Year: 2021

1) “CMA Summer Jam,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. For two summers, the Fan Fest was cancelled because of COVID. This second time, however, the gap was filled by a two-day Nashville concert. Darius Rucker sang on a new downtown stage, Eric Church on a pedestrian bridge, Dierks Bentley at his club, others at an amphitheater. There are Lukes (Bryan and Combs) plus Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Miranda Lambert (shown here), Jimmie Allen, Dwight Yoakam, Mickey Guyton, Thomas Rhett and more. Read more…

1) “Superstar: Richard Pryor,” 10 p.m., ABC. Pryor (shown here) had a life filled with tragedy. Raised in his grandmother’s brothel, he was abandoned by his mother at 10, expelled at 14, jailed by the Army at 18. Then he soared in show business – both in the mainstream and with R-rated wit. Trouble persisted – seven marriages, three heart attacks, a freebasing accident – but so did his skill. He won the first Mark Twain Prize and was named (by both Comedy Central and Rolling Stone) as the best stand-up ever. Read more…

1) “Generaton 9/11,” 9-11 p.m Tuesday, PBS. There were 105 babies born in the U.S. after their fathers died because of the Sept. 11 attack. This compelling documentary introduces six of them (along with one man who was 3 when his dad died). At 19, they are a varied group, from the intense – a criminal-justice student planning to be a lawyer, an ROTC student planning to be a soldier – to an athlete and to a musician (Megan Fehling, shown here) who rereads “Catcher in the Rye.” They push ahead with promising lives. Read more…

1) “Housebroken” season-finale, 9:01 p.m., Fox. Clever enough for grown-ups, yet silly enough for kids, this animated show has been a summer surprise. Honey (Lisa Kudrow) is a wise poodle who holds group-therapy sessions (shown here) for neighborhood animals. Beneath her calm exterior is a lust for the wild world of Coyote. Now she has a night with him … and a change-of-heart. She and Chief – a St. Bernard with no cares and few thoughts – are in mortal danger; the group tries to save them. Read more…

1) “9/11: One Day in America,” 9-10:30 p.m., National Geographic, rerunning at 11:30. This launches a three-night stretch of riveting television. Working with the 9/11 memorial (shown here), people dug through 950 hours of film from Sept. 11, 2001, added fresh interviews, then assembled it all with skill and restraint. There are deep waves of tragedy, but also surprising bursts of feel-good stories. Here is human nature at its best – heroism and stoic survival, mixed in with bursts of sheer luck. The stories are beautifully related. Read more…