Year: 2023

Soaps have transformed; just ask Francis

Soap operas keep transforming. There are no more tinkling teacups, no prolonged parlor chats, fewer empty moments.
But to look at the bigger changes, ponder Laura of “General Hospital,” as the show nears its 60th anniversary (April 1) and launches a multi-day celebration (April 3) — a week after “The Young and the Restless: (see separate story) has its 50th anniversary.
As a teen-ager, she was a date-rape victim … who then fell in love with her rapist. They married – drawing record ratings – and became the top couple in the soap world.
And now? “I love who she is,” Genie Francis (shown here in a previous anniversary), who plays her, told the Television Critics Association. “She was such a victim as a young woman. To see it flip around and have her be … this powerful woman who is the mayor. She doesn’t take crap from anyone.” Read more…

Best-bets for March 22: Cops, crooks and the departed

1) “Chicago P.D.,” 10 p.m., NBC. Here is “P.D.” at its best – with an intense, time-factor story that skirts the edge of ethics. Voight (shown here) guesses a juror has been intimidated. Can his team find a solution, without disrupting the trial and risking someone’s life? Two late scenes defy credibility: Why is Voight going in alone? How did he (a trial witness) meet the juror in a restroom? Still, it’s tautly constructed and Sara Bues is subtly perfect as the prosecutor. Read more…

Surviving soaps turn 50 … and 60

In the TV world, nothing lasts forever – not even soap operas.
A half-century ago, there were 15 of them; now there are three on the networks and one on Peacock. Still, two of those survivors have key milestones:
— CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” (shown here) turns 50 on March 26. That’s a Sunday (a no-soap day), so the multi-day celebration starts Thursday, March 23; there’s also a special at 8 p.m. March 27.
— ABC’s “General Hospital” (see separate story) turns 60 on April 1, a Saturday. It starts celebrating two days later.
Read more…

Best-bets for March 21: masterful Fauci, batkids, more

1) “American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci,” 8-10 p.m., PBS. For most of its 280 episodes, “Masters” has focused on arts and entertainment, not immunologists. But here is a slowly engaging look at Fauci (shown here), 82, who was the U.S. infectious-disease chief for 38 years. We see a gentle guy who laughs often – despite verbal assaults – and listens to his critics. In a great segment, he chats with the AIDS activists – now his friends – who fervently fought him 30 years ago. Read more…

Best-bets for March 20: “Bachelor,” “Bob,” “Blood”

1) “The Bachelor,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. It’s “fantasy suite” time, when Zach Shallcross invites the final three women to each spend a night with him. This season started with lots of women from serious fields – four nurses, a nursing student, two other health-care people and a therapist. Now most are gone, but Kaity Biggar, 27, a Canadian travel nurse, remains. So do Ariel Frenkel (shown here, center, with Biggar and Shallcross), 28, and Gabi Elnicki, 25, who are marketing and account executives. Read more…

Best-bets for March 19: PBS and “Hank” lead drama surge

1) “Sanditon” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. There’s lots of work left to do – and only six episodes in this final season. Sweet Charlotte has just returned from a visit to her home town, where she got engaged to a local guy. (They’re show here.) But what about the widower’s unspoken love for her? And his daughter and Georgiana, courted because of their wealth? All of that – and much more — will be settled in these crowded (and well-crafted) hours, part of a busy drama night for PBS. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for March 20: “Succession” returns, others debut

1) “Succession,” 9 p.m., HBO. A much-praised drama (shown here) starts its fourth and final season, 15 months after the third ended. Each year has been nominated for the best-drama Emmy and the second and third seasons won. There have been 11 other wins, including three straight for Jesse Armstrong’s scripts. Throughout, family members have vied for control of the media conglomerate. Now, instead, there are plans for a sale to a tech visionary; lives are in flux. Read more…

Best-bets for March 18: sports stars and despicable laughs

1) “Despicable Me 3” (2017), 8 p.m., NBC. Facing that cascade of sports events, NBC offers a comedy refuge. First is this animated film; Steve Carell voices a former villain (shown here with minions), now in an Anti-Villain League duo with his wife, voiced by Kristin Wiig. That’s followed by “Saturday Night Live” reruns at 10 p.m. (Colin Farrell in 2004, with the Scissor Sisters) and 11:29. Read more…

She detoured into “scary movie girl” turf

Chances are, you won’t be seeing Keshia Knight Pulliam in many “Scream” films. Or in anything that’s very fast or furious.
“I’m not a thriller girl,” she said in a Zoom press conference. “I am not a scary movie girl.”
She’s been a Cosby kid, a Christmas-movie heroine, a Tyler Perry drama queen. But now comes “The Hillsdale Adoption Scam” (its promotional art iks shown here) at 8 p.m. Saturday (March 18) on Lifetime, rerunning at midnight and then at 6 p.m. March 25. It had her running and ducking and eluding bad guys – all filmed carefully.
“I was very pregnant when I was doing this,” Pulliam said. But her character wasn’t, so camera angles were key. Read more…

Want a clever show? Better call Bob

In a logical world, Bob Odenkirk would have taken several months – or years, or decades – off.
He had just finished 10 years playing Jimmy McGill, also known as Saul Goodman. He’d had fame, fortune, six Emmy nominations and a heart attack. As he turned 60, it was a logical time to relax.
Except then “Lucky Hank” (shown here) came along. “It happened so quickly that my head was spinning a bit,” he told the Television Critics Association.
Now the show debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday (March 19), rerunning each hour until 1 a.m. As soon as Hank (Odenkirk), a writiing professor, unleashes a rant, viewers will see why the role would be hard to reject. Read more…