Month: June 2022

1) Basketball, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, with Jimmy Kimmel at 8 and pre-game at 8:30. After two games in San Francisco, the best-of-seven series moves to Boston … which takes these things VERY seriously. The Celtics (shown here) have won 17 championships, losing in the finals only four times; by comparison, the Lakers are 17-15 … and the Golden State4 Warriors are 6-5. But it’s been all Warriors lately; they were in the finals for five straight years (2015-19), winning three times. Now they face the Celtics, desperate for their first title in 14 years and second in 36 years. Read more…

1) “All Rise” season-opener, 8 p.m., Oprah Winfrey Network, rerunning at 11. It was 13 months ago that this show – a courtroom drama with dabs of comedy and romance – was canceled by CBS. (It’s show here in its early days.) If you want to catch up, the final CBS episode is at 7 p.m. today; the final two are at 9 and 10. Or just jump in: Judge Lola is fretting on election night … Lopez has gone to Puerto Rico, at least temporarily … her ex-boyfriend is working defense, in a tricky case involving a birthdate. Likable characters tackle fairly good stories. Read more…

1) “American Ninja Warrior” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Here’s half of the one-two punch that gives NBC strong summer ratings. “America’s Got Talent” has already started its season on Tuesdays; now “Ninja Warrior” (shown here) takes over on Mondays. Adapted from a Japanese competition, it has people tackle obstacle courses, with a chance for $1 million if they fully conquer the finals. (Only three people have done it, in 13 editions.) The season starts with try-outs in San Antonio and Los Angeles. Read more…

1) MTV Movie & TV Awards, 8 p.m., MTV, plus CW, BET, VH1, Comedy Central, Pop, TV Land, more. As the summer movie scene heats up (and the “Top Gun” sequel makes a kajillion dollars), we honor recent hits. “Spiderman: No Way Home” (shown here) leads with seven nominations, including best movie, facing “”Dune,” “Scream,” “The Batman,” “The Adam Project” and “Shang-Chi.” “Euphoria” has six, including best TV show, facing “Loki,” “Squid Game,” “Ted Lasso,” “Yellowstone” and “Inventing Anna.” Vanessa Hudgens hosts; MTV has a follow-up at 10 . Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. It was a hectic stretch for John Mulaney: He went into a drug-rehab program in September of 2020 … hosted “SNL” on Halloween (shown here) …then relapsed. Friends – many from “SNL” – had an intervention and he returned to rehab in December. Here’s a rerun of the show he hosted 14 months later, with LCD Soundsystem as music guest. And yes, Mulaney managed to turn that intervention into a long and funny monolog. Read more…

1) “American Masters: Joe Papp in Five Acts,” 9 p.m., PBS. Papp had an audacious plan, bringing free Shakespeare to New York’s parks. He fought the city’s parks chief, won and built a permanent Central Park theater. (He’s shown here during construction.). Then he added indoor shows, launching “Hair,” “A Chorus Line,” “A Normal Heart,” “For Colored Girls (etc.)” and more. This “new” film (which reached film festivals a decade ago) offers a fascinating view of a strong public figure who kept much of his life – including four marriages and a hard-scrabble childhood – semi-hidden. Read more…