Year: 2025

Best-bets for Jan. 21: big day for Doc, odd one for Schmo

1) “Doc,” 9 p.m., Fox. For Amy (Molly Parker, shown here), it’s the first day back at work, after a crash took away eight years of personal and medical memories. Flashbacks show when she was an overbearing medical chief; now she can only watch and suggest. This compelling hour has opposite patients, one in denial, the other deeply loving. We also see Amy’s life, emerging from a fog. Read more…

It’s quiet, Canadian … and sort of eternal

In the transient TV world, “Murdoch Mysteries” (shown here) seems almost eternal.
The show is quiet, clean, Canadian. People rob and kill, but they rarely are impolite or unkempt.
And now it reaches a landmark: Its 300th episode is at 8 p.m. ET Monday (Jan. 20) on the Ovation channel, with earlier ones streaming on Acorn, Amazon, Hulu and more.
Yes, 300. That ‘s seven more than “Blue Bloods” or “Beverly Hills, 90210,” 25 more than “Cheers,” 36 more than “Frasier” or “Murder, She Wrote.” Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 20: football peaks, presidency changes

1) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET today, ESPN and ESPN2. Two traditional champs, Notre Dame (shown here) and Ohio State, collide for the national title. Since 1929, they’ve won 11 and 8 national championships respectively; only Alabama (14) and Southern Cal (9) compare. As the playoffs started, they were ranked No. 8 and 7. Each then had three wins, two of them upsets, leading here. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 18: Chiefs, Chappelle, more

1) Football. The two top teams return to action. The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, had 15-2 records, giving them byes in the first playoff week and home games now. The Chiefs host the Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN; the Lions (shown here) host the Commanders at 8 on Fox. One note: In the college playoffs, all four bye teams promptly lost their next game. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan.17: a double-Sam night

1) “Outlander” and “The Couple Next Door, 8 and 9:05 p.m., Starz; repeating at 10 and midnight. It’s a double Sam Heughan night. In the “Outlander” season-finale, he’s an 18th-century warrior married (via time-travel) to a modern surgeon. Then a six-part drama (shown here): H’s a cop with an open marriage, complicated when a young couple moves next door. Read more…

Best-bets for Jan. 16: “Law” returns, “Dutch” improves

1) “Law & Order” return, 8 p.m., NBC. After a seven-week break, NBC’s Thursday shows have new episodes. First (shown here) is a probe of why a man was pushed in front of a train. At 9, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” has a woman shocked by a video of a night she can’t remember. At 10 on “Found,” a woman searches for her boyfriend, but outside forces are involved. Read more…