Strange old challenges on “Strange New Worlds”

It’s not easy to inhabit the strange old world of “Star Trek.”
Consider Rebecca Romijn, who plays First Officer Una Chin-Riley in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (Thursdays on Paramount+). For this fourth season (shown here, with Uhura at the controls), she was busy learning to speak Klingon.
It was “a challenge I never knew I wanted,” she told the Television Critics Association. “But I really embraced it, because there are at least 20 people in the world who speak Klingon perfectly.” Read more…

Best-bets for July 24: moon, movies and murder

1) “Chasing the Moon” opener, 9-11 p.m., PBS. On Tuesdays, PBS has a terrific new documentary tracing the later years of the U.S.-Soviet space race. But now we go back to the beginning: This terrific, three-week film (from 2019) includes astronauts (Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins, Frank Borman) and others, includinng Poppy Northcutt (shown here), a pioneering computer expert whom photographers kept focusing on. Read more…

From Pompeii to Poseidon: surviving disasters

Staring at movies and TV shows, we’re used to this:
A disaster has started; people promptly shift into another gear. They panic, push, shout, scream and generally misbehave.
Is this realistic? “We do see panic in some emergencies,” Sarita Robinson said. “But not as often as portrayed.”
She’s studied such things for 30 years and has the academic credentials to prove it. She’s ponders disasters, new and old — in one case, very old: She’s in Tom Hiddleston’s “Pompeii: Out of Time,” a fascinating documentary (shown here), from 8-11 p.m. Wednesday (July 22) on the National Geographic Channel. Read more…

Best-bets for July 21: kitchen nightmare, space joy

1) “Kitchen Nightmares” season-opener, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Who knew there was this much angst and anger in the back of basic, down-home restaurants? In the first hour, a chef faces an immensely disinterested front-of-the-house manager; in the second, an all-American diner wades in ill-will. Somehow, Gordon Ramsay (shown here) seems like the calmest guy in the room. Read more…

Best-bets for July 20: lotsa games, new and reruns

1) Celebrity Family Feud,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. Last Thursday, “Feud” — one of TV’s best game shows– had its season-opener.s Now those episodes rerun today, emphasizing football — AFC and NFC champs — and music — En Vogue (shown here at its peak) vs. Sheila E, Lisa Lisa vs. Taylor Dayne. OnThursday, a new episode will pit the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic hockey teams. Read more…

Best-bets for July 19: Messi soccer, gory vampire

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…

Week’s top-10 for July 20: new games, old zombies

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…