Year: 2023

1) “Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. Here’s a romp through great songs – many of them sunny and frilly, a few deep and dark. The hits are there, sung by Beck, Weezer, Charlie Puth, My Morning Jacket and more. But we also get emotional ballads from LeAnn Rimes, Mumford & Sons, and (shown here) a Brandi Carlile/John Legend duet. There are also key comments: When “In My Room” came out, Bruce Springsteen was 13; he played it over and over, in his room. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. In the two decades since leaving “SNL,” Molly Shannon has popped up on the show a few times, but only hosted it once, in 2007. Now she’s back, with the Jonas Brothers as music guest. Lately, Shannon has thrived in the streaming/cable world. She did two “White Lotus” episode and the one-season “I Love That For You”; she plays a pop star’s mom in “The Other Two” (shown here), which starts its third season on May 4. Read more…

1) “Now Hear This,” 9 p.m., PBS. Violinist Scott Yoo did great work in a dozen previous episodes, often visiting old European sites (shown here) where classical music was formed. But here’s his best hour yet – a dazzling visit to Buenos Aires and the life of tango master Astor Piazzolla, We see superb musicians and dancers; then Yoo and his wife (gifted flutist Alice Dade) join in – hesitantly on the dance floor, brilliantly with the music. Read more…

1) Jeremy Renner interview, 10 p.m., ABC. Renner’s career had been thriving – two Oscar nominations (“The Hurt Locker,” “The Town”), a series (“Mayor of Kingstown”) and steady work as Hawkeye (shown here) in the Marvel movies. Then he was run over by a seven-ton snowplow, breaking eight ribs, a shoulder and both ankles; a lung collapsed and his life was in danger. Now, three months later, he talks with Dianne Sawyer about the accident and his recovery. Read more…

1) “Schmigadoon” season-opener, Apple TV+. In the brilliant first season (shown here), two modern doctors (Cicely Strong and Keegan-Michael Key) found a world that seemed like a perpetual 1950s musical. They eventually got home and lived happily ever after … for a while. Now comes a delightful pivot, bringing the previous supporting actors back in very different roles. The songs are witty and Dove Cameron, once confined to cute Disney duty, is particularly good. Read more…

1) FBI crossover, 8-11 p.m., CBS. Bigger isn’t better, but it grabs attention. This starts big, with a man-made tragedy in Belarus. Then it jumps to Rome (shown here with Jeremy Sisto), where an American is kidnapped near the Colosseum. And then it keeps growing, linking people from all three FBI shows. Things get repetitious. Both sides (cops and crooks) do a lot of shooting and some torturing; officials also shout at each other a lot. Read more…