1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Two generations of singers combine: Ariana Grande (shown here), 31, hosts; Stevie Nicks, 76, is music guest. It’s odd that Grande — with six No. 1 albums — isn’t singing, but she’s also a comedy actress. She did 92 Nickelodeon episodes, plus musicals on Broadway, on TV and in the upcoming “Wicked” movies. Read more…
1) “NCIS,” 9 p.m., CBS. Three days before a prequel debuts, here’s the final episode (shown here) with Mark Harmon as Gibbs. That was in October of 2021, when he headed to Alaska. We’ll get a partial glimpse of him in the excellent “NCIS: Origins” opener, from 9-11 p.m. Monday. After that, he’s strictly the narrator. Read more…
1) “Matlock” and “Elsbeth” reruns, 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. In the old days, CBS had Angela Lansbury solving murders. Now it doubles up – two terrific shows with folksy women outsmarting the bad guys. For “Matlock,” this is the third run of the pilot film, with a clever twist at the end; for “Elsbeth,” it’s the season-finale (shown here), complete with an offbeat fashion show. Read more…
As the new TV season chugs along, something has been missing.
Something big, actually. CBS, the ratings leader, has held back its shows.
Now they arrive in one burst, in what the network calls “Premiere Week.” From Oct. 13-19 (three weeks later than usual), it will debut two shows (including “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” shown here), have the second episode of one and the season-openers of nine more. Three more shows arrive a week later.
And mostly, this is a good batch. Read more…
After living with his dad’s show for more than half his life, Sean Harmon had
an epiphany: Hey, this really needs a prequel.
Now it has one: “NCIS: Origins” (shown here) airs its intense opener from 9-11 p.m. Oct. 14 on CBS, then settles in at 10 p.m. Mondays.
The idea came, Harmon recalled, as “a lightning bolt moment, when we were shooting episode 400 of ‘NCIS.’”
That one – which aired in November of 2020 – flashed aback to when Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a young widower, joining what would become the NCIS. Mark Harmon was in his 18th season as Gibbs and Sean (his son) had his seventh episode as young Gibbs. He was playing, he said, “a guy who’s got something broken inside, … at risk of going down a much darker path.” Read more…
1) “Abbott Elementary” (shown here) season-opener, 9:30 p.m, ABC. Stranded between a reality show (“Golden Bachelorette”) and a news report, this is a lonely comedy island. It deserves more; in each of its first three seasons, it was the only broadcast show nominated for the best-comedy-series Emmy. Now the school year starts amid some nearby construction chaos. Read more…
Our screens used to be populated by quietly heroic loners.
There was Shane and Paladin and Johnny Yuma and more, including The Man With No Name. They roamed the Old West, sometimes saving people.
They vanished in the age of anti-heroes, but sometimes re-appear. The key show is “Tracker” (shown here) which returns at 8 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 13), to launch CBS’ belated fall season. Read more…
1) “An Oprah Special: The Presleys,” 8 p.m., CBS. Riley Keough’s life has been hectic lately. Her mother (Lisa Marie Presley) died at 54. Keogh won legal fights for control of the estate of her grandfather, Elvis Presley. She was Emmy-nominated for “Daisy Jones and the Six” (shown here). And she finished a memoir her mother started; she discusses that with Oprah Winfrey. Read more…
1) “Brilliant Minds,” 10 p.m., NBC. Dr. Wolf (Zachary Quinto) again probes odd recesses of the human mind. He again has some great moments … then pushes things to excess. That’s typical of a character (and a show) that sometimes tries too hard. Still, this emotional episode (shown here) – centering on a biker with memory loss – is worth watching. Read more…
Jesse L. Martin is becoming an expert on the wonderful weirdness of the human psyche.
In “The Irrational” – which starts its second season at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 8) on NBC — he’s a professor who helps catch crooks while offering details about behavior..
“It’s like all these little nuggets,” said Travina Springer, who plays his sister. “Every episode, there’s moments like that.”
That’s ironic, because Martin (shown here) made one of life’s most irrational choices – becoming an actor. Read more…
Best-bets for March 31: bees, Burns and “Doc” 
Best-bets for March 30: man of passion, songs of faith 
Best-bets for March 29: Basketball sparks a busy day 
