1) College football, noon ET, Fox. This is what sports fans and accountants dream of: Arch-rivals, undefeated and ranked No. 2 and 3 in the nation, collide in a stadium that has held 115,000. Ohio State visits Michigan (shown here); the winner faces Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. Also, top-ranked Georgia visits Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. on ABC and Iowa State is at Kansas State at 8 on Fox. Read more…
For 57 years, people have been singing the Broadway song, “We Need a Little Christmas.”
Now it seems especially true. TV networks and viewers need A LOT of Christmas.
Scrambling to fill voids created by strikes, networks have strained their supply of reruns, reality shows, game shows and other nonsense. They need a break – and a six-week Christmas cruise. Here’s a mega-list, by category and date, of what’s coming. Read more…
Now that the big-four networks have set their post-strike schedules, viewers can ask the key question: “Hey, when does my show return?”
Maybe you only care about “La Brea” (we won’t judge) or “Celebrity Name That Tune” (well, maybe we’ll judge a little). You can find them in this alphabetical list, which includes shows that are new (including “Elsbeth,” shown here) or returning from last season or simply back from a mid-season break.
Not included here are shows that never left (“60 Minutes,” for instance) or still haven’t been scheduled. Everything is subject to change, via network whim. This follows the usual rules for alphabetizing – ignore any “The”; numbers are presented as if they were spelled out. Here we go: Read more…
The long-delayed TV season will begin right after the holidays.
Or, at least, parts of it will. For some parts, viewers must wait until March.
This week, NBC and Fox set plans that are relatively speedy. Both will have several non-reruns arriving in early and mid-January, getting a one-month jump on CBS and ABC; NBC will even have two advance episodes — “Night Court” (shown here) and Jon Cryer’s new “Extended Family” — on Dec. 23. Read more…
1) “Greatest Home Videos,” 8 p.m., CBS. This began as an amiable look at people who found clever things to post during the pandemci. Now it has occasional specials. This one focuses on Christmas; Cedric the Entertainetr hosts, with a visit by JB Smoove (shown here) as a stylish Santa. Read more…
1) “Rudolph” and “The Grinch,” 8 p.m. today, CBS, and 8 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Two classic cartoons, opposites in style, return. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” debuted in 1964, with stop-motion animation and a casual pace, stretched to an hour; viewers considered it charming. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (shown here) came two years later, with a half-hour of Chuck Jones’ vigorous, movie-style animation. Next month, they’ll be on Freeform and TBS/TNT. Read more…
1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here in a previous year), 8:30 a.m. to noon, NBC. There’s lots of music, including 12 marching bands and 26 floats, bearing Jon Batiste, Chicago, the Muppets and more. But NBC will start a half-hour earlier than usual, to include the Rockettes and the casts of five Broadway muscials — “Spamalot,” “Back to the Future,” “Shucked,” “& Juliet” and “How to Dance in Ohio.” Also, Broadway’s Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells will work the parade route. Read more…
CBS seems to be breaking up its old gang.
Last week, it announced that “Young Sheldon” is in its final season. Now it says the same thing for “Blue Bloods.”
The difference is in length. “Young Sheldon” apparently had a 13-episode prder and will conclude in May; “Blue Bloods,” apparently with 22 episodes, will continue into May, then pause and have its final episodes next fall. Read more…
1) “Countdown to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” and “Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving,” 8 and 9-11 p.m., NBC. Two specials nudge us into the holiday mood. First is a look preparations for the parade, before coverage begins Thursda (8:30 a.m. on NBC, 9 on CBS). Then is a collection of “SNL” sketches (a past one is shown here), including Debbie Downer dinner, friendsgiving and many more. Read more…
Peter Morgan is back on familiar turf now. He’s even edited himself a tad.
His latest “The Crown” (shown here) splurge – four episodes, ending with Diana’s funeral – is sort of “The Queen”-plus. In Morgan’s style, it has deep, fascinating human insights that may or may not be true.
Morgan has done this with others. His screenplays portrayed Idi Amin, Henry VIII, David Frost, Tony Blair and Anne Boleyn’s sister. But the 2006 “Queen” movie captured new attention. Read more…
