Month: July 2021

1) “Espy Awards,” 8 p.m., ABC. At 29, Maya Moore (shown here) stepped away from a basketball career filled with triumph – two national titles in college, four in the WNBA, five overseas, plus two Olympic gold medals. Instead, she fought for a man who had spent 20 years in prison. Now he’s been exonerated, they’re married and she’ll receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. That’s in a night, hosted by actor Anthony Mackie, that also honors the year’s best athletes, teams and sports moments. Read more…

1) “Gossip Girl,” 8-9:30 p.m., CW. “Gossip” ran for six seasons on CW, stirring pop-culture buzz. Its sequel is just for HBO Max – except this opener, airing a day after its Max debut. We’re at the same upscale school (shown here), with a secret gossiper (again voiced by Kristen Bell) using social media. This time, however, we know from the start who it is. We meet deeply likable half-sisters, then see them behave in contrived ways. When was the last time you accidentally undressed in a street-view window? Read more…

1) “Grown-ish” season-opener, 8 p.m., Freeform. As her senior year of college nears, Zoey has a plan: She and Aaron will host a vacation at a Mexican resort; their friends (shown here with her in an earlier episode) will savor sun, sex and alcohol. Alas, the alcohol soon prevails. Secrets are blurted, friendships are trashed … and there’s a major plot twist. “Grown-ish” is basically a comedy (a “Black-ish” spin-off), but the humor is fairly sparse. Instead, we get sleek visuals, smart writing and characters worth rooting for, flaws and all. Read more…

1) “Big Brother” season-opener, 8-9:30 p.m., CBS. For more than two decades, this has propelled CBS’ summers. Once a social experiment for all ages, it now focuses on people who are young, attractive and assertive. Now Julie Chen (shown here) introduces the new group: One woman, a phlebotomist, is 40, but all the others are between 21 and 30; one man, a farmer, is 32, but the others are in their 20s. The show also has a lawyer, a scientist and lots of salesfolks; it continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. Read more…

1) “The Latino Experience,” 9 p.m., PBS. Filmmakers keep making great shorts … which TV keeps ignoring. Here’s an exception – 13 films by Latinos, in one-hour chunks on three Tuesdays. This week has a pair of scripted gems; both deal with death – imagined (in a charming, 13-minute opener) and real (6 minutes). The documentaries vary in quality and in subject: We see young poster-makers using old-time crafts … gay and trans dancers … and (shown here) the tangled lives that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more…

1) “Shark Beach With Chris Hemsworth” (show here), 9 p.m., National Geographic. TV’s shark summer is back: “SharkFest” starts today, for a six-week run on two Nat Geo channels; “Shark Week” is July 11-18 on Discovery. We’ll see lots of creepy creatures, including (at 8 and 10 p.m. today) “When Sharks Attack” and “Rogue Shark?” But “Beach” has a feel-good tone. Hemsworth says he “grew up in paradise” in Australia and surfed at 6. He meets diving veteran Valerie Taylor … and sees his first great white. Read more…