PASADENA, Cal. – This was an ideal match, vertically and vocationally
.“As soon as I saw Erin, I said, ‘That’s who I’m going to marry,’” Ben Schroeder said.
So, of course, he did. Two weeks later, they were engaged … six months later, they were married … and a couple decades after that, they have their own reality show. Read more…
1) Figure skating, 8-11 p.m., NBC. Here are the women’s finals, choosing a 2020 champion. (Show here is Alysa Liu, who was last year’s winner at 13.) The guys, as usual don’t get prime time; they’ll have their short programs from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday and their finals from 3-6 p.m. Sunday. Those are on NBC; there’s more on the NBC Sports Network and via streaming/ Read more…
1) “Station 19” season opener, 8 p.m., ABC. The season starts big, with a car crashing into a bar. Trapped inside are Ben Gordon (the doctor-turned-firefighter/EMT) and Pruitt Herrera, the former firehouse chief; outside, Pruitt’s daughter Andy links with Robert Sullivan to try to get them out. That crosses over into “Grey’s Anatomy” … and Ben’s wife, Dr. Bailey (shown here), is soon on the scene. It’s a sharp, emotional hour … a promising start to a year that’s planning to continue blending the two shows. Read more…
1) “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” debut, 10:30 p.m., Comedy Central. Nora Lum grew up in Queens, with a Chinese father and grandmother; she was 4 when her mother, who was Korean, died. She was an ambitious kid who studied classical music in high school and journalism in college, then became an outspoken rapper/actress named Awkwafina (shown here), now with an Oscar nomination for “The Farewell.” Here, she borrows only the funny parts of her life, for a loosely amusing series about a 30-year-old who is jobless and clueless and still living at home. Read more…
1) “Schitt’s Creek” (shown here), 9 p.m., Pop (rerunning at 12:30 a.m., after last week’s episode at midnight). In the final season, dreams extend beyond this tiny town. Johnny wants to buy a second motel; his son David wants to be a flight-attendant … a dream he stole from Stevie. It’s a funny episode that starts with a reminder: It’s difficult to have video-sex when a sharing a motel room with your brother and parents. Read more…
Let’s make this clear again — a no-host awards show is an awful idea
.Music shows can get away with it sometimes; the Oscars did because they had a musical start. But mostly, it’s a dreary notion … as proven by the Emmys, most of the Oscares and more.
These shows soon deteriorate into droning speeches, thanking agents and such. With rare exceptions — one at tonight’s Screen Actors Guild was Alex Borstein (shown here in her “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” role) — this becomes dull; it needs a clever host to spark things. Read more…
PASADENA, Cal. – For Dan Levy, it was a big (and uncharacteristic) step: He asked his dad for help.
The result is “Schitt’s Creek” (shown here), which has just started its final season, amid praise and nominations.And yes, his dad was surprised.
“He never came to me for anything,” Eugene Levy told the Television Critics Association. “I would say, ‘Do you need me to help you read lines?’ ‘No, no, I’ve got it.’” Read more…
PASADENA, Cal. – So you go to the Ivy League, where your parents spend approximately a zillion dollars.
Then … well, you write comedy. Will you ever use that education?
Sort of. Just ask Simon Rich, whose “Miracle Workers: Dark Ages” (shown here, with Daniel Radcliffe) is a new cable comedy.
“I did study Medieval history at Harvard,” he said. “And I live in fear that (my professors are) going to somehow get access to a television and watch this.” Read more…
1) “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 8 p.m., Fox. After getting a big-platform start Sunday (after a football title game), this slides into its regular slot. In the opener, Owen (Rob Lowe, shown here) was asked to do in Austin, Texas, what he’d done in Manhattan – rebuild an entire firehouse staff after a tragedy. He hired his son and a collection of lone-wolf types; he also learned to co-exist with the EMT’s, led by Michelle (Liv Tyler). Tonight has a wave-pool tragedy, plus mercury poisoning that leaves zombie-like victims. Read more…
PASADENA, Cal. – As Hillary Clinton prepares for a film-festival surge, she has a thought about the Democratic primaries:
Choose someone who will win in November.
“Vote for the person who is most likely to win,” she said this morning. “And not just the popular vote.
”That last part brought a laugh from the people who were questioning her, the Television Critics Association. Clinton won the popular vote by three million voters … but lost to Donald Trump in the electoral vote. Read more…
Best-bets for July 20: lotsa games, new and reruns 
Best-bets for July 19: Messi soccer, gory vampire 
Best-bets for July 18: Spielberg, sports & “SNL” 
