The band Journey hasn’t had an easy time trying to replace its iconic lead singer Steve Perry. First there was Steve Agueri, then a guy named Jeff Scott Soto. The band was so desperate to find a new singer on a tour several years ago, they tried Googling for one. On YouTube, they found a guy in Manilla who was a dead ringer for Perry’s voice.
The thing about Arnel Pineda, though, is that he could echo several different classic rock voices; it’s just that after Journey came calling that he spends his life singing Perry’s old songs on tour. Rags to riches, fighting fan bigotry and finding one’s way into the band touring machine area all part of “Don’t Stop Believin,'” Ramona A. Diaz’s film about his transition into the band, makes its debut on “P.O.V.” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings).
A clumsy film in some ways, it’s a good look at backstage life in corporate classic rock, with most of his time spent on not partying, but voice preservation. Pineda is an appealing young singer who is open with his thoughts about essentially being in a cover band, a big one. And yes, at the end, he sings the title song to his people in the Philippines.
Journey is not part of “The iHeartRadio Music Festival” (The CW, 8 p.m.) which was such a big event they couldn’t present the highlights on just one night. So they break it into two parts, with performers that include Elton John, Katy Perry, Muse, Keith Urban, J. Cole, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Tiesto and Queen with Adam Lambert singing. Part two runs tomorrow night.
You can really tell that premiere week is over when the sole network new show tonight is “We Are Men” (CBS, 8:30 p.m.), a clunker of a comedy about divorced or otherwise broken up men who live together and trade notes on their dating progress, with the kind of insight you can expect from the network that brought you “Two and a Half Men” (they’re calling their comedy programming “Menday” for heaven’s sake).
It’s not a good sign that much of the humor of the pilot has to do with Jerry O’Connell’s Speedo. And if networks don’t spend money on writing, they still do on casts. This one has Tony Shalhoub and Kal Penn, mostly going to waste.
Keyshawn Johnson will go down as the worst performing NFL player on “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC, 8 p.m.). He was first to be eliminated last week. Next to go may be Bill Nye “The Science Guy.” Not because of performance or lack of votes; he tore a ligament in his routine last week. For everyone else, it’s Hollywood Week! (cue the “Dirty Dancing”).
On “Sleepy Hollow” (Fox, 9 p.m.), Ichabod is now going after someone called the Sandman, possibly from the Metallica song.
This wedding is going to drag on: “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS, 8 p.m.). This is the third consecutive episode about it.
Having Isabella Rossellini as a target already makes me like “The Blacklist” (NBC, 10 p.m.) less.
Bumped from “Fox & Friends” by another blonde, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Miss American 1989 gets her own afternoon show, “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson” (Fox News, 2 p.m.).
A World War II era secret is discovered when “Genealogy Roadshow” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) goes to Detroit.
The biggest stretch in the Animal Planet roster may be “Monsters Inside Me” (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.), back for a new season. It’s not about critters at all but viruses, and patasite that get into the bloodstream. It starts with a nasty case of the plague and some flesh eating disease. No pets in sight (except for the dead animal where the plague carriers lived). It’s told in a reenactment style of Investigation Discovery, though these stories should clearly be on the Science channel. Along these lines earlier in the day is the movie “Contagion” (HBO Signature, 2:55 p.m.).
The fifth chapter in the film history on Turner Classic Movies, “The Story of Film: Odyssey, 1939-1952 – The Devastation of War and a New Movie Language” (10 p.m.) is surrounded by “Stagecoach” (8 p.m.), “Citizen Kane” (11:15 p.m.), “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1:30 a.m.) and “Rome, Open City” (4:30 a.m.).
Baseball’s regular season is over. Time for the one-game playoffs! Tonight’s is Tampa Bay at Texas (TBS, 8 p.m.) for the American League Wild Card slot to play against Cleveland Wednesday.
In Monday Night Football, it’s Miami at New Orleans (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Daniel Dadcliffe, Jerry O’Connell. The View: James Spader, Jason Biggs. The Talk: Jerry O’Connell, Tony Shalhoub, Kal Penn, Chris Smith, Cristina Ferrare. Ellen DeGeneres: Justin Timberlake. Wendy Williams: Gina Gershon, Ingrid Hoffman.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Sean Hayes, Sting. Jay Leno: Magic Johnson, Marjorie Johnson, Gary Clark Jr. Jimmy Kimmel: Danny DeVito, Wendi McLendon-Covey, the Lumineers. Jimmy Fallon: Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Olsen, the Avett Brothers. Craig Ferguson: Simon Helberg, the naked and Famous. Carson Daly: Adam DeVine, James Gulliver Hancock, Milo Greene (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Paul Krugman, M. Night Shyamalan. Jon Stewart: Bill O’Reilly. Stephen Colbert: Vince Gilligan. W. Kamau Bell: Jay Smooth. Conan O’Brien: Demi Lovato, J.B. Smoove, Moby. Chelsea Handler: Sarah Colonna, Loni Love, Julian McCullough.