Year: 2019

1) “Pose,” 10 p.m., FX. Two stories – both of them passionate and life-changing – alternate here. To preserve the impact, we can only describe them in general terms: One has a brilliant performance by Indya Moore (shown here in the season-opener) as Angel, the street-tough transgender beauty who has a shot at being Eileen Ford’s face-of-the-year; the other finds Elektra with a work emergency. Superbly written by Our Lady J and directed by Janet Mock (who both happen to be transgender), it’s a high-stakes story, beautifully told. Read more…

1) “Grand Hotel,” 10:01 p.m., ABC. Deep in debt to crooks, Santiago had one solution: His step-daughter would marry a rich guy whose family would buy the hotel. Alas, she slept with a singer named El Rey; at the altar, the groom denounced her and attacked him. (Yes, it’s that kind of show.) Now Santiago’s biologic daughter (Denyse Tontz, shown here) wants to save the hotel with an El Rey concert; others have doubts. Also, Danny’s secret – he’s the brother of the missing worker – is discovered by another staffer. Read more…

1) BET Awards, 8 p.m., BET (which reruns it at 12:30 a.m.), MTV and VH1. On a night stuffed with music, Cardi B l(shown here) eads with seven nominations; that includes best album, facing Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Ella Mai and The Carters. She’ll perform; so will Billy Ray Cyrus, DJ Khaled, City Girl, Migus, Lucky Daye and more. Mary J. Blige gets a special award; Regina Hall hosts and is also up for best actress, going against Viola Davis, Taraji Henson, Tiffany Haddish, Regina King and Issa Rae. Read more…

1) “The Son,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:01. A week before the finale, here’s a potent hour with key turning points. We learn how Eli, then a young widower, left the Comanches … And we hear a story of how the old Eli (Pierce Brosnan, shown here) died. We see his granddaughter as a matriarch … and see how coldly pragmatic she was as a teen. Some scenes – the tribe with a drunken Army captain, the teen with her mother – are brilliantly written and beautifully played. Read more…

1) “American Masters: Robert Shaw,” 9 p.m., PBS (check local listings). “My entire life has been a make-up lesson,” Shaw said. He was a preacher’s kid from a town of 3,000, with no formal music education. But Fred Waring saw him conduct in college and hired him; at 22, Shaw did 500 shows a year. Some people scoffed … until Arturo Toscanini called him “maestro” and George Szell hired him for the Cleveland Orchestra. This hour views his flaws (alcohol, infidelity) and his immense talent. Read more…