Month: July 2020

1) “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” 8-9:30 p.m., ABC. Norman Lear’s best comedies were like plays – great dialog, mostly confined to one room. That’s why they work so well in live productions with fresh casts. Tonight’s first rerun has Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei in “All in the Family” (shown here). one dinner guest (Jesse Eisenberg) is dodging the draft; the other (Kevin Bacon) had a son who died in Vietnam. Then “Good Times” has Andre Braugher and ViolaODavis argue about a local councilman. Read more…

1) “POV: The Vote,” 9-11 p.m., PBS; concludes Tuesday. Back in 1848, 300 women convened to push for the vote; it would be a long push. “I have struggled for 60 years for just a little justice,” Susan B. Anthony said later, “and will die without securing it.” She died, at 86, in 1906; 14 years later, her cause finally succeeded. As the 100th anniversary (Aug. 26) approaches, this four-hour documentary views the long struggle, one with protests, arrests, hunger strikes, righteous rage and belated victory. (The scene here, not from the series, shows Hilary Swank as activist Alice Paul in “Iron Jawed Angels.”) Read more…

1) “Outcry” or “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” 10 p.m., Showtime or HBO. Two crime documentaries collide. Last Sunday, HBO launched the six-week “Dark,” researching the “Golden State Killer” and his victims. Now Showtime starts the five-week “Outcry”: Greg Kelley (shown here) was a high school football player in Texas whose world crumbled. His father had a stroke, his mother had a brain tumor, he stayed in a home that had a day care – then was accused of molestation. The film follows efforts to free him. Read more…

1) “A Capitol Fourth,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Even without a live concert, the Memorial Day special was surprisingly good. It mixed brief reruns with gorgeous music numbers, taped in Washington and beyond. Now some of the same people – Renee Fleming, Trace Adkins (shown here at a previous concert) and Kelli O’Hara – perform again. Others include Patty LaBelle, John Fogerty, Vanessa Williams, Andy Grammer, Brantley Gilbert, Yolanda Adams, the Temptations and more. They’re on tape, but the closing fireworks are live. Read more…

1) “Hamilton,” any time, Disney+. Gradually, more people will get to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece onstage, when Broadway resumes and tours return. It’s an amazing show, stuffed with epic scenes that would be the centerpiece of other musicals. Now, however, comes a chance to see the original cast – Miranda (shown here, left), Leslie Odom, Daveed Diggs, Chris Jackson, more. Director Thomas Kail (who also directed the Broadway show) intended it for movie theaters, but it’s now diverted to streaming. Read more…