1) Grammy awards, 8-11:30 p.m. ET, CBS. Trevor Noah hosts a night stuffed with music. Performers includes Sza (shown here), Billy Joel, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish, Luke Combs, Joni Mitchell, Burna Boy and Olivia Rodrigo. Sza leads with nine nominations; for album of the year, she faces Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, Janelle Monae, Boygenius and Jon Batiste. Read more…
Every Super Bowl is a new adventure, but this year’s might seem a tad less new.
It will be the third time in the last four years for Patrick Mahomes (shown here) and the Kansas City Chiefs … and Tony Romo’s third time as analyst … Jim Nantz’s sixth doing play-by-play … James Brown’s 11th anchoring the pre-game show.
The half-time star, Usher, has been there before, albeit briefly, And “Tracker,” the post-game show? It stars Justin Hartley, who was in a post-game “This Is Us,” in 2018.
Well, familiar is good sometimes. Here’s a look at the Super Bowl marathon. Read more…
1) “The Grio Awards,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. This aired on Thanksgiving weekend, when viewers were scarce; now it gets a second chance. There’s music (Jennifer Hudson, Coco Jones (shown here), Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, Boyz II Men) plus awards for Black icons – Denzel Washington, Mariah Carey, Eddie Murphy. Misty Copeland, Al Sharpton and more. Sheryl Underwood and Roy Wood Jr. host. Read more…
1) Super Bowl, 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. For the Kansas City Chiefs (shown here), this is familiar turf. It’s their fourth Super Bowl in five years; they’ve won two of those and their stars (Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce) fill pop culture. The San Francisco 49ers have five Super Bowl wins, but none in the past 30 years. They were 12-5 in the regular season (the Chiefs were 11-6), then needed two come-from-behind wins. Read more…
1) “American Masters,” 9 p.m., PBS. Before glam rock, before the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” was popular, there was Little Richard (shown here). Ringo Starr and Keith Richards were both teen fans. They’re included in this documentary; so is Pat Boone, now 89, who covered “Tutti Frutti,” blissfully unaware of any sexual connotations. It’s a fascinating story that sees Richard survive drugs, deceit and bias. Read more…
Humor keeps rippling through Lenny Henry’s life.
He’s been a stand-up comic, a comedy actor, co-founder of Comic Relief.
But now he’s created and co-stars in “Three Little Bird” (shown here). The six-part mini-series (which starts streaming Thursday, Feb. 1, on Britbox) includes a compelling look at the tough times faced by past generations of immigrants.
Both extremes fit together, Henry said in a virtual interview. “How do you overcome trials and tribulations without a sense of humor?” Read more…
1) “Genius: MLK/X” openers (shown here), 9 and 10:15 p.m., National Geographic Channel. These two men had little in common … yet everything in common. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in clergy comfort, had his own church at 25 and mastered non-violent protest. Malcolm X grew up roughly, went to prison, ignited rage. Yet they helped reach the same goals; this eight-parter tells the story well. Read more…
1) “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” openers, 10 and 11:30 p.m., FX. This starts with a delicate glimpse (shown here): A cheated-on wife despairs; a guy deftly calms her with words and pills. She’s Babe Paley, wife of the CBS chairman; he’s Truman Capote, a brilliant writer and eccentric soul. Perfectly played by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland, they launch a mini-serieis that is elegant, intelligent and not for everyone.
Read more…
Lately, some wise souls have said the “peak TV” era has ended..
They may be right, but you can’t prove it right now: Two lushly crafted mini-series are opening back-to-back.
And no, these aren’t on pay-extra channels. They will stream, but they’re mainly on basic-cable. They debut with two hours, then are weekly for six more; they are: Read more…
1) “Quantum Leap” return,10 p.m., NBC. “Quantum” leaped from a fairly good first season to an excellent second. Alongside its time-trekking, it now has Ben’s personal pain, after he vanished into a time-twisted fog, His ex-fiancee has a new guy who plans to propose. Also, Ben keeps bumping across Hannah, a physicist he loves. This episode (he’s a bounty-hunter, shown here) brings much of that together Read more…
