Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for June 24: Ailes looms loudly

1) “The Loudest Voice” debut, 10 p.m. Sunday, Showtime. As Fox News prepares to premiere, its rehearsals are a disaster. A host bumbles, directors flail … and a dog has just taken an on-camera dump. The boss, Roger Ailes, will soon call a 4 a.m. meeting, filled with loud rage. Won’t this be a disaster? Not really. Ailes, understands a new TV era; instead of seeking a mass audience, he’s carving a specific one. Russell Crowe (shown here) plays the role with a skilled mix of subtlety, venom and volume. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for June 17: Blue-sky debuts and a “Trouble” return

1) “Good Trouble” return, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Freeform. Every now and then – but not often – TV has a surprise like this: A fairly good show delivers a terrific episode. This one is called “Percussion” and it keeps having Dennis — wracked with pain and self-loathing — pound his drum set. He has a brief-but-passionate storyline; Mariana has a so-so one. The real power involves the end of the trial of the cop who killed a black teen. Callie, the lawyer (Maia Mitchell, show here with Beau Mirchofff) and Malika, the activist, are enmeshed, with fierce impact. Read more…

Week’s top 10 for June 10: A scripted surge

1) “The Good Fight,” 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday, CBS. One of TV’s best shows has been semi-invisible. The first episode aired on CBS, but the others were on CBS All-Access; in the first season (of three, so far) shows were reaching less than 2 per cent of TV homes. Now that season gets a CBS summer run. First, Diane (Christine Baranski, shown here) of “Good Wife” loses her money and her job; with a young protege (whose dad drained the money), she goes to a mostly black law firm. It’s a strong start to a smart show. Read more…

Week’s Top 10 for June 3: Two Emmy champs return

1) “The Handmaid’s Tale” (any time Wednesday, Hulu) and “Big Little Lies” (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO). Two years ago, these dominated the Emmys. “Handmaid” won for best drama series, “Lies” for best mini-series. Their stars, Elisabeth Moss and Nicole Kidman, also won. “Handmaid” and Moss won again last year; as the third season arrives, she’d seeking ways to rebel. “Lies” took last year off, but returns with a new mystery and its old stars (Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley, shown here) … plus Meryl Streep. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for May 27: NBC eyes summer dominance

1) “America’s Got Talent” opener, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. This is the week NBC tries to dominate the summer. The key is “AGT,” the perpetual ratings champ. Simon Cowell and Howie Mandell remain, but Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough replace Heidi Klum and Mel B; also, Terry Crews replaces Tyra Banks as host. (The newcomers are shown here.) And there’s a companion show: “Songland” debuts at 10, with four writers pitching to producers (including Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic), who choose one for their guest star. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for May 20: “Voice” is Blake country

1) “The Voice” finale, 9-11 p.m. today and Tuesday, NBC. For a while, Blake Shelton’s dominance was slipping. In 13 editions, he had six champions and seven runners-up; then Kelly Clarkson won two straight. Not to worry; Shelton now has three of the four finalists — Gythy Rigdon, Dexter Roberts and Andrew Sevener; John Legend has the fourth, Maelyn Jarmon. (She’s shown here with, from left, Sevener, Rigdon and Roberts.) Tonight, each does three songs; on Tuesday, one will be the winner. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for May 13: Farewell to “Thrones” and “Big Bang”

1) “Game of Thrones” finale, 9-10:20 p.m. Sunday, HBO, rerunning at 11:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. In a week filled with big-deal finales, this is the biggest. Over eight seasons and 73 episodes, “Game of Thrones” has told a massive story. It’s had dragons, armies, nudity, incest and more. Rulers have been toppled; key people – some good, some not – have been killed. To prepare us, HBO reruns the previous episode often, including 7:35 p.m. today, 11:05 p.m. Thursday,11:50 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Read more…

Week’s top 10 for May 6: Full of finales

1) “Modern Family” season finale, 9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. In a week stuffed with finales, this may be the big one: It wraps up the second-to-last season of a show that won the best-comedy Emmy in each of its first five seasons. (One year, everyone playing an adult was nominated, landing four of the five spots for supporting actor.) It’s almost time for Haley and Dylan (shown here in a previous episode) to have their twins; that spurs people to recall their recent birthdays. Read more…

Week’s top 10 for April 29: Mariah, Madonna, more

1) “Billboard Music Awards,” 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. In one packed night, we get Madonna and Mariah and Maluma and more. Halsey sings “Without Me” and also links with BTS. Other combos have Tori Kelly with Dan + Shay and(shown here) Madonna with Maluma. Also performing are Kelly Clarkson, who hosts; Mariah Carey, who gets the Icon Award; and Paula Abul, with a medley, 30 years after her debut album had four No. 1 hits. Also: Jonas Brothers, Ciara, Khalid, Lauren Daigle and Panic! At the Disco. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for April 22: “Red Line” passion

1) “The Red Line” opener, 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday, CBS. For years, CBS has remained No. 1 by playing it safe — dependable dramas with an ending (happy, usually) for each hour, Now comes a bold risk, a story spread over eight hours on four Sundays. We see a tragic mistake and its tangled impact. There are flaws here: The incident is too clear-cut; a key admission (late in the first hour) is unmotivated. Still, this is beautifully done; in the second hour, Noah Wylie (shown here) delivers some deeply moving moments. Read more…