1) “American Experience,” 9 p.m., PBS. There was a time (really) when politicians from both parties linked to solve problems. This hour starts when Los Angeles — with a geography that traps gas (shown here) — was crippled by smog. Republicans (Reagan, Nixon) and Democrats combined. They created the Environmental Protection Agency and vastly cleaner lives. Read more…
For a moment in the 1950s, real life was like someone’s daydream.
A small-town teenager visited Broadway. A few hours later, she was at the core of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein empire.
This comes to mind now, as Turner Classic Movies has a spurt of classic musicals. The films (also on HBO Max) include:
— Shirley Jones films Monday (Aug. 25). “Oklahoma” (shown here, 1955) and “Carousel” (1956), both with Gordon MacRae, are at 5:30 and 8 p.m. ET; “The Music Man” (1962), with Robert Preston, is at 10:15 p.m.
— Donald O’Connor films Thursday. That peaks at 8 p.m. ET with “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), with Gene Kelly — who choreographed dazzling dance numbers and then performed then with O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Read more…
1) “American Ninja Warrior” finale, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Over the past three weeks, 32 people have survived head-to-head competition. Now (shown here) they compete, bracket-style, for the championship. Read more…
Each August, TV has a black hole. And each time, PBS helps fill it.
That’s happening now. There are three new Sunday dramas (“Marlow Murder Club” is shown here), some Friday specials and the best smog show you’ll ever see. All arrive just as the other networks are taking a late-summer snooze.
Broadcast networks keep airing promos for shows that are “coming soon” … or not-so-soon. CBS boasts of a “premiere week” in mid-October. Read more…
1) “Unforgotten” season-opener, 10 p.m., PBS. Each year, this has a deep and demanding story. Now solemn cops — one divorced, the other fuming at her cheating husband and sister — tackle a tough one. There’s a widow, her daughter and a right-wing commentator (shown here), plus Afghan refugees, an Albanian loan shark and more. The result is compelling. Read more…
1) College football season-openers. Most teams start next week, but there are exceptions, including five games today on national TV. The first has Kansas State (shown here last season) and Iowa State, ranked No. 17 and 22 in a pre-season poll, in Dublin (yes, that’s in Ireland) at noon ET on ESPN. Read more…
Twenty years after leaving “ER,” Noah Wylie is back on top of the TV world.
His “The Pitt” (shown here) — an intense medical drama on HBO Max — has swept the Television Critics Association awards, announced today. It won for program of the year plus best drama and best new program; Wylie also won the award for individuals in a drama.
Other winners included “The Studio” on Apple TV+ (comedy), “Adolescence” on Netflix (movie or miniseries) and “Traitors” on Peacock (reality), plus HBO’s Pee-wee Herman documentary and the 50th-anniversary special for “Saturday Night Live.” The individual comedy award went to Bridget Everett in HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere.” Read more…
1) “Islam’s Greatest Stories of Love,” 9 p.m., PBS. Shattered by her father’s death, a Harvard grad student (shown here) visits five epic stories involving her faith. The first three are gorgeously filmed, but are sometimes grim and violent, told in a clumsy, stop-and-start way. The fourth is a passionate story of a sister’s love for a troubled boy who became the towering Malcolm X. Read more…
1) “Peacemaker” season-opener, HBO Max. James Gunn and John Cena are a perfect match. Gunn is the writer-director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Superman” and “Peacemaker,” with Cena as a jingoistic superhero (shown here) and/or supervillain. Both men blend action and humor neatly. Now, three-and-a-half years later, the second season finally begins. Read more…
Scattered through the English countryside, it seems, are villages suitable for rest, relaxation and murder mysteries.
Cara Horgan (shown here) can verify that. She grew up in one and now works in another, she’s one of the stars of “The Marlow Murder Club,” which starts its second season at 9 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 24) on PBS.
“These small towns exist all over the UK,” Horgan said by Zoom. “And Marlow is quintessentially British.”
It’s a real town of 14,000 that’s been around for about 10 centuries. T.S. Eliot and Percy Shelley wrote poems there; Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” there and (appropriately) Robert Thorogood is writing his “Marlow Murder Club” novels there. Read more…
Best-bets for March 25: End is here for “Fear,” near for “Singer” 
Best-bets fo March 24: Doc, Daredevil & 500th “NCIS” 
Best-bets for March 23: clever comedies, plus bowlers 
