Year: 2021

1) “The Blacklist” season-finale, 10 p.m., NBC. After eight years of tangled twists and smart dialog, “Blacklist” might be ready to share a few secrets. Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) has shattered her FBI career, while obsessing on catching Raymond Reddington (James Spader), the former mentor who killed her mother. (They’re shown here in an early episode.) Now he has a disturbing request, before he’ll reveal his true identity. Read more…

1) “College Bowl” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. This notion goes back to 1953 on radio and ‘59 on TV. Now it has droll, dry work from Peyton Manning (shown here) as the host and his brother Cooper as sidekick. The opener has Auburn-Alabama and Michigan-Minnesota, with eight more schools arriving on the next two Tuesdays. A few of the categories (including spelling) make so-so viewing and the “speed round” makes the first round fairly insignificant. Overall, however, it’s a modestly interesting hour. Read more…

1) “Gidget” (1959), 9:45 p.m., Turner Classic Movies, and more. On the first full day of summer, TCM has a spree of summer movies (see separate story, above). “Gidget” is partly old-school — sweet girl, warm family — and partly new, with a teen (Sandra Dee, shown here) who surfs with the guys. Other summer settings are in Betty Grable’s “Moon Over Miami” (1941, 8 p.m.), the French comedy “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday” (1953, 11:30), the Bogart-Bacall “Key Largo” (1948, 1:15 a.m.) and Andy Hardy’s “You’re Only Young Once” (1938, 3:15 a.m.). Read more…

1) “Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America,” 8 p.m., History. On Juneteenth – a day that celebrates the end of slavery — this film views the impact of key movements. Co-produced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it ranges from early civil rights protests to current Black Lives Matter (shown here) ones, plus others involving gays, women and union members. The channel also has documentaries on the Tuskegee Airmen (7 p.m.), the Tulsa massacre (9:02 p.m. and 12:03 a.m.) and civil rights (11:05 p.m.). Read more…

1) “Juneteenth: Together We Triumph,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. For the second year, ABC has a special keyed to the celebrations (shown here) on Juneteenth weekend. This one (on the eve of the holiday) is hosted by Leslie Odom Jr., with music by Jimmy Allen, Chloe Bailey (of Chloe x Halle) and Leon Bridges. Michael Strahan interviews Barack Obama; there are features on Black farmers, artists and businesses, plus looks at soul food and at new links with whites in small towns and with Asian-American religious leaders in cities. Read more…

1) “United States of Al,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. The big networks don’t have many new, scripted episodes this summer, but CBS as two of them tonight – each a week before its season-finale. First is this likable comedy. Riley and his daughter want to bring home a stray dog (shown here), but Al objects. Also, Riley’s dad goes on his first date with Lois. Read more…