1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson (shown here) host and sing;, Peyton Manning merely hosts. Also, George Strait gets a lifetime award. Post Malone links with Chris Stapleton for “California Sober,” Thomas Rhett with Teddy Swims for a mash-up. Others are Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBride, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church,, Brooks & Dunn and more Read more…
1) “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 6:27 p.m., TBS. One of the all-time great shows (shown here) arrives early – 12 days before Thanksgiving, 39 before Christmas. Chuck Jones’ animation turned Dr. Seuss’ tale into a mini-masterpiece, boosted by Boris Karloff’s narration and Thurl Ravenscroft’s booming song about a mean one, Mr. Finch. Read more…
During a long winter break, CBS will mess with success.
The network tends to dominate the Nielsen ratings. Still, it will shuffle some of its best nights, temporarily (Thursdays, Wednesdays) or longer (Sundays, Fridays).
In the process, it will return one drama (“NCIS: Sydney,” shown here) and debut another (“Watson,” with Morris Chestnut as Dr. Watson, setting up a medical clinic in Pittsburgh after Sherlock Holmes’ death). It will also add lots of game shows
The key changes are: Read more…
1) “Great Performances,” 9-11 p.m.,, PBS. Here’s a rerun of last year’s terrific special, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein. There are great moments from theater stars in London (where it was taped), especially and Marisha Wallace (shown here at a different event) and Michael Ball, and from Broadway stars, including Audra McDonald, Aaron Tveit and Patrick Wilson. Read more…
ABC’s line-up – a patchwork creation this fall – will get some much-needed repairs for mid-season. That includes:
— “Abbott Elementary” will no longer be the network’s only comedy. It will be paired with a show starring Tim Allen, with Kat Dennings as his daughter.
— “Scamanda” will finally surface. Announced for the fall schedule and then pulled, it will be paired with another true-crime tale.
— There will eventually be two drama nights, instead of one. “Will Trent” (shown here) and “The Rookie” have season-openers in January, sandwiching “High Potential” on Tuesdays. The Thursday line-up (“9-1-1,” “Doctor Odyssey,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) returns in March. Read more…
1) “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” 8 p.m., CBS. As Georgie nears the first Thanksgiving since his dad’s death, he’s determined to get his family together. But his mom is in deep despair, his sister is cynical, his grandma promised to go camping with Dale. (They’re shown here with Mandy and her baby.) Mandy tries to patch things up, in an episode that mixes sharp humor with moments of genuine emotion. Read more…
1) “The Golden Bachelorette” finale, 8-9:30 p.m., ABC The “overnight dates” brought two jolts: Joan Vassos announced there would be no sex; also, Pascal Ibgui left. That leaves Vassos – 61, a school administrator – with Guy Ganserd, 66, an ER doctor (shown here with her); or “Chock” Chapple, 61, an insurance executive Read more…
TV’s best comedy – that’s “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” – is about to pass two milestones. At 8 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 14), it has:
— Its first Thanksgiving episode (shown here); and
— A story that’s as much about warmth and character drama as about comedy.
That first part is good news, Situation comedies often peak at Thanksgiving, when characters are thrown together in new ways.
But the second is remarkable. Most sitcoms need years to establish characters that can invoke true emotion; “Georgie” does it in its fifth episode. Read more…
Kieran Haile was about 16 when an uncle handed him a book and mentioned a personal connection.
He said, “one of our granddads got chased out of town,” Halle recalled.
He promptly shrugged it off, as busy teens tend to do. The book told about the Wilmington, N.C., insurrection (shown here) and massacre of 1898, which is profiled in a PBS documentary at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12. At first, Haile considered that just another nasty footnote to history.
“Part of me was like, ‘Okay, so what?’” he told the Television Critics Association. “’Like, Black people have always suffered … Why should my family be any different?’” But this was very different. His great-great-grandfather ran the newspaper for a thriving Black community that was shattered by a mob. Read more…
1) “St. Denis Medical” debut, 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. In a slow year for comedy, this is just what we need – a sleek, smart workplace show from the “Superstore” people. This time, the setting is a hospital, with an overstressed nurse (Allison Tolman, shown here, of the first “Fargo” mini-series) and an underskilled administrator (Wendi McLendon-Covey of “Goldbergs.”). David Alan Grier, 68, offers droll counterpoint of an older doctor.
Read more…
