1) “Young Sheldon” series-finale (shown here), 8 and 8:30 p.m., CBS. This is one of the best hours of the season, or of any season. It manages the rare feat of being funny and subtly moving. Propelling it is the death, a week ago, of Sheldon’s father. The reactions vary widely, bur perfectly fit each wonderfully complex character. As a bonus, the second half-hour peeks at the nowadays Sheldon and Amy. Read more…
There will be a new feel to the Fox network this fall – no wrestlers, but lots of rescuers, no “Family Guy” (for now), but lots of football.
That’s as Fox hopes to be what Rob Wade, its CEO, calls an “independent, right-sized network.” It’s the only one of the big-four not with a movie studio and a big streamer.
The network has been tryiing to produce animated shows, instead of just buying them from outsiders. This fall it will have two – the returning “Krapopolis” and the new “Universal Basic Guys.’ That leaves “Family Guy” off the fall schedule for the first time in about two decades . It will be back at mid-season, Michael Thorn, the programming chief, promised. “We’ll give it a great re-launch.”
Fox has also finished its five-year deal with the WWE. It will try to fill the no-wrestling gap on Fridays with college football.
It will also stuff action into Mondays. “9-1-1: Lonestar,” which didn’t appear in this strike-shortened season, will be at 8 p.m. Mondays, followed by “Rescue: HI-Surf” (shown here) hich Thorn calls an “absolute adrenaline rush.” Read more…
Roger Corman – who died recently at 98 – will probably be remembered most for all the great careers he launched.
This was the guy who gave many people their directing debuts. That included James Cameron, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme. Joe Dante, Peter Bogdanovich and more.
But something else made him stand out: He was the master of getting something for (almost) nothing.
Corman (shown here) had an engineering degree and a sophisticated manner, but his specialty was making entertaining schlock on tiny budgets. In a world now stuffed with people dreaming of making movies on their smartphones, he was someone to sort of emulate. Later, I’ll have a longer commentary on his life and work. Read more…
1) “Nature: Saving the Animals of Ukraine,” 8 p.m., PBS. Encased in horror, people still rush to the rescue. “To save animals is to remain human,” says Asha Serpinska, 77. Evacuees (shown here) clung to cats and dogs. Lions were rescued from private zoos. A 13-year-old house cat survived a 60-day ordeal. It became a national hero; so did a little dog who finds land mines. It’s a richly human story. Read more…
It isn’t easy to face questions about your imminent death – even a fictional death.
Still, Lance Barber did that with his usual ease. In February, the Television Critics Association asked about the possible passing of his his “Young Sheldon” character, Sheldon’s dad George (shown here).
“I had fingers crossed from the beginning. (hoping) I would make it to the end,” he said.
Then he almost did. Last Thursday (May 9), a week before the show ends its seven-year run, viewers received a jolt: In the final minute, two friends arrived to say George had died of a heart attack.
Now that consumes the show’s finale. After reruns (including the pilot film) at 8 and 8:30 p.m. Monday, the last episodes are 8 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday (May 16). One focuses on the funeral, the other on the aftermath. Both manage a rare feat – being deeply and subtly moving, while also including humor. Read more…
1) “Tonight Show” anniversary. 9-11 p.m., NBC. After some stumbles, NBC had a fresh idea: Jimmy Fallon — then 39, boyish and upbeat — took over “Tonight” on Feb. 17, 2014. Ratings soared, then feel due to Covid, strikes and other shows’ focus on Trump-era satire. Now Fallon (shown here) is No. 3 in ratings, but thriving. In prime time, he’s had three game shows plus this clip-filled special. Read more…
After helping NBC survive the strikes, two dramas will be rewarded with cushy timeslots this fall.
“The Irrational” (shown here) will be at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, after the second “Voice” night. “Found” will be at 10 p.m. Thursdays, after two “Law & Order” shows.
They’ll be joined by just one new drama – “Brilliant Minds,” with Zachery Quinto – and two new comedies. One, from the “Superstore” producer, is set in a hospital and will be paired with “Night Court”; the other, starring Reba McEntire, will be paired with “Lopez vs. Lopex.”
To make room, the network is moving “Law & Order: Organized Crime” to the Peacock streamer and dropping several others. They includes “Magnum P.I.,” the sci-fi shows “Quantum Leap” and “La Brea” and the Jon Cryer comedy “Extended Family.” Read more…
1) So You Think You Can Dance,” 9:02 p.m., Fox. This starts with a four-person routine that makes one thing clear: These are remarkably gifted dancers, working with great choreographers. (They’re shown here in a previous week.) One dancer faces sharp pain, but all four – Madison Alvarado, 21; Dakayla Wilson, 19; Anthony Curley and Easton Magliarditi, 18 – dance brilliantly. Three advance to next week’s finale. Read more…
1) “Young Sheldon” series finale, 8 and 8:30 p.m.,Thursday, CBS. A great series wraps after seven seasons. Its finale has extra impact, after the jolting finish to the May 9 episode, when we learned Sheldon’s dad had died. Today (May 13), CBS reruns the pilot film (shown here) at 8 p.m. and another episode at 8:30. Then Thursday’s finale includes Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik as the adult Sheldon and Amy. Read more…
1) “Interview With the Vampire” season-opener, 9 p.m., AMC. After deep mourning for her daughter, who died at 5, Anne Rice created Claudia, who has the body of a child (when she became a vampire), the soul of an adult. She was 5 in the book, 11 in the movie and 14 here. Now she’s been recast: Delainey Hayles (sown here) is richly emotive, in a sometimes-brutal hour in 1940s Romania. Read more…
