1) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. Ever since “Rear Window,” mysteries have offered the idea of a silent, distant witness. Now the distance is thousands of miles: Through an art installation, a Scottish singer (Ioann Gruffudd, who’s played Lancelot and Horatio Hornblower) sees a crime that Elsbeth (shown here) sees in Manhattan. It’s a fun story that has twists appropriate for Valentine eve. Read more…
When “Saturday Night Live” has its 50-year celebration, most of its major stars – from Eddie Murphy to Will Ferrell to Kate McKinnon (shown here) – will be there.
That will be at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) Sunday, Feb. 16, on NBC, with a red-carpet show at 7. It wraps up a three-day weekend of “SNL” events.
The show had already said many of its hosts and music guests – Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Sabrina Carpenter, etc. — will be there. It also announced that its first episode (from Oct. 11, 1975) will rerun at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Now it says most of the stars from that long-ago opener will be at Sunday’s show — Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman. Read more…
As “Saturday Night Live” enters its golden years, it keeps reloading.
Consider the current cast: When Sarah Sherman was born, the show was already in its 18th season; Marcello Hernandez was born in the 22nd season, Jane Wickline in the 24th.
None of the regulars has lived in a world without “SNL,” but Kenan Thompson (shown here) came close. He’s 46 and has spent almost half his life as an “SNL” star.
And even before that, he was on a show that was a lot like it. “We would say, like, ‘We’re in the “Saturday Night Live” for kids,’” Thompson recalled in 2007. Read more…
1) “Wild Cards,” 8 p.m., CW. We’re far from the glittery settings where Max (shown here) works her best scams. This is a ranch, engulfed family feuds. It’s a so-so story, but does allow for some horseback scenes. Read more…
So if you saw the game, you might have sensed that the Kansas City Chiefs had a shot at being the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.
You would have realized it because various Fox people said it approximately 2.9 million times. Or maybe 3 million.
That was a fine storyline; I may have said it myself, once or twice. But some perspective would have helped. Like the fact that the previous wins were by 3 points … and the win to get here this year was by 3 points … and that the Philadelphia Eagles (shown here) had won their previous game by 32.
Anyway, I’ll quit grumbling about that; all the three-peat talk soon vanished. And overall, I liked the telecast (and the commercials) a lot. A few random thoughts:
Read more…
1) “Great Migrations” finale, 9 p.m., PBS. The first two hours saw millions of Blacks moving north (shown here) for jobs and freedom. Now that flips: Amid disputes about police, real estate bias and more, there were 150 urban uprisings in 1967. As the South mellowed; Ebony Magazine proclaimed: “You Can Go Home Again.” A strong hour shows a reverse migration. Read more…
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…
