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…
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…
1) UFL championship game, 3 p.m. ET, ABC. It’s the final game of the football season (or, at least, pf the oft-ignored spring season). The Louisville Kings and D.C. Defenders (shown here in red) were only 6-4 and 5-5 during the regular season, but they prevailed in the playoffs; now they collide in Washington, D.C. Read more…
1) “House of the Dragon” season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO and HBO Max. This 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 (shown here) warriors collide in the water between two kingdoms. Read more…
1) World Cup, 3 and 9 p.m. ET, Fox. Here are the Cup openers for two teams with home-field advantage. First, Canada faces Bosnia and Herzegovina, at 3 p.m. in Toronto; then the U.S. faces Paraguay, at 9 in Los Angeles. (Mexico had its opener Thursday, in Mexico City.) There’s much more soccer ahead (shown here is action from a previous Cup); these are also on Telemundo and stream on Peacock and Fox One. Read more…
While some networks are in their summer slumbers, PBS seems to be surging with new documentaries.
Now “POV” starts its 39th season July 20, with a film (shown here) that views China’s unbalanced dating scene. It follows with five more films.
PBS had already set a busy non-fiction line-up. In one burst, it debuts a moving Holocaust film (“The Last Twin”) at 10 p.m. June 15; a deep profile of Katharine Graham, the late Washington Post publisher, at 9 p.m. June 16; and a joyous view of Australian wildlife, at 10 p.m. June 17. Then is a Friday string of multi-part reruns, starting with George H.W.Bush, at 9 p.m. June 19. Read more…
1) “Surviving Earth” debut, 8 p.m., NBC. Some 252 million years ago, the Earth was locked in a heat wave. Many creatures died; some (shown here_ persisted, plodding toward the poles and the high ground. It’s a dramatic story, told with great special effects. But attempts to lighten it (special-effect creatures frolicking) seem pointless; leave that part to the superb “Americas,” rerunning at 9. Read more…
Who would imagine a night when Megan Thee Staillion was only approximately the 43rd most flashy person?
That was Sunday’s Tony Awards, in which the three goals seemed to be: 1) More; 2) Even more; and 3) A whole lot more.
Certainly, I was delighted with the result: “Schmigadoon” (shown here) won for best musical; that may nudge people to see the original version, a gem that’s streaming on Apple.
And Cinco Paul was showered in honors — even if he was sort of invisible. Read more…
1) “The Floor” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. There are some wild combinations here — a “wine” category for someone who’s not old enough to drink (shown here, right), a “world religions” one for someone who’s never been in a church. Ultimately, we see the show’s strength and its flaws and unfairness. The strengths prevail, in a fast-paced finish. Read more…
Even in a show about a young drug dealer, there’s room for wizened character and veteran actors.
Consider “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” which starts its fifth and final season at 8 p.m. Friday on Starz. The show began with a teen druglord-wannabe; still, it also has room for people who have done Shakespeare, Broadway and situation comedies, including:
— Tony Danza, 75, who began doing sitcoms almost a half-century ago. Now he’s a Mafia godfather.
— Wendell Pierce, 65, who jumps between Shakespeare’s “Othello” onstage and a good-nature police captain in “Elsbeth.” Now he plays what he calls “just one of the coolest, most laidback gangsters in South Jamaica, Queens.”
— And Patina Miller (shown here), 41. She’s been a vibrant musical-theater star on Broadway and in London. Now she plays what Pierce calls “a character we’ve never seen before — a Black woman leading a crime family.” Read more…
Best-bets for June 15: Holocaust hero’s potent story 
Best-bets for June 14: good vicar and messy vampire 
Best-bets for June 13: Football (?) leads a sporty day 
