1) “Blue Bloods,” 10 p.m., CBS. After stuffing Christmas specials and reruns into six Fridays, CBS finally has new drama hours. “SWAT” (8 p.m.) has a random shooter; “Fire Country” (9) has a probe, after someone dies during a difficult rescue. Then “Blue Bloods” finds Joe Hill (shown here), Frank’s grandson, furious: Someone has insulted his father, who was killed during undercover police work. Read more…
For a TV writer/producer, this was a familiar moment.
Someone called, John Eisendrath said, and “wanted to pitch me an idea for a show. Usually, … I brace for a polite way of saying, ‘Thank you, but it’s a terrible idea.’”
Except, this one didn’t seem terrible at all. Now “Alert” (show here with Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez) has a two-night debut on Fox – 8 p.m. ET Sunday, Jan. 8 (after football) and 9 p.m. Monday (after the season’s second “Fantasy Island”). Read more…
1) “The Parent Test” (shown here) opener, 9 p.m., ABC. “Grey’s Anatomy” and other dramas won’t return until Feb. 23. Filling the gap is a non-fiction night – “Celebrity Jeopardy” at 8 p.m. (tonight with actors Michael Cera, Zoe Chao and Brianne Howey) and “The Chase” at 10. They sandwich this show, which had a one-shot preview last month. Varying parenting styles face fine-dining and home-alone challenges. Read more…
1) Golden Globe Awards, 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. After a one-year pause (to fix diversity failures), the telecast is back, with Jerrod Carmichael hosting. The drama-movie nominees are strong, with “Top Gun” and “Avatar” sequels facing “Elvis,” “Tar” and Steven Spielberg’s “Fabelmans,” Comedy-movie nominees are “Glass Onion” (shown here with Daniel Craig, who’s also nominated), “Babylon,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “The Banshees of Inishirin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Read more…
1) “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” debut, 8-10 p.m., Fox. In a torrid Jordan desert, 16 celebrities face military-style training (shown here). Some are athletes – Dwight Howard, Danny Amendola, Carli Lloyd, Nastia Liukin, Gus Kenworthy – but many aren’t. We’ll see reality stars (Kate Gosselin, Hannah Brown, Kenya Moore, Dr. Drew Pinsky), performers (Mel B., Jamie Lynn Sears, etc.), chef Tyler Florence and former Trump official Anthony Scaramucci. Read more…
1) “New Amsterdam” return, 10 p.m., NBC. Two weeks before its series-finale, the show has an hour that is both powerful and (at times) extremely upsetting. Helen is suddenly back in town and Max is reluctant to see her. (They’re shown here in a previous season.) Instead, he takes his hospital staff on an outdoor “retreat” – where new crises appear. One is physical and horrendous; another plays out in the mind of the psychiatrist. “New Amsterdam” is doing great work as it departs. Read more…
