1) “Tulsa King,” 8 p.m., CBS. It’s time for a showdown, with Dwight (Sylvester Stallone, shown here) and his crew facing Waltrip and his motorcycle gang. Also, a flashback shows why Dwight went to prison, 25 years ago. That wraps the first season; the second starts next Sunday on Paramount+, where this episode aired 20 months ago. Read more…
1) Emmy awards. 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC (5 and 8 p.m. on the West Coast.. It’s time to honor the best of a strike-shattered season … then move on to a better one. Eugene and Dan Levy are the father-son hosts. Netflix has 107 nominations, but FX has the top individual shows – “Shogun” (shown here) for drama (25), “The Bear” for comedy (23). Read more…
1) “Ghost” (1990), 6 p.m., CMT; 6:45, Showtime. The world seems to really want us to see Demi Moore (shown here) and Patrick Swayze film, airing it on two networks. It is a good one, richly romantic. More romance is available all day on Hallmark (including Lacey Chabert’s new “His & Hers” at 8) and on Great American Family. Read more…
CBS is taking its first, hesitant steps toward having a longer morning show.
On Sept. 30, “CBS Mornings Plus” will debut at 9 a.m. ET. Tony Dokoupil, one of the “CBS Mornings” hosts, will stick around for the third hour, joined by Adriana Diaz. (They’re shown here.)
But the network says the show will only be on a few stations it owns – in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Miami and San Francisco – plus the streaming service, CBS News 24/7. Presumably, it could expand to others. Read more…
1) “WWE SmackDown,” 8-10 p.m. Friday. Virtually every week for five years, this has been Fox’s Friday show. Even during summers, strikes and Covid, it’s been there. Now that ends; next week, “SmackDown” (shown here) returns to the USA Network. It’s been there before, and at UPN, CW, Syfy and MyNetwork. Read more…
1) Football, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC, with pre-game at 7. The pro season opens with a classic rematch. The Baltimore Ravens sailed through last season with a 13-4 record, won the divisional playoffs 34-10, then sputtered; the Kansas City Chiefs (shown here), 11-6, won 17-10 and then won the Super Bowl. Now it’s Ravens-Chiefs time again. Read more…
If you move into a new place, a good friend will give you a floral arrangement or a fruit plate.
A great one will give you a horse.
The latter describes Rex Linn. “I bought some land in Montana,” John Lithgow said. “He told me, ‘You can’t own that land and not have a horse.”
The result is reflected 30 years later, when “The Old Man” starts its second season, at 10 p.m. Sept. 12 on FX. There is Lithgow (shown here, left, with Jeff Bridges) – not usually an action hero – riding a horse and wielding a rifle. “It’s perfect heaven,” he said. Read more…
The first two new shows of the TV season are coming, bearing responsibility.
After a slow spring and a slack summer, viewers need something good. Now the fall season begins with:
— “English Teacher” (shown here), at 10 p.m. Mondays on FX, starting Sept. 2. It’s quite good; once it sheds its early monotone, it leans toward terrific.
— “Universal Basic Guys,” at 8 p.m. for three Sundays (starting Sept. 8) on Fox, before sliding to 8:30 when “The Simpsons” returns on Sept. 29. The opener is mainly for people who are amused when a mistreated chimp rips off the protagonist’s face. Read more…
1) “The Real CSI Miami” season-finale, 9 p.m., CBS. A young mom was killed by someone in a clown costume, in front of her son. Almost 30 years later, DNA cracked the case; Lou Sessa (shown here) and other agents discuss the case. That hour (originally set for last week) is the season’s last new episode. But at 10, a rerun relates the murder of heiress/patron Jill Halliburton Su. Read more…
1) The Bachelorette” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC. Jenn Tran (shown here) is down to her final two guys. Tran, 26, who is near her Master’s degree to become a physician’s assistant, might choose Marcus Shoberg, 31, a former Army Ranger, or Devin Strader, 28, who owns a freight company. Then she’ll reflect in “After the Rose.” Read more…
Best-bets for Nov. 3: monsters & zombies, funny & not 
Best-bets for Nov. 2: Mulaney on “SNL”; country stars at fundraiser 
Best-bets for Nov. 1: cops in crisis, joy in afterlife 
