1) Football, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC. The colleges had their week in the spotlight, but now the pros take over. The season opens with the Los Angeles Rams (shown here) at home – the same spot where they won last year’s Super Bowl. The Rams (12-5 in the regular season) host the Buffalo Bills (11-6). The pre-game show starts at 7 p.m. ET, sometimes cutting to J Balvin’s nearby concert. Read more…
A new TV season is ready to go..
It has a starting date (Sept. 19), a few shows and a lot of promos. What it lacks is the old blend of Hollywood hope, hype and a sense of something big.
There have been big things lately, but not on the broadcast nertworks, the ones.that send out shows for free (with commercials), over the air
A “Game of Thrones” prequel on HBO collided with a “Lord of the Rings” prequel on Amazon Prime, both spending mega-money. Disney+ launched a pile of new shows on one day (Sept. 8). Mere broadcast networks — with pleasant new shows like “So Help Me Todd” (shown here) — can only make a so-so counter-attack; consider: Read more…
1) “MasterChef,” 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. A week from the finale, the show is down to five chefs. There’s Dara Yu (shown here), 20, who was runner-up in the first “MasterChef Junior,” and four people in their 30s – Emily Hallock, Shanika Patterson, Michael Silverstein and Christian Green. In the first hour, they try baked Alaska and lobster tortellini; in the second, the top four start the finals, with a studio audience. Read more…
The others had their time to show off. We got elves on Amazon, dragons on HBO, spectacle on both.
Now it’s Disney’s turn. “Disney+ Day” (Thursday, Sept. 8) has the streaming service introduce a flurry of shows in one big batch.
There’s a movie that could have been in theaters (a non-cartoon “Pinocchio,” with Tom Hanks) and one that was (“Thor: Love and Thunder”). There’s animation, via “Cars on the Road” and some shorts. There’s a mini-series (“Wedding Season”), two making-of specials and more.
And there are documentary series from young filmmakers Bertie Gregory (shown here) and Brie Larson. Those two shows feel like opposites; they are: Read more…
1) “What We Do in the Shadows” season-finale, 10 p.m., FX. A terrific season ends just as we’d expect it to – with chaos, surprises and, at times, big laughs. The vampire nightclub was thriving until its boy singer (who emerged from the late Colin’s chest) kept aging quickly, while his manager (Laszlo) demanded more money. Guillermo (shown here, center) and Nadja have each hidden stacks of cash, but trouble – big and funny trouble – looms. Read more…
1) “The Bad Seed Returns,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. At 16, McKenna Grace (shown here) has great range. She’s been geniuses (in “Young Sheldon” and the movie “Gifted”) and a vengeful victim (“Handmaid’s Tale”). She was a cunning villain in the “Bad Seed” remake (2018), which reruns at 6 and 10:03 p.m. today. Now she’s co-written, co-produced and stars in this sequel; it’s beautifully done, if a bit repetitious. Read more…
Angel Collinson (shown here) has spent most of her life whooshing down mountains,.
She succeeded most of the time, starring in skiing movies and on magazine covers. She also failed a few times, once taking a dangerous, 1,000-foot fall.
So what’s the scariest moment she’s had so far? “When I asked my boyfrfiend out for a date,” she said..
She’s joking, a little, but with some truth at the core. Collinson is one of the athletes featured in “Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin,” a National Geographic Channel series that views top athletes and their toughest moments.
The series opens at 9:30 pm. Monday (Sept. 5), with Alex Honnold, the climber who was the subject of Chin’s Oscar-winning, 2018 movie, “Free Solo.” It follows at 10 with Collinson. The next night (Sept. 6), the show has kayaker Gerd Serrasolses at 10 p.m. and climber Conrad Anker at 10:30.After that, it continues on Tuesdays, with episodes reaching Disney+ on Wednesdays. Read more…
1) “The Chi” season-finale, 9 p.m., Showtime. Otis Perry, the ex-mayor, keeps messing with other people’s lives. As this strong hour opens, he startles Victor, the earnest council candidate. Later, he ranges from tough-guy Bakari to Emmett, a good soul trying to run a business and to co-parent with his estranged wife Tiff. (Emmett’s shown here with her new boyfriend Rob.) The rough moments are early, but stick around for bits of season-ending joy. Read more…
1) “Monarch,” about 8 p.m. ET Sunday (after football), Fox. Eight days before the season officially starts, here’s the first arrival, Planned for last spring, then delayed, it links music and soap-style drama, just as “Empire” did … but with country music. Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon play the leaders of a Nashville dynasty (shown here). They have one daughter who looks like a star (Anna Friel) and one who sings like one (Beth Ditto), plus a business-like son. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Billie Eilish (shown here in a previous performance) is both the host and music guest in this rerun. She was one of only two people to do double duty this season; the other was Lizzo. (Some people who had hosted previously — Halsey, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry — were just music guests; Selena Gomez, who sings, was just hosting.) Eilish may seem shy or withdrawn at times, but not here; she was excellent as host, in sketches and, of course, with her music. Read more…
