Year: 2024

Grier took a funny route to the hospital

David Alan Grier has finally entered his family legacy, working in a hospital.
Alas, it took him 68 years to get there. Also, it’s fictional.
Grier (shown here) stars in “St. Denis,” a hospital comedy from the “Superstore” and “American Auto” people. It debuts at 8 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on NBC, with Grier as a doctor he describes as “an old curmudgeon,” surrounded by people who are younger and more frantic.
That medical setting should sort of fit. Grier’s father was a psychiatrist; most of the offspring followed suit. “My brothers and sisters – psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, mental health,” he told the Television Critics Association. “That was all part of my upbringing …. I grew up around Black doctors.” Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 11: doctors, soldiers and the Grinch

1) “St. Denis Medical” debut, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The “Superstore” people have another quick, slick workplace comedy. Allison Tolman (shown here), from the “Fargo” mini-series, plays an overstressed chief nurse, with Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Goldbergs”) as an underskilled administrator. David Alan Grier (shown here), 68, offers the droll counterpoint of an older doctor. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 9: “SNL” will try to laugh

1) Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Back in 2020, “SNL” was trying to bounce back after a Covid-hampered season. Chris Rock hosted the season-opener, but Bill Burr – who’d never done it before – had the second episode (shown here). Now Burr has his second turn – a difficult, post-election task. The music guest is Mk.gee. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 7: ABC is back; CBS is fun

1) “Grey’s Anatomy,” 10 p.m., ABC. After pausing last week for Halloween-night reruns, ABC has new episodes. Here, Mika overloads, after taking time off to be with her sister. (They’re shown here in a previous episode.) Also, Levi faces a huge decision. At 8 p.m., “9-1-1” tries to rescue a toddler stuck in a pipe; at 9,“Doctor “Odyssey” has a wedding cruise financed by a rich family. Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 5: The election … and alternatives

1) Election. TV people are quite serious about this one – what with the future of the free world and such. So they’ll start early and stay late. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on PBS; 7 on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox; and 8 on CW. The cable news channels started approximately in July. And yes, we’ll list alternatives, including “Mary Poppins” (shown here). Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 4: vampires, cops and elections

1) “What We Do in the Shadows,” 10 p,m., FX. Three weeks from its finale, this terrific show pushes its stories into overdrive. Nandor (shown here, left, in a previous episode) realizes that for a while – well, for centuries – he’s drifted from his role as a great commander. Now he’s organized an army that seems suspiciously invisible. Stick with this episode, because the final minutes pack surprises Read more…

It’s a wild world — even in our cities

These used to feel like different worlds.
There were humans, with their cities and streets and such. And somewhere beyond, there was nature.
“Nature was ‘other,’” filmmaker Nate Dappen said. “It was something that you went to find and it wasn’t happening here.”
Until we found it everywhere. An example is “San Diego: America’s Wildest City” (shown here) at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 6) on PBS, under the “Nature” banner Read more…

Best-bets for Nov. 3: monsters & zombies, funny & not

1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. “Treehouse of Horror” again has three tales – all of them weird and some very funny. The first is timely, as political rage creates red and blue monsters (shown here). The second (a Scrooge take-off) is so-so, but has a funny closing bit. The third is clever (albeit very adult); at the Pants For the Amply Rumped store, Homer gets killer jeans. Read more…