No build-up need: “Dragon” is in battle mode

Amid all the “Games of Thrones” extremes, all the sex and spectacle and such, a pattern emerged.
Viewers got used to “a slow build and then there’s an explosion — maybe midway through and then certainly near the end” of a season, said Ryan Condal, writer-producer of “House of the Dragon” (shown here) a “Thrones” prequel.
That’s what makes the third “House” season such a surprise: It starts (9 p.m. Sunday, June 21, on HBO and HBO Max) in full battle mode.
“I think it’s going to put people back on their heels,” Condal said, in a Zoom press conference. “It just comes out so heavy and unexpectedly.” Read more…

Best-bets for June 19: a potent Juneteenth

1) “The Clash of Nations,” 8-10:05 p.m., History. Two boxing matches (1936 and ’38) were seen as global symbols. Max Schmeling (left) represented “German superiority”; Joe Louis (right) was the rising Black American. This film debuts on Juneteenth (which marks the end of slavery), preceded by films on Jesse Owens (6 p.m.) and the stars who followed Jackie Robinson (4). Read more…

Knicks Network? That’s NBC for now

NBC is turning the New York Knicks’ championship into a three-day celebration. That includes:
— Tonight (June 15): The Knicks do a takeover of Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” at 11:35 p.m.
— Tuesday: At 10 p.m., “Password” has the Knicks’ Josh Hart competing with Jimmy Fallon; there’s even a category focusing on the team. (The previously scheduled hour with Ice-T will air later.) And at 12:35 a.m., Karl-Anthony Towns (shown here) visits Seth Meyers’ late show.
— Wednesday: Og Anunoby visits Meyers’ show. Read more…

Best-bets for June 18: Elvis, Elsbeth and dinosaurs

1) “Surviving Earth,” 8 p.m.. NBC. A lush, tropical era prevailed for millions of years, we’re told. As this hour begins (232 million years ago) that’s ending. Rains abate as new creatures — early mammals (shown here) and dinosaurs — roam. With great special effects, it’s a fairly good hour, followed by a splendid “Americas” rerun visiting the Amazon. Read more…

You think it’s bleak now? Just wait

After the first couple “Vampire Lestat” episodes, we’d be tempted to call the show bleak. Or grim or downbeat or such.
Lestat, after all, is a rock-and-roller (shown here) who doesn’t just rip up hotel rooms after the show. He also rips up bodies, barely survives an attack and reflects on his tortured childhood, 130 years ago.
But hey, that was just a warm-up. From here, said Sam Reid (who stars), “it gets pretty bleak.”
Rolin Jones — who created this show, which continues the two seasons of “Interview With The Vampire” — agreed. Starting with the third episode (9 p.m. June 21, on AMC), “it’s going to get about as dark as we’ve ever gone.” Read more…

Best-bets for June 17: new Homer; random awards

1) “The Simpsons,” Disney+. Yes, a new episode is arriving in June — and for streaming-only. Disney+ is celebrating the fact that it now has all 37 seasons of the show, plus the movie and shorts. This one has Marge (shown here in a previous episode) imagine life with alternate Homers; there will be two more new episodes this summer. Read more…

Best-bets for June 16: big night for documentaries

1) “Becoming Katharine Graham,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. A rich socialite, Graham (shown here) was a friend of Kennedys and Reagans. Then her life transformed at 46; her husband’s death left her in charge of the Washington Post. She steered it through Watergate, the Pentagon Papers and more. It’s a great story and (despite an awful music score) an interesting film. Read more…

Best-bets for June 15: Holocaust hero’s potent story

1) “The Last Twins,” 10p.m., PBS. Judith Richter was a married grad student before spotting a magazine article (shown here) that hinted at her father’s amazing story: In Auschwitz, twins were being studied; older than the others, Emo Spiegel became a big brother and then a protector, walking them to their homelands after liberation. It’s a great story, wrenching at first and then uplifting. Read more…

Best-bets for June 14: good vicar and messy vampire

1) “Grantchester” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. For a decade, this has given us some likable villagers (including three crime-solving vicars) and smart stories. Now the 11th and final season starts with a drive-in movie fundraiser, then offers a sharp murder mystery. In eight episodes, this will take the vicar (shown here) and others through times of angst and joy. Read more…