people are already starving, with violent mobs roaming the street?) If you can overlook these, you’ll enjoy a tense story, as LeBlanc and Shea (shown here) try to contrive a bomb and destroy a computer program that’s keen on world domination Read more…
1) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. It’s been a strange season: First, the show was delayed because of COVID, which limited its locations. Then the original “bachelorette” decided way too soon, exiting with the guy she chose. Now her replacement (Tayshia Adams, 30, shown here) makes her choice. Last week, she ousted Ben Smith. That leaves three guys: Ivan Hall, 28, an aeronautical engineer; Brendan Morris, 30, who does commercial roofing; and Zac Clark, an addiction specialist. On Tuesday, we’ll see her decision. Read more…
A musicality ripples through the “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” movie.
Some of that, you would expect. The film (which has just debuted on Netflix) is about a blues recording session in 1920s Chicago; it has snatches of great music throughout.
But that’s just part of it. The dialog itself often has the rhythm and flow of a jazzy riff. It offers a rich sampling of two immensely talented men who died way too soon.
One is Chadwick Boseman (shown here, left, with Viola Davis center), who died of colon cancer in August, at 43. The other is playwright August Wilson, who died of liver cancer in 2005, at 60. Read more…
1) “The Sound of Music” (shown here, 1965), 7-11 p.m., ABC. Here’s a holiday tradition for ABC. It doesn’t have Christmas scenes, but offers joy, warmth and great music. Loosely based on the true story of a teacher who formed a family singing group, it has Rodgers-and-Hammerstein music at its best, both whimsical (“Do-Re-Mi,” “Maria,” “Favorite Things”) and potent (“Sound of Music,” “Climb Every Mountain”). It won five Oscars, including best picture, and Julie Andrews won a Golden Globe for best actress. Read more…
1) “A Christmas Story” (1983) marathon, 8 p,m. (TBS) and 9 p.m. (TNT) Thursday. At first glance, this is just a modest-budgeted film by the guy who directed “Porky’s.” But it manages a rare feat – mixing warm nostalgia with dark humor. This is the 1940s and Ralphie (shown here) has one desire — to have a Red Ryder BB gun. Cleverly written by Jean Shepherd and others, “Story” keeps surprising us. Here’s the annual, 24-hour marathon, rerunning every two hours. With two networks, you can start it at the top of any hour. Read more…
1) Football conference finals. It’s conference-championship time, with bowl berths at stake. ABC has three games – the Big 12 (Oklahoma, ranked No. 10, and Iowa State, No. 6) at noon ET, the ACC (Notre Dame and Clemson, No. 2 and 3, shown here in a previous game) at 4 p.m. and the American Athletic Conference (Tulsa, No. 23, and Cincinnati, No. 9) at 8. There are more, including the Big Ten at noon ET n Fox (Ohio State, No. 4, and Northwestern, No. 14) and the SEC at 8 p.m. on CBS (Alabama, No. 1, and Florida, No. 7). Read more…
There’s a law, you know, that says people must be informed if a pedophile moves into the neighborhood.
So I’m proposing a new one: People must be informed if their new neighbor is a sexual predator, a scammer, a schemer and an ex-president. Also, if he might cheat at golf.
That’s a bit specific, I guess, so let me explain: Read more…
1) Animation, everywhere. The night starts with the very best: The brilliant “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is 7 p.m. on TNT, rerunning at 7:30 p.m. Then you could switch to ABC, for “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” (shown here) at 8 and “Shrek the Halls” at 8:30; both have so-so stories, but lush, movie-style animation. Then it’s over to Freeform for the “Grinch” cartoon movie (2018) at 9 p,m., “The Star” (2017) at 11 p.m. and “Simpsons” Christmas reruns at 1 and 1:30 a.m. Read more…
Best-bets for July 16: Red returns; games collide 
Best-bets for July 15: sports plus dumbest delight 
Best-bets for July 14: stars of space and sports 
