1) “Grantchester” season-finale, 9 p.m., PBS. The entire season has pointed toward this hour. Will Alphy (shown here) lose his vicarage? Will Leonard lose his lover? Will a charismatic stranger ruin lives? All of that (plus a murder) converges. The solutions come too easily, but richly drawn characters make up for flimsy plots. Read more…
ABC has come up with two surprises involving superstars, past and present.
The former is the late Jim Henson (shown here). A documentary about his life will air at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 11.
And the latter is Carrie Underwood. This winter, she’ll become a judge on “American Idol,” the show that thrust her to fame 20 years ago. Details include: Read more…
1) Olympics final week. This is when track-and-field (shown here in a previous year) — the original core of any Olympics – starts piling up medals. There are finals live at 1:30 p.m. ET today, 1:35 Tuesday, 1 Wednesday, 11:35 Thursday, 1:30 Friday and 10 Saturday, Others include swimming, diving and more, with a recap each day, 8-11 p.m. Read more…
1) “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” 8 p.m., HBO. Taylor (shown here) had a life that was epic in every way – tabloid (widowed once, divorced seven times) … charitable (an early backer of AIDS causes … professional. She won two Oscars and did potent movies adapted from Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams (twice) and Edward Albee. This documentary uses 40 hours of audio tapes. Read more…
In the midst of TV’s late-summer blahs, the Great American Family cable channel has a new-movie spree.
It will have a new, faith-based film at 8 p.m. ET for six straight Saturdays. That starts Aug. 3, with one starring Carlos and Alexa PenaVega (shown here), a married duo that has made several Hallmark and GAF films..
GAF began after the Hallmark Channel decided to diversify its films. Former Hallmark executives bought and retooled Great American Country. Read more…
1) Olympics: track-and-field, NBC. This used to be the Olympics core. It gave us the stars – Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Jim Thorpe, Flo-Jo, Bruce Jenner, Rev. Bob Richards, Carl Lewis, Dick Fosbury, more. Now Americans prefer swimming, gymnastics and such, but it’s time for track (shown here in a previous Olympics) to begin That’s 10-10:40 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. ET, then in the 8-11 p.m. recap Read more…
1) Football, 8 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN. A week before other pre-season games, here’s the Hall of Fame game. The Houston Texans, 11-8 last season, face the Chicago Bears, 7-10. Many teams avoid playing top quarterbacks pre-season, but the Bears have said Caleb Williams (shown here), the No. 1 draft pick, will get some action. Read more…
1) Olympics. There are medals today in swimming (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC) and individual gymnastics. Team events for the U.S. include women’s beach volleyball, 9 a.m., NBC; and men’s basketball (shown here in the opening win over Serbia), 1 p.m., USA. Also, triathlon on NBC; archery, women’s BMX, more on USA. Then it’s all repackaged, from 8-11 p.m. on NBC. Read more…
Right now, good scripted shows are hard to find.
Sure, it’s fun to have Olympics and game shows and such, but we still need good stories to slip into. “Signora Volpe” (shown here) has returned, just in time.
For its second season, the show has three movie-length tales. They debut on Mondays (starting July 29) at 6 p.m. on BBC America and on the Acorn streaming service … providing a clear upgrade. Read more…
1) Olympics: women’s gymnastics (shown here) team finals, NBC. One of the peak points in the Olympics comes early. The team title always brings a stir. (Remember 1996, with a hobbled Kerri Strug sticking her landing in a narrow U.S. win?) You can catch it live at 12:15 p.m. ET or as part of the nightly wrap-up, from 8-11. Then things re-start, with all the individual events.
Read more…
