1) Football, 1 p.m. ET, Fox. The college season kicks off with a fairly good match-up. Skipping the usual non-conference openers, the Big Ten season begins with Nebraska (shown here) at Illinois. Elsewhere, ESPN has Hawaii at UCLA, at 3:30 p.m. ET and the CBS Sports Network has two games. It’s Fresno State at Connecticut at 2 p.m. and Southern Utah at San Jose State at 10. Read more…
Yes, supply-chain issues keep confounding businesses.
But some TV networks now have more new shows than ever. A prime example is Showtime, with one-fourth more new hours this year than it had pre-pandemic.
“That was part of the intent to grow,” Jana Winograde said. Viewers will see that quickly when:
– “Billions” (shown here) returns Sunday, Sept. 5, to start the final five episodes of its fifth season. It will then “make up for lost time by premiering Season Six in January,” Gary Levine said. He and Winograde, co-presidents of programming, had a virtual press conference with the Television Critics Association. Read more…
1) “Great Performances: Vienna Philharmonic,” 9-10:30 p.m, PBS. The opening Verdi overture is slow and mournful … then turns vibrant. That fits the night: Duringthe pandemic, the orchestra skipped last summer’s PBS concert and trimmed its audiences this season. But it invited 3,000 teachers and medical people for this beautifully filmed event (shown here in a previous year). Pianist Igor Levit does a dazzling Rachmaninoff piece, plus Beethoven’s sweet “Fur Elise”; there’s more, from a “West Side Story” medley to a Strauss waltz. Read more…
Someday soon, Broadway’s endless intermission will … well, end.
Musicals — from “Hamilton” and “Hadestown” to “Chicago” and “Wicked” (shown here) – will return in September. But first, PBS will remind us what we’ve been missing.
A concert special will have Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel introduce “Wicked” tunes and sing the closing song. That’s 9 p.m. Aug. 29, 16 days before “Wicked” and three other musicals re-open.
“It’s a great way to welcome back audiences,” conductor Luke Frazier said. And to let performers finally emerge from their apartments. Read more…
1) “Making It” finale, 9 p.m., NBC. This low-key gem has been a delight. Its first two seasons were nominated for Emmys (best hosts, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, shown here) and Television Critics Association awards (best reality show). After missing last year, the show is back and has its final four – Chelsea Andersson, a miniaturist; Kara Walker, a fabricator; Melanio Gomez, a propmaker; and Adam Kingman, an industrial designer whose dad (Dave) twice was the National League home run champion. Read more…
1) “CMT Giants: Charley Pride,” 9-10:30 p.m., CMT. Pride (shown here) was country music’s first (and, often, only) Black superstar. He had 30 No. 1 country hits and was Entertainer of the Year in 1971. Pride died of COVID at 86, last December; now his music will be performed by Garth Brooks, George Strait, Gladys Knight, Alan Jackson, Wynonna, Darius Rucker, Lee Ann Womack, Mickey Guyton, Jimmy Allen and Luke Combs (with Robert Randolph and Reyna Roberts), plus Dion Pride, Charlie’s son. Read more…
1) “Supergirl” return, 9 p.m., CW. Rescued by her friends (shown here) from the Phantom Zone, Kara (or Supergirl) emerged with PTSD … and with her father, who’d been trapped for decades. After a thee-month pause, the show returns, with the last 13 episodes of its final season. Kara’s dad finds that our oceans are dying, pushing Earth toward the same fate as Krypton. Despite one problem – the dad seems a tad wooden – it’s a smart, emotional episode. Read more…
1) “The Ultimate Surfer” (shown here) debut, 10 p.m., ABC. From “Gidget” and “Beach Blanket Bingo” to “Blue Crush” and HBO’s just-ended “100 Foot Wave,” surfing has become a key part of our summer mythos. Now it adds a techno-twist: At his inland Surf Ranch, 30 miles south of Fresno, Kelly Slater (the 11-time world champion) has man-made waves. In this eight-parter (continuing Tuesday), surfers compete there. Jesse Palmer anchors, with Erin Coscarelli, Slater and surfing commentator Joe Turpel. Read more…
For many TV viewers, pro wrestling is slick and sleek and corporate.
In shiny arenas, sweaty millionaires (current or future) collide for the cameras. It’s all quite impressive – but there’s another world out there.
That’s “when you’re on these independent circuits and you’re not on broadcast television,’ said actor Stephen Amell (shown here). It’s the world of “Heels,” his show at 9 p.m. Sundays (rerunning almost daily) on Starz.
Such wrestling circuits fill the South and beyond, offering temporary stardom to people who also have day jobs. Michael Waldron, the series creator, recalls talking to a guy who used to wrestle for one. “He said for 15 minutes a week, they got to be a superhero.” Read more…
1) “The Walking Dead,” 9 p.m., AMC, rernning at 11:07 p.m., 12:14 a.m., more. It’s been 16 months since we saw a new “Dead.” That one – the showdown with the Whisperers – reruns at 7:52 p.m. Then the final season – eight episodes now, 16 more later – begins, with a desperate search for food. Tonight starts with a perilous mission, then plunges into an even tougher one, which needs help from the despised Jeffrey Dean Morgan (shown here). The result, as usual, is tough and tense, gory and well-crafted. Read more…
