1) World Cup championship, 3 p.m. ET, Fox. Argentina, the current champs, are back in the finals — barely. Lionel Messi (shown here) and his teammates needed a last-minutes, come-from-behind surge to edge England, 2-1. The Argentines have been in six previous finals, winning three times. Now they face Spain, which won its only previous finals, back in 2010. Read more…
1) “Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” season-opener, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Things start with two interesting duos. First, Larry David is paired with his daughter Cazzie, a writer and actress. Then Ben Affleck teams with Jamie Ding (shown here), who won 31 straight nights of “Jeopardy.” That’s followed by reruns of Tim Allen’s “Shifting Gears.” Read more…
For fans of TV dramas, there are two pieces of good news:
“Maigret” (shown here) will return Oct. 18, for its second season on PBS. And “Sullivan’s Creek” will be back sometime next year, for its fifth on CW. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. On the day after his epic “Odyssey” (shown here)_ reaches movie theaters, here’s Matt Damon with fewer battle scars. He hosts this rerun, with music by Noah Kohan. Read more…
For one network, the start of the fall season will be tidy and uncomplicated.
Fox will stuff all of its season-openers into one week. That starts with games (“Name That Tune” and “Weakest Link”) on Monday, Sept. 21, and ends with laughs — “The Simpsons” (shown here), “Animal Control” and more — on Sunday, Sept. 27.
And yes, it will all feel familiar. The season starts with zero new shows. Read more…
When “Stuart Fails to Save The Universe” (shown here) debuts Thursday (July 23), it will bring all sorts of TV milestones.
This is the third spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory” … and the second to skip using a studio audience … and the first to have an alternate-world, apocalyptic, science-fiction concept.
The show (on HBO Max) has Stuart find a portal in his comic-book store. It’s the sort of notion the “Big Bang” guys might savor. “This is the kind of show that they would watch and argue about,” said producer Bill Prady.
But there’s one thing more that makes “Stuart” unique: It’s accompanied by strong praise for David Zaslav. Really. Read more…
As “The Big Bang Theory” neared its finale, people gathered for a ceremony.
In the front were the main stars and producers; looking on were reporters. And near the back — mostly unnoticed, as usual — was Kevin Sussman.
He had done 84 episodes as Stuart Bloom, the oft-overlooked owner of a comic book store. Sussman chatted politely with a reporter, then excused himself. “I have to go,” he said. “I have an audition.”
Life is like that for a character actor. There are scattered auditions, random roles, maybe commercials, maybe day jobs. It’s an endless cycle — except Sussman (shown here) has had two exceptions: Read more…
1) “American Experience: JFK” (2013), 9-11 p.m., PBS. The first half of this terrific film saw John Kennedy (shown here), nearly crippled by ailments, pull off upset victories to become the country’s youngest president. Now comes the hard part — Bay of Pigs, Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam build-up. Read more…
1) “Descendants: Wicked Wonderland,” 8 p.m., Disney Channel; repeats at 9:45. Four movies — each with upbeat songs and dazzling visuals — have centered on the offspring of Disney villains. The fourth introduced Red (the talented Kylie Cantrall); now — aided by Chloe (Malia Baker, shown here with Cantrell) — sge tries to rescue her mom (Rita Ora). Also, new character arrive, including one played by Awkwafina. Read more…
Is the world ready to see “Survivor 50” (shwon here) again?
We’ll find out soon. Beginning Monday (July 20), CBS plans to rerun the entire season in one rush, between now and Sept. 15.
That’s 13 episodes, nine them 90 minutes and four of them longer. The 90-minute ones fit neatly behind the Wednesday editions of “Big Brother,” which has two previous “Survivor” contestants (Rick Devin and Season 45 winner Dee Valladares) in the house.
This 50th edition of “Survivor” was stuffed with high-profile contestants from the past. The schedule is: Read more…
Best-bets for July 19: Messi soccer, gory vampire 
Best-bets for July 18: Spielberg, sports & “SNL” 
Best-bets for July 17: warfare in Cuba, Troy and beyond 
