Playlist 7-4-14
Started with the traditional (though not factual) annual birthday salute to Louis Armstrong, before embarking on the whole big Fourth of July playlist. But there was also time to remember…
Friday TV: Fireworks and All That
An unexpected theme of fire and water may emerge during the annual Fourth of July activities. As East Coasters nervously turn to The Weather Channel for updates on Hurricane Arthur,…
Thursday TV: Mae West, Young Man
Saucy American sex symbol Mae West first dressed as the Statue of Liberty in 1938 for a Vanity Fair photo shoot. Then Edith Head recreated the costume for her 1970…
Wednesday TV: New Grilling Competition
Just in time for the holiday weekend is a new food competition series called "American Grilled" (Travel Channel, 9 p.m.), in which backyard BBQ cooks trot out their best stuff…
Tuesday TV: Scanning the Pyramids
On the new "Time Scanners" (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings) a structural engineer Steve Burrows uses all manner of new technology to scan structures and uncover mysteries at famous…
Flirting with WWIII on ’24’
In recent weeks, it seemed that the big event on "24: Live Another Day" had all been prematurely resolved. The errant drones were curbed; the President didn’t explode in Wembley…
Monday TV: ‘113 Weddings’ and a Dome
For a documentary filmmaker who began making wedding videos as a way to keep afloat, it seems natural (and economical!) that Doug Block would reuse some of that footage in…
‘Californication’ Ends with Whimper
Having generally worn out its welcome several seasons earlier, "Californication" ended its seven season run Sunday with the kind of whimper Hank Moody himself would disdain. The series about a…
Starting Tonight: Grim World of ‘Leftovers’
There has probably never been a pilot episode for a new series as glum, anguished and depressing as that of tonight's "The Leftovers" (HBO, 10 p.m.) the new series in…
Also on Sunday: Old Queens on ‘Vicious’
What might be flat material in the hands of others is turned to gold when Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi are cast as an old gay couple on the imported…