1) “American Idol,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. We’re a week from the finale, with five singers left — Hannah Harper, Jordan McCullough, Keyla Richardson (shown here), Chris Tungseth and Braden Rumfelt. Pretending to be a 20th-year class reunion, the show includes people from the 2006 season (Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee finished 1-2) and from “Dancing With the Stars.” Read more…
So the new question might be: Do we still think he’s sexy?
That’s Rod Stewart (shown here), of course. Now “Forever Young: A Grammy Salute to Rod Stewart Live” will be 8-10 p.m. May 19 on CBS.”
Stewart was 33 when he asked the musical question: “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” It was one of his three singles to reach No. 1 in the U.S,; joining “Maggie May” and “Tonight’s the Night.”
Now, at 81, Sir Roderick Stewart has sold 120 million records and is still touring. He launched his “One More Time” tour in 2024 and then extended it. This special will include a Miami concert, plus backstage and archival footage. Read more…
1) “Call the Midwife,” 8 p.m., PBS. Setting up next week’s deeply moving finale, “Midwife” (shown here in a previous episode) juggles key stories. There’s Rosalind’s romance … Sister Monica Joan’s health troubles … and a girl we met a decade ago, when she was born with defects linked to thalidomide. Read more…
1) “Suffs,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. For the next four Fridays, PBS delivers Broadway-style specials. That starts with this musical (shown here) about women’s struggle to get the vote; Shaina Taub won Tonys for her words and music; she also stars as Alice Paul. Coming up: “Top Hat” silliness … a powerhouse Nicole Scherzinger concert … and a fascinating documentary. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After two weeks of reruns, “SNL” closes the season with three new episodes. That starts with youth: Olivia Rodrigo (shown here in a previous concert), 23, has her first turn as host and third as music guest. (By comparison, the May 16 season-finale has Will Ferrell, 58, and Paul McCartney, 83.) Next week has Matt Damon and Noah Kahan. Read more…
1) “Now Hear This” season-finale, 9 p.m., PBS. This is the show’s best hour yet, a visit to Iceland. The scenery is stunning (shown here in a generic view, not from the show), the people are appealing — “we’re doers,” one says — and the music is abundant. With only 400,000 people, Iceland averages 500 new albums a year. This hour ranges from choral music inside a volcano to a thundering cello concerto. Read more…
Summer Sundays will be a little fresher, after all.
PBS has announced that it’s putting the second season of “Patience” into the 8 p.m. slot, from June 14 to Aug. 2. That will lead into the 11th and final season of “Grantchester,” at 9.
Previously (see separate story), the network had announced a summer that will be fairly heavy on reruns — including “American Experience” ones on Fridays and the second “Downton Abbey” season at 10 p.m. Sundays. Its new shows included some scattered documentaries, plus the four-part “Once Upon a Time in Space,” which will range from Space Station Mir to commercial spaceflight. Read more…
1) “Grey’s Anatomy” return, 10 p.m., ABC. After a three-week rest, “Anatomy” (shown here in a previous episode) is back to wrap its 22nd season. Next week is the season-finale, including the departure of Teddy and Owen. Tonight, however, it’s a big-deal crisis: The Royal Bridge collapses, putting all the doctors into action. Read more…
Movies, we’re told, need to have likable characters. They need people who are easy to root for.
That’s true … unless it’s a really well-made movie. Then rules are discarded.
Which brings us to HBO and its current streak: One Saturday (April 25), it had “Marty Supreme”; the next (May 2), it will have “Wuthering Heights”(shown here).
Both films (each reaching HBO Max a day earlier) center on hugely selfish and obsessive people. “Wuthering Heights” goes even further by giving us no one to like; even the servant girl is nasty.
And yet we watch for the best of reasons: Everything — the visuals, the dialog, the performances — is brilliantly executed. Read more…
1) “Shared Planet” season-opener, 10 p.m., PBS. Even in packed cities, nature survives. We see mountain lions in Los Angeles (shown here with the “Hollywood” sign in the background), a huge oyster project in New York, trees blooming near (or on) the skyscrapers of Medellin and Singapore. A week after its Earth Day shows, PBS propels this globally ambitious, four-week documentary. Read more…
Best-bets for May 4: One season ends; others will soon 
Best-bets for May 3: warm or audacious dramas 
Best-bets for May 2: pop music and fast horses 
