Year: 2021

1) “Young Rock,” 8 p.m., NBC. After several misfires, this show comes up with a slick and funny episode. It flashes back to when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (shown here nowadays) was a college football player … and to when action films dominated the box office. Now he has an on-campus mission that rivals the ordeals of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. That’s joined by two sub-plots, one so-so (Johnson’s grandmother returns) and one quite good (in the future, he chooses a pun-afflicted vice-presidential candidate). Read more…

1) “Hemingway” debut, 8-10 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 10; continues through Wednesday. Here is one of the best shows of this season – or any season. Ken Burns (shown here) is at his best when tracing a big and complicated life … and few lives were bigger or more complex that Ernest Hemingway’s. He was brash and macho, yet insecure. He told about (and sometimes exaggerated) great adventures, but he also wrote fiction slowly and carefully, in a no-frills style that created classics. Read more…

1) “Masterpiece: Atlantic Crossing” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. Martha (played by Sofia Helin, shown here) had a life of royal comfort: Her uncles were the kings of Sweden (her homeland), Denmark and Norway; her husband (also her first cousin) was Norway’s future king. They had three children and she charmed Franklin Roosevelt during a visit. Then World War II changed everything. This eight-week film (sometimes in Norwegian, with sub-titles) turns soapy in its mid-section, but starts and ends strongly. Read more…

1) Basketball, 5:14 and 8:34 p.m. ET, CBS. The final four collide in the college tournament, with the winners meeting Monday for the championship. Tonight has Houston and Baylor, followed by UCLA and undefeated Gonzaga (shown here). Read more…

(Here are the five TV best-bets for Friday, April 2; feel free to use in any form – all or some, print and/or web)

1) “American Masters,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. When Doc Severinsen was 6, he insisted on learning the trumpet; his dad (a small-town dentist) preferred a violin. Doc (shown here) is still playing and touring, 87 years later. “You can’t say to Picasso, ‘Put the paintbrush down,’” his third wife says, adding that she’s “happy he’s with a trumpet player (Cathy Leach, a music professor) now.” Rippling with great music, this film views his diligence (including gym work-outs), plus pizzazz he molded with Johnny Carson. Read more…

1) “United States of Al” debut, 8:30 p.m., CBS. Chuck Lorre keeps preserving a fading art – comedies shot with multiple cameras, in front of an audience (when COVID allows). This one lacks the large laughs of his “Big Bang Theory” and “Mom,” but has lots of little ones, plus likable characters. Riley, a Marine, had Amalwir (“Al”) as his Afghan translator, friend and sometimes protector. Now Al reaches the U.S.; culture shocks begin for him and for Riley and his dad, sister and estranged wife (all shown here with Al). Read more…