1) “Ghosts,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. Isaac has been grumbling about history’s cruel twist: The world forgot him … but gave his nemesis (Alexander Hamilton) a hit musical. Now flashbacks (shown here) tell us how their rivalry began. Hamilton is played by Nat Faxon, an Oscar-winning writer (“The Descendants”) who plays Jackie’s husband in “The Conners.” Read more…
1) “Survivor” opener (shown here), 8-10 p.m., CBS. This network really likes fire folks. “Fire Country” is one of its top shows; Tom Westman (a firefighter, then 40) was one of its most skilled “Survivor” champions. Now the show has two firefighters, a captain, 45, and a lieutenant, 55. Others, on a Fiji island, range from a doctoral student, 24, to a surgeon, 46. Read more…
1) “Eyes On the Prize III,” 9-11 p.m., HBO. Over the next three nights, this civil rights documentary will take us from 1977 and community activists to 2015 and Black Lives Matter. One note: Spike Lee complained that the original “Eyes” only had eight minutes on Malcolm X; now HBO has Lee’s brilliant “Malcolm X” (1992, shown here), at 5:35 p.m. Read more…
1) “The Bachelor,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. Only seven women remain, including a lawyer, a tech engineer, a venture capitalist and a pediatric speech therapist. Tonight, Grant Ellis (shown here) takes them to Edinburgh, for a Scottish fair, a helicopter ride and more. Read more…
In a TV world where shows can vanish quickly, there’s some good news:
CBS has renewed nine more of its shows for next season. Also, PBS has renewed “Miss Scarlet” for a sixth season.
The CBS moves follow four previous renewals, plus three new shows. Two of the new ones are spin-offs (including “Sheriff Country,” shown here); this is not a network for chaotic change. Read more…
(This is the sixth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)
As the 1951 season began, TV had a split personality.
Yes, there were promising signs from Sid Caesar, Ed Sullivan and lots of live dramas But there were also remnants of TV’s primitive start.
Look around prime time that fall and you’d find wrestling (twice) and boxing (twice). You’d find the “Georgetown University Forum” and “Johns Hopkins Science Review”; “Youth on the March” and “American Youth Forum.” You’d find “Marshall Plan in Action,” “Film Filler” and “Lessons in Safety.”
And into that shaky field – on Oct. 15, 1951 – “I Love Lucy” (shown here) debuted. It instantly fulfilled “every promise of the often harassed new medium,” a Hollywood Reporter critic wrote, adding: “It should bounce to the top of the rating heap in no time.“ Read more…
1) “The Americas” debut, 7 and 8 p.m., NBC. The filmmakers are British, but the narrator is Tom Hanks and the subject is purely New World. That starts with gorgeous hours on the Atlantic Coast and in Mexico. There are exotic visions of swarming fish, swooping eagles and glowing fireflies, plus quirky fun with raccoons (shown here) cavorting in cities and suburbs. Read more…
1) “NAACP Image Awards,” 8-10 p.m., CBS and BET. “Wicked,” which reaches Peacock on March 21, is up for best picture, alongside “Bob Marley: One Love” (shown here), “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” “Piano Lesson” and “The Six Triple Eight.” TV comedies include “Abbott Elementary,” “Poppa’s House,” “The Neighborhood,” “The Upshaws,” and “How to Die Alone.” Read more…
1) Academy Awards, 7-10:30 p.m. ET Sunday ABC. It won’t be easy to keep us entertained. With a few exceptions (“Wicked,” shown here, for instance), the nominees are obscure; there will be music, but not the best-song nominees. We’ll hope for fun from the host (Conan O’Brien), announcer (Nick Offerman) and presenters, including Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler and Bowen Yang. Read more…
One day, we’re told, a Juilliard professor heard something upsetting.
Someone was performing an adjusted version of a classic. He stomped in, asking who dared to edit Rachmaninoff.
He found Hazel Scott, age 8, at the piano. She had made changes because her hands weren’t yet big enough for some of the moves.
Scott (shown here) would soon become Juilliard’s youngest student. And, in her teens, the youngest performer at the elegant Cafe Society. And, at 22, the spark for a brief movie strike. And, later, a star on TV and in Paris.
That’s told in a fascinating “American Masters,” at 9 p.m. Friday (Feb. 21) on PBS. Add an “American Experience” profile of Walter White (9-11 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25) and you have a strong finish to Black History Month. Read more…
