Some more starpower has been added to Inauguration Day.
Now Garth Brooks (shown here), Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga are scheduled to perform during the ceremony at noon ET Wednesday. That’s in addition to the evening TV special that will include Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, John Legend and many more. Details include: Read more…
There are good reasons for dramas to retreat to the past.
They need limits and obstacles. Romances work best amid “don’t” and “mustn’t”; crime stories are best if you can’t just call the cops or check the DNA and the video footage.
So Americans return to cowboy or pioneer days … the British visit the Victorian era … and “Miss Scarlet and the Duke” (shown here) – debuting at 8 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 17) on PBS’ “Masterpiece” – fits that era well. Read more…
For TV critics, this can be an annoyance: Shows change.
Good ones go bad. Mork gets goofy, “Miami Vice” gets glitzy, Fonzie jumps the shark.
And occasionally, a bad (or ordinary) one becomes very good. The latest surprise is “The Resident” (shown here in its early days); after steady improvement, its fourth season starts beautifully, at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 12) on Fox. Read more…
For those who grew up with movies and TV shows, there’s something missing from real politics.
It’s that “Inherit the Wind” moment – the one where one side dissolves. We never get that in real life – or we didn’t until the capitol riot (show here). Let me back up: Read more…
Neil Bremer has all the key qualifications to be mayor.
He’s tall and silver-haired, with an agreeable countenance and an affable manner. He has everything except … well, plans, proposals, projects and such. Maybe he’ll think of some later.
He’s the central character in “Mr. Mayor,” which debuts at 8 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 7) on NBC. It has all of NBC’s key Thursday people: Ted Danson (shown here) stars; Tina Fey and Robert Carlock are producers.
You may remember NBC Thursdays: That used to be “must-see TV”; then it became “might-see TV” and then sort of “whatever.” Read more…
To savor “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” – which starts its second season Tuesday (Jan. 5) – you must buy into one tiny little premise and …
OK, it’s actually a huge premise: Zoey was listening to her headphones inside a CAT scan. There was an earthquake, creating an anomaly. Now, of course, she keeps seeing people expressing their deepest personal thoughts via pop songs.
Yes, that’s a lot to accept. But we’ve seen a teen-ager gain the strength of a spider … and a guy turn into a hulk when he gets angry … and (in one cartoon series) a boy turn into an automobile. Unlike some of those shows, this one offers warmth, humor and intelligence.
“Playlist” (8 p.m., NBC), which has the TV’s brightest color palette, could have settled for silliness. Instead – with the writing and with the casting of Jane Levy (shown here) – it makes Zoey smart and caring. Read more…
On Christmas Day, the mega-movies suddenly crowded into our streaming services.
It was “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO Max, “Soul” on Disney+ and (two days earlier) George Clooney’s “The Midnight Sky” on Netflix. It was so crowded that we could almost overlook the other Christmas arrival – “Bridgerton,” an eight-part Netflix mini-series.
Still, “Bridgerton” (shown here) shouldn’t be ignored. It’s part classy Jane Austen and part tawdry Harlequin novel; it’s part classic-style period piece, part revisionist … and all Shondaland. Read more…
For good and bad, PBS keeps surprising us.
We don’t expect it to be involved with New Year’s Eve, a holiday that includes confetti, inebriation and silly hats. Arbor Day is more its style.
And we do expect it to be consistent. But now comes a surprise: A music special Thursday (New Year’s Eve) is beautifully crafted … in many of the same ways that a recent PBS one was badly botched.
The new special (8 p.m. Thursday, rerunning at 9:30, checks local listings) has such potent talents as Josh Groban (shown here in a previous concert) and bears the lofty title, “United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America.” And somehow, it lives up to that billing. Read more…
A musicality ripples through the “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” movie.
Some of that, you would expect. The film (which has just debuted on Netflix) is about a blues recording session in 1920s Chicago; it has snatches of great music throughout.
But that’s just part of it. The dialog itself often has the rhythm and flow of a jazzy riff. It offers a rich sampling of two immensely talented men who died way too soon.
One is Chadwick Boseman (shown here, left, with Viola Davis center), who died of colon cancer in August, at 43. The other is playwright August Wilson, who died of liver cancer in 2005, at 60. Read more…
There’s a law, you know, that says people must be informed if a pedophile moves into the neighborhood.
So I’m proposing a new one: People must be informed if their new neighbor is a sexual predator, a scammer, a schemer and an ex-president. Also, if he might cheat at golf.
That’s a bit specific, I guess, so let me explain: Read more…
