Month: September 2019

1) “Transparent” finale, any time, Amazon Prime. Sometimes, but not often, tragedy begets triumph. That’s what the characters want here; it’s also what the show achieved … slowly. An award-winner, it imploded when Jeffrey Tambor (who starred as Maura, a trans woman) was dumped. Now – 22-plus months after the previous episode – here’s a musical finale. The early numbers are brilliant; then a solemn sameness takes over during the memorial service (shown here). “Transparent” drifts, but bounces back with “Joyocaust” and pure triumph. Read more…

1) “Perfect Harmony” debut, 8:30 p.m., NBC. Bradley Whitford (shown here) has just won his Read more…

1) “Modern Family” season-opener, 9 p.m., ABC. It’s the 11th and final season for one of TV’s best comedies. For five straight years, this won the best-comedy Emmy; one year, all six adults were nominated. A lot has happened since this began: Haley, then barely a teen, tonight (shown here) is arguing with her parents about how to raise her twins. Read more…

1) “The Resident” and “Empire” season-openers, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Once just another hospital show, “Resident” turns strongly cinematic. It opens in the imagination of Nicolette, mourning a death; then it heads to the basement (shown here), for a spectacular action scene. There are flaws here – the villains are badly overdrawn and transparent – but this has become a first-rate drama. And “Empire”? Well, it stays itself – fun and fascinating, yet way overboard. The one Lucious/Cookie scene is great, but the hour ends with waves of melodrama. Read more…

1) “Country Music,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 10. By the late 1960s, country music – like America itself – was filled with extremes. George Jones and Tammy Wynette created achingly beautiful songs and lived achingly painful lives. Kris Kristofferson (shown here) was their opposite – a long-haired Rhodes Scholar with a poet’s flair. Johnny Cash fit both extremes and more – a hard-scrabble country boy who stood up for the oppressed. This chapter beautifully profiles them and others. Read more…