1) “Women of the Movement” (shown here) conclusion, 8-10 p.m. Thursday, ABC. In a packed Mississippi courtroom, two women offer crucial testimony. One is a store clerk, 27; after Emmett Till (14, visiting from Chicago) talked to her in 1955, he was kidnapped and killed. The other is his mother, Mamie. The case would propel the civil rights movement; Mamie Till-Mobley would go on to be an educator and an activist. This wraps up an intense, six-hour mini-series; a documentary will follow at 10 p.m..
2) “Great Performances: The Broadway Revival,” 9 p.m Tuesday, PBS. Adrienne Warren has drawn raves for playing two real-life women. She’s Mamie Till-Mobley on ABC (shown above) and she was Tina Turner on Broadway, winning a Tony. Now this film shows COVID’s impact throughout Broadway. “Tina” soared, then suddenly closed. “It crushed me,” Warren says. After a 19-month break, the show finally returned … and she had to relearn everything. “It was hilarious,” she says, “and also terrifying.”
3) Football, 8:15 p.m. ET today, ABC and ESPN; then this weekend. The first round of the pro play-offs ends tonight; then the second round has two games on Saturday and two more Sunday, with the winners colliding Jan. 31 for spots in the Super Bowl, Feb. 13. And today’s game? The Los Angeles Rams are 12-5, the Arizona Cardinals are 11-6, after losing four of their last five. The teams share one thing: Both used to be in St. Louis – the Cardinals from 1960-87, the Rams from 1994 to 2015.
4) “Reframed: Marilyn Monroe” conclusion, 9 and 10 p.m. ET Sunday, CNN, rerunning at midnight. The usual story has Monroe as a pawn; but this compelling film shows a forceful person, determined to reach the top. The first two hours showed her rise from a troubled childhood; in the second (rerunning at 8 and 11 p.m. Sunday), her career is endangered by a nude photo from her pre-stardom days. In the new hours, she moves to New York, studies method-acting, starts her own company and battles moguls.
5) “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 8 p.m. today, Fox; then “Ordinary Joe,”10 p.m., NBC. Blizzards fill our TV sets. First, “Lone Star” reruns its strong season-opener. It starts a multi-week story, with a bearded, brooding Owen in a cabin, while Texas is encased in snow. Then a new “Joe” finds a blizzard choking each version of Joe. Last week, Rock Star Joe raged because his wife Amy slept with her boss … Cop Joe learned his girlfriend Amy can’t have children … Nurse Joe hopes his marriage to Jenny can be saved.
6) “Single Drunk Female” debut, 10 and 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Freeform. For Samantha Fink, life has hit reverse. Fresh from alcohol rehab in her mid-20s, she moved back home with her mom and took an entry-level job at a grocery store. Her friends have moved ahead; she hasn’t. Her friends also seem to drink a lot. Simone Finch created this promising comedy, partly from her own life; Sofia Black-D’Elia, 30, who’s done comedies (“Skins,” “The Mick”) and dramas, stars; Ally Sheedy, 59, plays her mom.
7) “Blue Bloods,”10 p.m. Friday, CBS. Two TV veterans collide. Stacy Keach, 80, has his eighth episode as Archbishop Kevin Kearns; Tom Selleck, 76, is in his 12th season as his friend, Police Commissioner Frank Reagan. Now Kearns tells Frank that the wrong man was arrested for murder – but confidentiality bars him from saying who the right man is; Danny (Frank’s son) ries to find out. Also, Joe Hill (Frank’s grandson) is back, disagreeing with his uncle Jamie about police practices.
8) “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Turner Classic Movies. Here’s an old-style epic – long, lush and international. It had a British director, Italian producer, French composer and Egyptian star. Based on a Russian novel, it was filmed in Spain, Portugal, Canada and Finland; it’s officially an American movie. It won five Oscars and was nominated for best picture. If you prefer modern action, Saturday has “Black Panther” at 8 p.m. on TNT and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” at 8:45 on Freeform.
9) “Billions” season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime, rerunning at 10. Last season was a strange one, with a 15-month break between the first seven episodes and the last five. It was also the final season for Damian Lewis, who played Axe, the intense financial whiz. For five seasons, Rhodes (Paul Giamatti) tried to convict him; instead, Axe took a $2 billion buy-out from Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) and went on the lam. Now Prince assesses the company he’s just bought … and considers getting rid of everyone.
10) ALSO: For streamers, the week starts early: Today, Acorn has the second of three fun “Queens of Mystery” movies; on Tuesday, Hulu starts “How I Met Your Father,” with Hilary Duff facing single life in her 30s. And the week ends well for PBS. There’s a powerhouse concert (9 p.m. Friday) by Brandon Victor Dixon, a Broadway star who also did TV’s live “Rent” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and an engaging “All Creatures Great and Small” (9 p.m. Sunday), with James’ and Helen’s first disagreement.
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