1) “North by Northwest” (1959), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Post-Oscars, there are still good movies to try. This zesty Hitchcock adventure (shown here with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint) is surrounded by the Marx Brothers’ “A Day at the Races” (1937) at 6 and “Lover Come Back” (1961) — an amiable Rock Hudson/Doris Day film with an Oscar-nominated script — at 10:30. Read more…
(This is the eighth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)
For TV people, some lessons are learned, unlearned and learned anew.
Flash back to Pat Weaver, who ran NBC from 1953-55.
“Once you’ve chosen the creative people and put them to work, you leave them alone,” he wrote later. “You wouldn’t tell Milton Berle what jokes to use. You wouldn’t tell a producer like Fred Coe how to climax a dramatic story for ‘Television Playhouse.’ At least I never did.”
That’s the same notion Grant Tinker had during his two turns at NBC – first (1961-67) as West Coast programming chief, later (1981-86) as network president, propelling an era of “Cheers” (shown here), “L.A. Law” and more. “The mission,” Tinker wrote later, “was to get good producers and let them produce.” Read more…
1) “Grey’s Anatomy” (shown here) return, 10 p.m., ABC. In the midst of a heat wave, Jo and Lucas went to a convenience story to get ice. There was a gunman, a fight and a shot; now – 15 weeks later – we learn what happened. There’s chaos in the hospital and Ben’s emergency plan faces challenges. Also, Amelia and Winston disagree about a patient. Read more…
As AMC moves out of the witches’ den and back to the reservation (shown here), it’s time for a nagging question:
What’s ahead for scripted shows on basic-cable? Will they all go away?
Cable “is in a state of steady decline,” Variety (the show-business trade paper) wrote recently. “Some would call it a state of decay.”
Others wouldn’t. The collapse “is irreversible,” one expert (Naveen Sarma) told Variety, “but there is no immediate cliff. We expect the decline will be a steady one that will take years.” Read more…
1) “The Amazing Race” opener, 9:30-11 p.m., CBS. It’s the show’s largest line-up, with 14 duos. There are married nurses and dating nurses. Three more duos are married, including Las Vegas performers and the parents of eight boys. There are father-son lumberjacks (shown here) and Chicago’s retired gangs-and-narcotics chief, who’s with his daughter. Read more…
This year’s Academy Award show gave us 31 great minutes.
It also gave us 194 not-great (and, sometimes, not good at all) minutes. But at least we got something.
The great ones were at the very start. There was a musical burst from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo that took an 85-year leap from “Over the Rainbow” to “Defying Gravity.”
Then came Conan O’Brien’s sharp monolog. (We’ll forgive his nasty mini-film that preceded it; O’Brien made up for that later with a terrific little film introducing younger generations to movie theaters.) Read more…
1) Presidential address, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. Technically, it’s not a “State of the Union” speech until a year into the term. But the last seven presidents also delivered a talk their first year, so here it is. The follow-up (including Democratic response by new Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan) continues to at least 11 ET. Alternatives, listed next, include “Will Trent” (shown here), Tom Hanks and more. Read more…
1) “Sullivan’s Crossing,” 9 p.m. today, CW. If you missed the second season (a good one), catch it now. In this rerun of the opener, Maggie (shown here) rushes to her dad, who is s hospitalized and has forgotten his financial deadline. Also, she thinks Cal ignored her; in truth, he left a note that Lola hid. Read more…
Here’s a handy tip for fans of documentaries:
Whenever possible, watch profiles of Texas women. Those films – like their subjects – offer rare blends of strength and joy.
There have been terrific ones about Ann Richards (the former governor) and Mollie Ivins (the former newspaper writer and “60 Minutes” commentator). And now we have, “Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter.”
That’s available on PBS’ World Channel (9 p.m. ET March 7, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 8), on PBS apps and on some stations during the current pledge drive. It’s worth finding. Read more…
(This is the seventh chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down in “Stories.”)
In a logical world, “I Love Lucy” would have launched a revolution in clever comedies.
TV, of course, lacks logic. It would be a couple decades before Mary Tyler Moore (shown here), Archie Bunker and others propelled the first golden age of comedy.
During the “Lucy” years, networks mostly had minor comedies, often bearing characters’ names. There was “Stanley” and “Sally,” “Willy” and “Meet Millie.” There was “Hey Jeannie” and “It’s Always Jan,” “Dear Phoebe” and “Honestly Celeste,” “Leave It to Larry” and “Meet Mr. McNutley.” And that’s not to mention “Colonel Humphrey Flack” and “Adventures of Hiram Hoke.” Read more…
