1) “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” debut, 9 p.m., HBO; also 9:34 and 11:08. There are a lot of serious celebrations of the country’s 250th birthday, but here’s a chance for fun. Sub-titled “An Almost History of America,” it’s a six-week sketch-comedy series produced by Barack Obama, who was president, and Larry David (shown here with the Wright Brothers, sort of), who wasn’t. Read more…
1) CMA Fest, 8-11 p.m., ABC. Country’s top stars perform in Nashville. There are long-familiar names — Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw. And there are relatively fresh forces, including Riley Green (who co-hosts), Ella Langley (shown here), Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Molly Tuttle and Shaboozey. Read more…
1) “Brilliant Minds,” 8 p.m., NBC. There’s a new case (there always is) that’s excellent, seen through the mind of a teen fantasy-fiction writer. But there are other things to resolve — some tonight and some in next week’s oddly sub-par series finale. That includes a fascinating closing twist in the story of “Sofia” (shown here) the imaginary person conjured in Dr. Wolf’s mind. Read more…
James Burrows (shown here), who died Friday at 85, was the master of TV comedy.
His work sprawled from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the”Big Bang Theory” pilot and beyond. He propelled the “must-see” age of “Friends” and “Frasier” and such. He did it all.
Well, almost all. “I passed on both ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Designing Women,'” he wrote. “I didn’t see the potential of either at the time. It happens.”
But mostly, he saw potential and expanded it. He was “one of the great comedy directors in television,” wrote Brandon Tartikoff, the former NBC chief. He was “the most successful director in television comedy — ever,” wrote Warren Littlefield, Tartikoff’s successor. Read more…
1) “The Sting” (1973) and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), 8 and 10:15 p.m. ET., Turner Classic Movies. Thiswas the perfect blend — top stars (Paul Newman and Robert Redford), talented director (George Roy Hill), jaunty music and fresh takes on cowboys and con men. Both won Oscars for their scripts and music; “Sting” (shown here) won for best picture. Read more…
1) “Sullivan’s Crossing” season-finale, 8 p.m., CW. For four seasons, we’ve seen good-hearted people — Maggie, a former surgeon, and Cal, a former lawyer — fall in love amid Nova Scotian beauty. (They’re shown here in a previous episode.) Then came her long-ago husband Liam, whose divorce papers were misfiled. As a land ceremony nears, she must make a choice. Read more…
Some people are simply the best at what they do.
No one can match Spielberg at making movies or Williams at scoring them. No one matches Ohtani at baseball or Elvis at doing Elvis things.
And no one could match James Burrows at an important and dwindling art –directing a comedy that’s done in front of a studio audience.
Burrows died today (June 19) at 85; I’ll have a full story about him later, but for now the basics: Read more…
On the July 4 weekend, it seems, all Americans will simultaneously be:
— Partying outdoors, with music and fireworks and such; and
— Sitting at home, watching music and fireworks and such.
At least, that’s the plan, as networks set massive 250th-birthday plans.
Fireworks? NBC will be in New York, as usual … CBS and Fox News will be in Washington, D.C. … ABC and its cable and streaming chanels will be in Nashville and Disneyland …PBS will be in Colonial Williamsburg — a day after many of its stations are at Mount Vernon.
Music? You’ll find lots of country stars — Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, etc. — plus others, including Post Malone, Bebe Rexha, Ne-Yo, Jon Batiste, Kelli O’Hara and Judy Collins.
Here are the plans, with details pending; all are for the 4th, except where noted. We’ll start with the networks that have been doing this every year: Read more…
1) “House of the Dragon” (shown here) season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO and HBO Max. Here is epic filming — TV on a mega-movie scale. At one point, the show had expected to close its second season with the Battle of the Gullet. Now, instead, it uses that to give the third season a huge start. Dragons, ships and warriors collide in the water between two kingdoms.
Read more…
1) CMA Fest, 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. Riley Green and Lara Spencer host a night with country’s top stars. There are long-timers — Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw –plus relatively fresh forces. They include Ella Langley (shown here with Green), Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Shaboozey and Molly Tuttle. Read more…
Best-bets for June 26: fun with Larry & Taylor 
Best-bets for June 25: “Bear” is back; country soars 
Best-bets for June 24: brilliant drama, nasty crocs 
