Monthly Archives: August 2017

Thursday TV: Return to Chernobyl

Speaking of disaster, the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine is still considered one of the “Mysteries of the Abandoned” (Science, 9 p.m.), as engineer Philip Grossman looks into what might have caused it. On the two hour documentary “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman” (Discovery, 9 p.m.) follows conservationists in each of those fields. […]

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On Stage: Bessie Smith and ‘Devil’s Music’

The Mosaic Theater Company ignites its third season with a sure hit, a proven crowd-pleaser about the Empress of Blues. “The Devil’s Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith” retells the story of the American musical legend, and is as sure to delight audiences here as it did when it premiered Off-Broadway in 2001 […]

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Wednesday TV: ‘Vixen’ Moves to TV

It’s been showing in bite-sized increments online. And now the animated series “Vixen” (The CW, 8 p.m.),  about a female superhero who can mimic the abilities of animals, shows its entire two seasons on broadcast TV  tonight, in the form of a movie.  Executive produced by Greg Berlanti and his team from “Arrow,” it features […]

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Tuesday TV: Long and Short Term Love

Longterm couples in the African-American community tell the secrets of their longevity on the new series “Black Love” (OWN, 10 p.m.). And for short termers, there’s always “Bachelor of Paradise” (ABC, 8 p.m.), where they’ve slowed things down so much, they still haven’t had a second rose ceremony. In the season two finale of the […]

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Shelby Lynne, Allison Moore Team Up

It’s a bit of a head scratcher why it hasn’t been until now that Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer have collaborated together. The sisters have each carved out distinctive careers with varying degrees of commercial success over the last 30 years, released 24 albums between them and share in an Alabama upbringing and tragic family […]

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Raising Awareness in ‘Raising Bertie’

Shooting a documentary cinema verite style sometimes means that it doesn’t end up the way you planned. Filmmaker Margaret Byrne went down to rural Bertie County in northeast North Carolina to profile the work of Vivian Saunders, a community worker who took it upon herself to help at risk young men there with an alternative […]

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Also on Monday: Slim Pickens Indeed

It’s true that the last Monday in August would have some slim pickings in terms of TV watching. But on Turner Classic Movies it’s a full day of Slim Pickens, the popular Western character actor and former rodeo star. He’s featured in “Rocky Mountain” (6 a.m.), “The Story of Will Rogers” (7:45 a.m.), “Gun Brothers” […]

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Greta Van Fleet’s Lil’ Led Zeppelin

Like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Greta Van Fleet was named after a random person in their community with a quirky moniker. The teen band from Frankenmuth, Mich., might have risked getting mixed up with Greta Van Susteren at some point or at least the singer Grace VanderWaal. But they might be a much bigger thing. To hear […]

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Sunday TV: Dragons Eat Katy Perry

Once, it was the biggest event in the pop world (at least for the day). Today, it pales to a fantasy season finale. Katy Perry hosts the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (MTV, 8 p.m.) live from the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., with performances from Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Alessia Cara, Shawn Mendes, Pink, Ed Sheehan, […]

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Saturday TV: Fists Flying, but No Feet

The big hype tonight is the fish-out-of-water fight between unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor (pay-per-view, 9 p.m.), the mixed martial arts hero. The last time anybody tried this, the MMA guy died. Anyway, even the loser or his designees, makes $35 million. Networks get involved with the undercard at least with Preliminary Bouts (Fox, […]

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