1) “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984, shown here) and its sequel (1987), 6 and 8:15 p.m., Sundance. On Sunday, Netflix will add this year’s ceremony, with the America Film Institute giving Eddie Murphy its Lifetime Achievement Award. First, here are two of his best films, skillfully mixing action, intensity and big, Murphy-style humor. Read more…
Strolling through a broadcast museum recently, I was struck by:
1) The immense role of late-night TV; and
2) How odd it is that CBS shed its late-night role. By dumping Stephen Colbert, it abandoned a slot it had struggled to get.
For CBS, late-night had long been a serious void. It was the “empty piece of the jigsaw puzzle that’s glared at us over the decades,” Howard Stringer, the network president, once told reporters.
That void was filled by David Letterman in 1993 and then by Colbert in 2015. For 33 years, CBS had a piece of what NBC has had almost forever. Read more…
1) “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. This joyous journey includes, as some people put it, everyone except Cole Porter. It traces the Gershwins, Lerner and Loewe, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, Rodgers and Hart and then Hammerstein (raised Protestant, with Jewish roots). It savors Sondheim and Bernstein (including this scene from the movie of their “West Side Story”) and more greats. Read more…
1) “There She Goes,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. Utkarsh Ambudkar competes with himself tonight. He’s Jay in “Ghosts” (he’s shown here, center) and stars with Rachael Leigh Cook in this film based, loosely on her experience. They play high school sweethearts who broke up when she became a teen star; now they meet, 25 years later. Read more…
1) “Brilliant Minds” return, 8 p.m., NBC. When we last saw Dr. Oliver Wolf, he was obsessing over saving Sofia, a friend of his dad. Then came a shell-shock: Does she really exist? We saw her, but was that just his perspective? Now others try to untangle the mystery … while handling a tough case (shown here) at the hospital. It’s a strong start to the show’s final six episodes. Read more…
1) “Bear Grylls is Running Wild,” 9 p.m., Fox. Elizabeth Banks is an actress and game-show host, but she was also the director of the successful movie, “Cocaine Bear.” Now she’s with Bear (Grylls, not Cocaine), heading into the frigid wilderness. (They’re shown here.) They try to navigate the crevasses of a melting glacier, then kayak to the site of a cold extraction. Read more…
1) “American Music Awards,” 8-11 p.m. ET, CBS. Queen Latifah hosts a night stuffed with music. Performing will be Karol G (shown here) and Billy Idol (both getting special honors), country’s Keith Urban and Riley Green and more, including Teddy Swims, Teyana Taylor, Sombr, Twenty One Pilots, Katseye, Pussycat Dolls, BTS, New Kids on the Block and Hootie & The Blowfish. Read more…
1) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Building toward the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, this recalls the soldiers who got us here; one segment (with Noah Wyle) goes back to 1776. Music is from country’s Alan Jackson (shown here), Mickey Guyton and Jamey Johnson, plus Blessing Offor, Laura Osnes and the National Symphony. Read more…
It’s time to probe two of life’s persistent stereotypes:
A) Older folks have trouble keeping up with modern times; and B) Canadians are really, really nice.
Our guides (via a Zoom interview) are Brooke Shields, 60, and Amalia Williamson, 31. They star in “You’re Killing Me” (shown here), the “cozy mystery” series that streams new episodes Mondays at www.acorn.tv. Read more…
It’s great to have new ideas, Josh Johnson says … except sometimes it’s not.
“Sometimes, something hasn’t been done before because it’s a bad idea,” Johnson, who has a new HBO special, said in a video press conference.
“Things like peanut-butter-and pickle sandwiches: No one’s done that before, because it’s a bad idea.”
He’s impressed critics with good ideas — both in his comedy and in the way he presents it. Now his “Josh Johnson: Symphony” special (debuting at 8 p.m. Friday and 10:10 p.m. Saturday, May 22-23, and also on HBO Max) offers a fresh approach, including the way he uses music. Read more…
Best-bets for May 30: Eddie, Craig and “Prada” 
Best-bets for May 29: musical joy, rancher despair 
Best-bets for May 28: Actor spans two networks 
