Tuesday TV: Monsters From All Over
It’s the 200th anniversary of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s first and most popular book, “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.” The wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley was only 20 at the time.…
Monday TV: The History of Black Colleges
The history of America’s HBUs are told in Stanley Nelson’s documentary “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings). The…
Sunday TV: Joel McHale, Talking Again
Joel McHale began his career doing “The Soup” for a dozen years. He’s back to the format, sort of, in the online “The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale” (Netflix,…
Saturday TV: New Space Cartoon.
TBS' move to becoming an unusual comedy outpost continues with the elaborate sci-fi cartoon "Last Space" (TBS, 10 p.m.) about a prisoner on a space ship that gets involved in…
Friday TV: Deconstructing Rap Lyricism
Black History Month brings Sacha Jenkins’ “Word is Bond” (Showtime, 10 p.m.), a thoughtful exploration of hip hop, with a special emphasis on the mechanics the language and the artistry…
Thursday TV: ‘Splendor in the Grass’
Not only did William Inge win an Oscar for his screenplay of “Splendor in the Grass” (TCM, 8 p.m.), he also appears as a Protestant clergyman in Elia Kazan’s 1961…
Noel Gallagher’s Birds ‘n’ Beatles
Much as he wants to get away from it, the Beatles thing continues to dog Noel Gallagher, long after his band Oasis has broken up. Of course, that group got…
When Sir Tim Rice Wrote for Elvis
I had Sir Tim Rice on the line the other day, to discuss the restaging of "Chess," which he created with two members of Abba. It premieres at the Kennedy…
Wednesday TV: New Chris Rock Special
Chris Rock chooses Valentine’s Day for his first standup comedy special in a decade, “Tamborine” (Netflix, streaming). The timing is in part so he can talk about his own failures…
First Aid Kit Come Fighting
The strongest anthem for the #MeToo movement was written and released by a couple of Swedish sisters in their mid-20s, months before Harvey Weinstein revelations in the New York Times…