Will summertime TV become a blur of reality and reruns?
Well, mostly. Fox, however, will try some scripted shows – two cartoons– including the new “Housebroken” (shown here) — on Mondays and, sometime in August, a new version of “Fantasy Island.”
The Fox news came shortly after ABC announced an ambitious summer plan, filling five nights with reality (including “Bachelorette”), games and quirks. Fox’s plan, with more coming, has: Read more…
After losing much of last summer to the pandemic, the networks aren’t ready to do it again.
ABC has announced a line-up that has four full nights of non-reruns – or more, if you add in news and sports. That includes a quick return of “The Bachelorette” (now with Katie Thurston, shown here), a slow return of “Bachelor in Paradise” and a flood of games, quirks and reality. Read more…
By now, TV viewers might figure they know every aspect of World War II. Or not.
How about the Swedish-born princess who became Norway’s best lobbyist? Or the bankers behind bars, performing Shakespeare? Or a Spanish diplomat, defying rules to help Jews flee from Nazis? Such stories show up in two PBS shows that debuted on Easter and continue on Sundays:
– “My Grandparents’ War” has British actors learn about their kin. It started with Helena Bonham Carter and now has Mark Rylance (April 11), Kristin Scott Thomas and Carey Mulligan.
– “Atlantic Crossing” traces Princess Martha, the niece of three kings (Norway, Denmark and her native Sweden) and the wife of her cousin, Crown Prince Olav of Norway. In the opener (shown here), they barely escaped the Nazi invasion; on April 11, a plan emerges: Olav will stay in London with his father (the king) and the government-in-exile; Martha will attempt a sea journey to the U.S. with their children. Read more…
The dead will, apparently, keep walking for a while.
Last weekend (on Easter Sunday, oddly), “The Walking Dead” finished its second-to-last season. This Sunday (9 p.m., April 11), “Fear the Walking Dead” (shown here) returns.
But the season-finale also included a key announcement: The final season will start earlier (Aug. 22) and last longer (24 episodes) than usual; it will also have more size and scope. Read more…
1) “American Masters,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. A great week of Burns brothers biographies concludes. For three nights, we had Ken Burns’ “Hemingway”; now here’s a beautifully crafted Ric Burns film: In 2015, Oliver Sacks (shown here), 81, learned he was dying of cancer. He spent 80 hours with Burns, who added other interviews. We see the gentle neurologist (depicted in the movie “Awakenings”) who was also a champion weightlifter, an amphetamine addict and someone who painfully buried his homosexuality. Read more…
