1) “The Joe Schmo Show” finale, 9 p.m., TBS. This has been a grand spoof – a fake reality show, with lots of actors and a real guy who isn’t in on the joke. And it’s been better than expected, because the guy (Ben from Baltimore, shown here) is open and likable. Now he’s competing with his best friend on the show, for $100,000. The result combines humor and warmth. Read more…
It kind of felt like I was in the wrong theater.
I was there for “Snow White.” (Don’t judge.) But this felt more like I’d stumbled into “Les Miserables.”
I was hoping for happy little guys who whistled while they worked. Instead, I saw miserable souls under a vain ruler who knew nothing about the common man. If I’d wanted that, I could have watched CNN.
Eventually, it all works out and there’s a happy ending. (Sorry, I should have put up a spoiler alert.) But it was a rough road to get there. Read more…
1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC. It’s time for Grant Ellis, 30, to make his decision. Ellis, a day trader, has gone from 25 women to two – Litia Garr (shown here with Ellis), 31, a venture capitalist; and Juliana Pasquarosa, 28, who’s in client services. Now they’re in the Dominican Republic, where he briefly played pro basketball; his parents visit and he makes his choice. Read more…
(This is the latest chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, in chronological order, scroll under “News and Quick Comments.”)
The TV landscape had become littered with fallen fourth networks.
There were failures by big media companies – Paramount (often), Mutual, Metromedia, more — and by a TV manufacturer and a warehouse mogul. Then, surprisingly, Fox made it work. It would eventually give us “The Simpsons” (shown here), “American Idol,” “The X-Files,” “24” and more.
It made mistakes; people usually do, especially in television. But it also had three key things – persistence, originality and an open checkbook.
Especially that checkbook. Read more…
1) “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. “Wolf Hall” was the potent story of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis, shown here) and Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), an ex-blacksmith who was his fixer. A decade latter, this excellent sequel wraps Cromwell’s story. After executing Anne Boleyn, Henry covets a marriage to Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips). Read more…
1) “The Joe Schmo Show” finale, 9 p.m. Tuesday, TBS. This clever show has an ending that’s even better than we’d imagined. From the beginning, it made one real guy (shown here) think he’s in a reality show. The others – friends, foes, weirdos – are actors. Now comes an ethical dilemma and then the shell-shock news. The result has a little humor and a lot of warmth. Read more…
1) “The Go-Go’s” (2020), 8-10 p.m., CW. Bursting out of the punk-rock scene, this was unique at the time – an all-female rock band. Its debut album in 1982 hit No. 1 and had the No. 2 single, “We Got the Beat.” The Go-Go’s (shown here) sold seven million records and launched Belinda Carlisle’s solo career. Read more…
1) “Happy’s Place” season-finale, 8 p.m., NBC. This show has ts flaws, due to dumbing down Gabby and Isabella. But it has improved, has been renewed and tonight focuses on two of its best characters, Bobbie and Emmett. Some people push for a romance … which makes sense: The actors (Reba McEntire and Rex Linn, shown here in a previous episode) have been a real-life couple for years. Read more…
1) Basketball. The college tournament gobbles up CBS’ line-up. Today and Friday, that wipes out three soap operas (including the new “Beyond the Gates”) plus, at night, comedies, mysteries and cops. The soaps will be back next week, but the Thursday/Friday primetime shows are off for two weeks. Read more…
As the college basketball tournament begins, we can meet varied places.
There’s Kansas, which is a state, and Bryant, which is a Gumbel. There’s Liberty, which is a concept, and Auburn, which is a color. There’s Wofford (shown here) and Lipscomb and McNeese and more.
That’s the egalitarian notion of the NCAA tourney. It has spots for Texas, with 53,000 students, and Wofford, with 1,600. It has Yale, which has provided five American presidents, and others which haven’t even had an Undersecretary of Transportation. Read more…
Best-bets for Feb. 8: Super Bowl … and much more 
Best-bets for Feb. 7: First full day of Olympics 
Best-bets for Feb. 6: The games begin 
