1) “L.A.’s Finest” debut, 8 p.m., Fox. The fall TV season gets off to a quick, slick start. “Finest” – which aired previously on the Spectrum system – is descended from the “Bad Boys” film and has a big-movie look. Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba (shown here) play police detectives. The opener has clever dialog and big chase scenes and shoot-em-ups – so big that the show often strains believability. Read more…
The wobbly plans for the new TV season have received a couple boosts lately.
One is a temporary step: Next month, CBS will revert to making Sunday an old-movie night.
And the other is more thorough: ABC will have most of its dramas return in November.
One ABC drama (“The Good Doctor,” shown here) returns on Nov. 2; five more arrive Nov. 12-19. That includes “Big Sky” from David E. Kelley (“L.A. Law,” “Ally McBeal,” “Big Little Lies”); its arrival on Nov. 17 should make it the season’s first new, scripted show on the five commercial broadcast networks. Read more…
Are you wondering what the Emmys telecast will be like Sunday?
So are Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart (shown here). And they’re the producers.
“Things are going to go wrong,” Stewart said. “It’s never been done before.”
Emmy ceremonies have been done; this is the 72nd one, most of them on national TV. But the others had most of the nominees in one place, ready to step onstage and gush. Read more…
1) Emmy awards, 8-11 p.m. ET, 5-8 p.m. and 8-11 p.m. PT, ABC. The sheer size of the TV world makes this a challenge. Producers Ian Stewart and Reg Hudlin (shown here) have sent camera kits to 130 nominees around the country (plus Tel Aviv, Berlin and more). There will be humor (Jimmy Kimmel does the opening monolog) and music, with H.E.R. singing during the “In Memoriam” segment. And others will help, including Oprah Winfrey, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patrick Stewart, Anthony Anderson, RuPaul, and Count Von Count, of “Sesame Street” fame. Read more…
1) “L.A.’s Finest” opener, 8 p.m. today, Fox. This is important – not because of the show itself (which is pretty good), but what it represents: It’s the start of a makeshift TV season – full-scale on Fox (including “The Simpsons,” shown here), fairly full on the other broadcast networks. “Finest” has already been on the Spectrum cable system, but it’s new to most viewers. Gabrielle Union (reviving her “Bad Boys II” character) and Jessica Alba play police detectives. The opener has clever dialog, movie-quality chase scenes … and absurd plot twists. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Will Ferrell spent seven years at “SNL,” doing silly things – cheerleader skits (shown here) and such – and them portraying George W. Bush and Alex Trebek and more. A 2014 poll named him viewers’ all-time favorite on the show. He and Adam McKay (a former “SNL” head writer) took a Bush show to Broadway, created the Funny or Die video channel and made movies, from “Elf” to “Anchorman.” Here’s a rerun of Ferrell’s fifth time as host; King Princess is the music guest. Read more…
1) “Great Performances: Now Hear This” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. For almost 30 years, Joseph Haydn worked for a mega-rich family in rural Hungary and Austria. The bad news was that he was a servant – wearing a uniform, traveling with the family, sometimes even pouring drinks. The good: He was the music-master and had his own small orchestra. Now violinist Scott Yoo (shown here) visits and plays in the rooms where Haydn molded string-quartet music; he also visits influences, from bagpipers to gypsy bands. Read more…
1) “The Masked Singer” preview, 9 p.m., Fox. After an awful summer, Fox hopes to start a big fall comeback next week, fueled by football, wrestling, cartoons, transplanted dramas and – especially – “The Masked Singer,” which was big last season (shown here). This is the second time it airs this preview of next Wednesday’s season-opener, offering a peek at clues, costumes and behind-the-scenes activity. Read more…
HBO’s “Watchmen”(show here) is the big winner in the annual Television Critics Association awards.
The show – merging fantasy, action and racial commentary – was named program of the year, plus best movie or mini-series and best new show. Its star, Regina Taylor, won the individual drama award. Read more…
1) Academy of Country Music awards, 8-11 p.m., CBS. During a five-month delay, this ound ways to do lots of live, social-distanced music. That will be scattered into the Grand Ole Opry’s past and current homes and a nightclub. Keith Urban hosts, Taylor Swift (shown here) ends a seven-year absence and sings “Betty,” Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani do “Happy Anywhere” and Carrie Underwood does a medley of women’s hits. Also: Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood, many more. Read more…
