Best-bets for Aug. 21: Shall we dance and/or catch crooks?

1) “The King and I,” 9 p.m., PBS. After four days of convention coverage, PBS can relax and rerun a classic musical revival. “King” is too long (two hours, 40 minutes) and too stiff, offering a fictional version of the real Englishwoman who, in the 1860s, taught the children of the King of Siam. But Kelli O’Hara (shown here with Ken Watanabe) is superb and this is stuffed with Rodgers-and-Hammerstein hits – “Getting to Know You,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Something Wonderful,” “I Whistle a Happy Tune” and “Shall We Dance?” Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 20: One convention ends; another is near

1) Democratic convention, 8-11 p.m. ET, PBS; 10 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC; all night, news channels. The next two Thursdays should be required viewing – Joe Biden tonight, Donald Trump next week, the future at stake. In a late addition, Democrats are adding music by the Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks). Subject to change, from 9-11 p.m., the spealers will be Cory Booker (shown here), Pete Buttigieg, the Chicks, Gavin Newsom, Kesha Lance Bottoms, Tammy Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Coons, Andrew Yang and Biden. Read more…

TV this fall? Fox, CW, cable, PBS set line-ups

For TV viewers swamped by reruns, there are a few signs of hope.
Two networks have set specifics for this fall: Fox will launch a makeshift line-up on Sept. 21 with “Filthy Rich” (shown here) and “L.A.’s Finest”; the CW begins its own makeshift line-up two weeks later.
That still leaves the big ones in limbo. When the coronavirus struck, ABC, CBS and NBC simply renewed most of their shows for this fall; so far, they haven’t set start dates.
But the pay-extra networks – from Netflix to HBO – remain busy. So does PBS and some of the basic-cable networks. “Fargo,” one of TV’s most-praised series, starts its season Sept. 27 on FX; a week later, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” has an abrupt season-finale and launches a spin-off. Read more…

“Supernatural” returns in CW’s new fall line-up

(Note: Information in this story was subsequently folded into a longer overview. See the “stories” category.)
For impatient TV viewers, there’s a smidgen more of good news: Another network has announced specific dates to start its fall season.
This is a tiny network (CW), with a makeshift schedule (plus the final burst of the long-running “Supernatural,” shown here). Still, it joins Fox, which launches its own makeshift line-up on Sept. 21; ABC, CBS and NBC haven’t said when they’ll start.
(A previously written story rounds up Fox and other networks. It’s under “stories” and at the top of the main page.) Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 19: Tough workers, busy politicians

1) “Tough as Nails,” 9 p.m., CBS. Half of the 12 people have already been ousted from the individual contest, including a farmer, a welder and an ironworker. (They stick around, as part of the team competition.) That leaves a sheriff’s deputy, a Marine veteran, a drywaller, a fisherman, a forester and Young An (shown here), a firefighter. An should be in his element, as the teams head to a fire training facility. There, they must save a victim, extinguish a fire …. then rappel from the top of a four-story building. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 18: “Dead Pixels,” live politics

1) “Dead Pixels” debut, 8 p.m., CW. For years, these folks have been obsessed with a videogame. We see their avatars in the game; we also see furtive forays into the outside world. In their cubicle jobs, they only switch to work when the boss walks by. Meg (Alexa Davies, shown here) can’t focus on dating … or Usman on child-care … or Nicky on having any kind of life. Then a hot guy at Meg’s work complicates things. This British import has witty scripts (sometimes complicated by the accents) and thoroughly likable people. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 17: The convention rush begins

1) Democratic convention. After a noisy year of struggle and surprise, the Democrats officially choose their presidential candidate. Joe Biden has to wait until Thursday; from 9-11 p.m. ET today, Michelle Obama (shown here) is expected to close tonight. Other speakers (subject to change) are Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Jim Clyburn, Bennie Thompson, Gwen Moore, Doug Jones and Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama. PBS starts coverage at 8 p.m. ET; ABC, CBS and NBC arrive at 10. The news networks will be there all day. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug.16: One drama debuts; three near their finales

1) “Lovecraft Country” debut, 9 p.m., HBO. Some of science-fiction’s favorite names are linked here. J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) and Jordan Peele (the “Twilight Zone” reboot) are among the producers. Like Peele’s “Get Out,” this blends racism with other horror. On a road trip to find his father and his legacy, a black man confronts racists and the sort of monsters envisioned by long-ago author H.P. Lovecraft. Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (shown in this poster) star with Courtney Vance. Read more…

TV obsesses (sometimes) on conventions

Now it’s convention time, a two-week stretch when TV is consumed by politics.
Well … semi-consumed. On Aug. 17-20, the big networks still have plenty of time for “Holey Moley,” “Tough as Nails,” “Ellen’s Game of Games” and five hours of Gordon Ramsay reruns.
Clearly, this is far from the era when the Cronkite/Brokaw teams covered every convention detail.
“I lean in favor of covering more,” Judy Woodruff (shown here), in her 12th round of convention coverage, told the Television Critics Association recently. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Aug. 17: Love and politics in time of pandemic

1) Democratic convention, today through Thursday. For two weeks, this seizes attention – Democrats this week, Republicans next. The news networks are there all night, with PBS from 8-11 p.m. ET; ABC and others at 10. Main speakers (in the 9-11 p.m. ET slot) include Bernie Sanders (shown here), Andrew Cuomo and Michelle Obama on Monday; Bill Clinton and John Kerry, Tuesday; Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, Wednesday; and Joe Biden, Cory Booker, and Tammy Duckworth on Thursday. Read more…