Day: February 16, 2025

Good times (mostly) with “SNL 50” and “SNL #1

For a moment there, the 50-year celebration of “Saturday Night Live” seemed to be veering off-course. Then it kept getting better, funnier, more entertaining.
The night (Feb. 16) started with a great monolog by Steve Martin (shown here), but followed with several sketches that were long on commotion and short on wit. Such sketches are a part of the “SNL” tradition, but why front-load them?
Just in time, however, the special rebounded with a bit involving questions from the audience. Interestingly, a football guy (Peyton Manning) had some of the best lines. Read more…

After just 26 years, a new soap arrives

As she molded the glittery world of “Beyond the Gates” (shown here) Michele Val Jean suspected it might be an empty exercise.
After all, there hadn’t been a new daytime soap opera since 1999. Soaps were being canceled, not created.
“There were 13 on the air,” she said. “Now there are four – and one is streaming.”
But now it’s happening: At 2 p.m. Feb. 24, “Beyond the Gates” debuts on CBS. We’ll meet the Duprees, who are rich, Black, ambitious and – this is a soap, after all – troubled. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 18: from docs to a president

1) “Doc,” 9 p.m., Fox. Struggling to remain a doctor, despite losing eight years of memories, Amy has been opposed by Richard (now her boss) and Sonja (shown here). Now we see the human side of both. Richard (Scott Wolf) faces a rough problem at home; Sonja encounters a man from her past. This hour (the seventh of 10) packs potent emotion. Read more…