Month: May 2023

1) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Each year, on the eve of the holiday, this offers a passionate mixture of stories and music, done live on the Capitol lawn. This time, the music includes gospel great Yolanda Adams (shown here), country’s Trace Adkins and Jo Dee Messina and former “American Idol” winner Phillip Phillips, plus The War and Treaty, a duo that brings gospel-sized power to Americana music. Read more…

1) “Comedy and Music Superfest,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Byron Allen’s first NBC jobs were milder: He did a stand-up routine on Johnny Carson’s show at 18, then was a “Real People” reporter. He had ups and downs, then scored in business; Allen (shown here) now has a company that owns stations, digital networks and the Weather Channel. Here’s a rerun of his special, with Toni Braxton, John Legend, Gladys Knight, Boys II Men, Roy Wood Jr., Tiffany Haddish, Keenan Thompson, Loni Love and more. Read more…

1) “America’s Got Talent” opener, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The summertime ratings champion (shown here is last year’s Mayyans victory) starts its annual auditions. Unlike CBS – which is delaying its summer reality shows until August – NBC hopes to start fast. Today (8-10 p.m. May 29), it has its third “American Ninja Warrior” women’s championship … on Tuesday is “AGT” … on Sunday, both rerun (7-9 and 9-11 p.m.) … and next Monday, the new “Ninja Warrior” season begins. Read more…

1) “Great Performances: Anything Goes,” 9 p.m., PBS. Mix three immense talents – Sutton Foster, director Kathleen Marshall, songwriter Cole Porter – and you get … well, a fairly entertaining show. What’s missing is a good story; this one just has lots silly twists. Still, Foster and Marshall turn Porter’s clever songs into zestful blurs of song, dance (shown here) and general good cheer. Read more…

1) “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021), 8-11 p.m., ABC. Not long ago, Asians were scarce onscreen. Now? On Wednesday, Disney+ debuted “American Born Chinese,” which is both a teen comedy and an action drama; today adds “Shang-Chi” (shown here0, a Marvel adventure about a trained assassin trying to simply be Shaun. Both were directed by Destin Cretton; both have Chinese mythology and Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh. Read more…

1) “Survivor” finale, 8-11 p.m., CBS. On the final day of the official TV season, it’s time to pick the 44th winner, then hold a reunion of this season’s contestants. The finalists range from engineering student Carson Garrett, 20, to engineering manager Heidi Legares-Greenblatt, 43. Others are an elementary-school teacher (Lauren Harpe, 31, shown here), a salon owner (Yamil Arocho, 36) and a drug counselor (Carolyn Wiger, 35). Read more…

1) “The Voice” finale, 8-11 p.m., NBC. Blake Shelton(shown here) has been with the show from the start. In 22 seasons, he’s had nine champions and 14 runners-up; three times, he’s had both. As the finals began Monday, he had two contenders (Grace West and NOIVAS), facing Gina Miles, D.Smooth and the sister trio, Sorelle. Here’s a recap (8-9 p.m.), then guest perforners (CeeLo Green, Maroon 5, Toosii and Diplo & Lily Rose), tributes to Shelton … and a winner. Read more…