1) “Rescue HI-Surf,” 9 p.m. today, Fox. A post-Super-Bowl makeover begins for Fox. At 8 p.m. is the debut of “Extracted,” a survival reality show. Then “HI-Surf” has what it calls its most dangerous rescue yet. There are, indeed, some high-stakes moments, after torpedoes are found. There are also blue-sky moments (shown here) and others — especially with the one-note mayor — that are merely so-so. Read more…
(This is the fourth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down in “stories.”)
Variety shows seemed to fit cozily into the new TV world.
They were simple and straight-forward. People looked at a camera and sang or told jokes; occasionally, they danced. Little could go wrong.
And still …
Some of the biggest stars had variety shows that sputtered. Frank Sinatra went two seasons and 62 episodes; Eddie Fisher went two and 27. There was only one season for Judy Garland (26 episodes), Sammy Davis Jr. (14), Jerry Lewis (11) and Mary Tyler Moore (also 11). All of those topped “The Paula Poundstone Show,” which lasted two episodes. As it turns out, variety shows are easy to do, but hard to do right.
Ironically, TV was finally getting the hang of it — peaking with “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (shown here) when it quit making them. More on that in a bit. Read more…
1) Super Bowl, 6:30 p.m. ET, Fox. The Kansas City Chiefs (shown here) try to be the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. Still, this is no domineering dynasty: The previous wins were by 3 points apiece. The conference championship win was also by 3; now they face the Philadelphia Eagles, who won their conference-title game by 32. This could be fun. Read more…
1) “SNL 50,” 8-11 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC. “Saturday Night Live” arrived on Oct. 11, 1975, promptly changing TV. Now comes the 50th-season reunion. It includes past hosts and music guests — Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson (shown here), Quinta Brunson, Kim Kardashian, Dave Chappelle, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, John Mulaney, Robert De Niro and more. Read more…
From time to time, the world falls in love and/or hate with boy bands.
Record sales soar; the Backstreet Boys alone have sold 130 million. Some girls scream their approval, some guys disagree. Noel Gallagher, of the British group Oasis, called boy bands “the spawn of Satan.”
And then, after a slight pause, it starts all over again.
Now a documentary views a key phase: “The Boy Band Boom of the ‘90s” airs from 8-10 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 8) on CW. Read more…
1) “The ‘90s Boy Band Boom,” 8-10 p.m., CW. Here’s a mostly joyful tour of an era, told mostly by the guys themselves. It starts with a Backstreet Boys single peaking at No. 69. The group (shown here in the early days) then soared in Europe; so did ‘N Sync. Then came 98 Degrees and more. Girls screamed, guys fumed. One rocker called them “spawns of the devil,” but they’ve persisted. Read more…
1) “NCIS: Sydney,” 8 p.m., CBS. A week later than first scheduled, here’s the season-opener. It’s intense, starting moments after the first season ended: The people who kidnapped JD’s son had a phone link to Col. Rankin. With one flaw (a stiff and stereotyped higher-up from NCIS), it’s a strong hour, with action (shown here) and intensity. Read more…
For a frantic stretch, Sunday is becoming TV’s must-see night.
That sprawls across four weeks and three networks. It was conference-championship football (Jan. 26, CBS) and the Grammys (Feb. 2, CBS); now come the Super Bowl (Feb. 9, Fox, with the Eagles, shown here, and Chiefs) and the “Saturday Night Live” 50-year reunion (Feb. 16, NBC).
All of that is splendid for people who want big-deal events. It’s way less cheerful for ABC … or fans of “Tracker” and “Equalizer” … or for shows – from “The Simpsons” to “Masterpiece” — that compete with the giants. Read more…
1) “NFL Honors,” 9-11 p.m., Fox. Snoop Dogg hosts from New Orleans, where the Chiefs and Eagles collide Sunday in the Super Bowl. Neither team has a most-valuable-player nominee; those are Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow (shown here), Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson. But other categories include the Chiefs coach and three Eagles on defense. Read more…
People used to talk about “Grammy moments” – the bits that made Grammy-night special.
But this time? The entire night — concluding with album-of-the-year for Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” (shown here) felt like one mega-moment. Each song seemed like the curtain-closer for a Broadway show or an epic party.
It helped, of course, that the new generation of performers can do much more than sing. There was Benson Boone, doing two back-flips; there was Sabrina Carpenter somehow channeling Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and a pop diva. Read more…
