Month: November 2021

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 8 has two mega-music nights

1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. All five Entertainer of the Year nominees will perform. That includes Eric Church (shown here) and Chris Stapleton, who lead with five nominations each, plus Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert (three each) and Carrie Underwood (one). Also performing: Gabby Barrett (four nominations, including best new artist), Luke Bryan (who hosts), Blake Shelton, Jennifer Hudson, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Mickey Guyton, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown and more. Read more…

Magic’s life will become a streaming series

Magic Johnson’s life is now being turned into a four-part documentary series for Apple TV+.
The announcement was made Thursday, three days before the anniversary of a key day: On Nov. 7, 1991, Johnson (shown here) announced that he had tested positive for HIV.
That was at a time when AIDS was considered a death sentence. Johnson, now 62, threw himself into the newest medical protocols and has thrived for 30 years. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 6: an “SNL” return … after a 30-year break

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Kieran Culkin’s “SNL” debut may have gone unnoticed. He was 9 then and cast as Froggy in a sketch; his brother Macaulay, 11, hosted. Now, 30 years later, Kieran is the host, with Ed Sheeran as music guest. Once merely the brother of the “Home Alone” kid (they’re shown here with their movie parents), he did indie films, getting awards for “Igby Goes Down” (2002). As the troubled Roman in “Succession,” he’s drawn praise, an Emmy nomination … and this belated eturn to “SNL” Read more…

“Lost Symbol” unlocks ancient secrets

Robert Langdon could be the patron saint of anyone who’s ever tackled a crossword, a sudoku or just a bewildering set of Ikea instructions.
He’s a puzzle-solver, one who ponders ancient riddles. He’s fictional, residing in Dan Brown novels … in three Tom Hanks movies … and in “The Lost Symbol” (shown here), a prequel series that shows how this began. Viewers can catch it:
– At the start. The first episode reruns at 10 p.m. Monday (Nov. 8) on NBC.
– At the end of the first season. The ninth and final episode streams Thursday on Peacock. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 5: “Magnum,” music, more

1) Magnum P.I.” 9 p.m., CBS. After reruns last Friday, CBS is back to new hours. That includes “S.W.A.T.” – staying here, after CBS scuttled a plan to move it to Sundays — at 8 p.m. and “Blue Bloods” at 10. And it includes this episode, with a tricky twist: People usually hire a private eye when a marriage goes bad; now a guy wants his bride-to-be (shown here, right, with Higgins) investigated before the wedding. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 4: Queen’s music soars on two networks

1) “Queen Family Singalong,” 8 p.m., ABC. Back in 1971, the band Queen formed. With Freddie Mercury as lead singer, it would blast epic anthems, from “We Are The Champions” to “We Will Rock You.” Now its 50th anniversary is being celebrated this week – Monday on “Dancing With the Stars” and again here. Adam Lambert (who often takes the late Mercury’s spot) will perform; he’s shown here. Also performing: Darren Criss, Derek Hough, Fall Out Boy, Pentatonix, JoJo Siva, JimmieAllen and two Broadway casts. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 3: Strong dramas from fact or fiction

1) “Dopesick,” any time, Hulu. As the sixth (of eight) episode begins, coal country has been shattered by OxyContin. An earnest doctor (Michael Keaton) has lost his license and is in rehab; his young patient (Kaitlyn Dever) is deeply addicted. Some federal officials in Virginia face resistance from the Purdue Pharma drug company and indifference from Department of Justice leaders. It’s s stunning episode, including great work from Keaton, Dever and (as an intense drug official, shown here) Rosario Dawson. Read more…

Sunshine slaying? Not in this “Dexter” mini-series

Dexter Morgan has never been your standard serial killer. For one thing, he tries to only kill bad people; he considers himself a hero … albeit a pained one.
For another, he’s been doing that in the blue-sky beauty of Miami. All of that changes, however, with “Dexter: New Blood,” the 10 week mini-series that debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 7) on Showtime.
The new setting (Shelburne Falls, Mass., posing as upstate New York) is “undeniably beautiful,” said producer Clyde Phillips. It also has lots of trees and space … the standard serial-killer turf. Read more…

It’s a Golden Month for real-life mini-series

TV has had its Golden Ages and Clunker Ages and everything in between.
But let’s tighten the focus: Right now – November, 2021 – is the Golden Age of mini-series based on important news events. That encompasses:
– “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” at 10 p.m. Tuesdays on FX, concluding Nov. 9; and
– “Dopesick” (shown here with Rosario awson), streaming Wednesdays on Hulu, concluding Nov. 17. Read more…