During my childhood, the biggest day of the year was not Christmas or the first day of school. It was when NBC, CBS, and ABC began their fall line-ups. I would make prepare for weeks by gathering schedules and decided what I, and my family since I controlled the TV, were going to watch.
It was a time before DVRs, On Demand, Hulu, Netflix, weeklong repeat performances. If you missed a show, you missed it. No going back. It was also a time before choices numbered in the hundreds or even thousands.
Today, for various reasons that range from planning to the content of material a general station can play, as opposed to a specialized outlet, the traditional networks don’t always have the most exciting fare – HBO, Netflix, FX, Showtime, and AMC often outpace by miles — but the week of debuts and program returning for their next season retains some allure.
The network show that interests me most is the latest generation of NBC’s trusty “Law and Order” series. This time, starting at 10 p.m. tomorrow (locally on Channel 10), the Peacock is following recent trend (HBO’s “The Night Of,” FX’s “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” Netflix’s “Making a Murderer”) and doing a contained series about a true crime.
Their debut choice? The Menendez case, which featured two attractive brothers accused, and subsequently convicted of killing their parents. Lyle and Erik Menendez remain in separate California prisons. They’ve been in jail for 27 years, since their 1990 arrest for the 1989 crime.
The onus is on NBC to see if it can use the “Law and Order” format to repeat the quality of “The Night Of” and the popularity of the other true-crime programs.
The brothers are played by relative unknowns, Miles Gaston Villanueva as Lyle and Gus Halper as Erik. Top billing goes to TV veteran Edie Falco (“The Sopranos,” “Nurse Jackie”) who portrays the Menendezes’ defense attorney, Leslie Abramson. Anthony Edwards plays Judge Stanley Weisberg.
Another two shows, CBS’s “Young Sheldon” and NBC’s “Will and Grace,” attract because they each have a history, “Young Sheldon” being a prequel of the popular “Big Bang Theory,” and “Will and Grace” being a renewal of the excellent series the Peacock fielded from 1998 to 2006.
The writing and ability to sustain unconventional characters has kept “Big Bang” a hit for 10, going into 11, seasons. Whether any one of the characters was meant to stick out like Jim Parsons’s Sheldon Cooper does is unknown. Parsons has made nerdy, literal, unattuned Sheldon into one of television history’s icons. “Young Sheldon,” premiering at 8:30 tonight, right after “Big Bang,” shows the genius at science challenged by simplicities of everyday life in embryo, as a Texas nine-year-old attempting to cope with high school, where his brains took him but his immaturity shows.
“Will and Grace” was packed with smart, funny, sophisticated characters, including Megan Mullally’s obtuse and overbearing Karen. There’s fun in seeing it return for 16 new episodes and to see if lightning strikes twice. Sadly, some of the actors who played parents on the show – Debbie Reynolds, Sydney Pollack, Suzanne Pleshette – have died since “W&G” first aired, but the nuclear cast, and Will’s boyfriend, dominated most plot lines. I will miss Miss Reynolds bursting into song and changing the genders of theatrical roles she’s playing. The revival is set for 9 p.m. Thursday.
Of the shows returning for new seasons, NBC’s “This is Us,” at 9 p.m. tomorrow, is the one that has me the most curious. The first season had high and low points. I am of the mind the low points were lessons that will not repeated. Tomorrow will tell.
Established shows starting seasons tonight are CBS’s “Kevin Can Wait” and “Scorpion.” (ABC launched “Dancing With the Stars” last week.)
Tomorrow sees comebacks from Fox’s “The Mick,” “Lethal Weapon,’ and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and CBS’s “NCIS,” “NCIS: New Orelans,” and “Bull.” Wednesday returns ABC’s “The Goldbergs” and “Designated Survivor;” Fox’s “Empire” and “Star;” NBC’s “Chicago P.D.,” The Blacklist,” and “Law Order: Special Victims Unit;” and CBS’s “Criminal Minds.” Thursday debuts ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” and NBC’s “Superstore,” “Chicago Fire,” “The Good Place,” and “Great News,” the last having its cast joined by Delco’s Tina Fey. Friday brings CBS’s “Blue Bloods,” “Hawaii Five-O,” and “MacGyver.”
New series set to vie for ratings are “The Brave” on NBC, “The Good Docotor” on ABC, and “Me, Myself, and I” on CBS, all making their debuts tonight. CBS’s “Wisdom of the Crowd,” another show that piques my attention; ABC’s “Ten Days in the Valley;” and Fox’s “Ghosted” start their careers on Sunday.
Sunday also marks the return of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” out of circulation since 2011. Coincidentally, a Netflix crime documentary, “Long Shot,” airing Friday, is about an accused murderer whose alibi is an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Julia again? Yes!
I know eyes rolled when Julia Louis-Dreyfus was summoned to the Emmy podium to collect her sixth consecutive Best Actress in a Comedy award for “Veep.”
Roll all the eyes you like. Louis-Dreyfus deserves every Emmy statue she’s ever claimed. “Veep” is also a fitting choice for Best Comedy, even if I am more partial to Aziz Ansari’s “Master of None.”
“The Handmaid’s Tale” was a big winner, and it was well done. Competition in the Best Drama category was heady. Any show could have won. “The Handmaid’s Tale” represents its fellow nominees well.
“Big Little Lies” was fun to watch, but it was nowhere near the achievements realized by the third installment of “Fargo” or the haunting “The Night Of.”
Elisabeth Moss was a fitting choice as Best Dramatic Actress for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but I lean more in the direction of Keri Russell for “The Americans” or Claire Foy as Elizabeth II in “The Crown.”
Sterling K. Brown is certainly as actor whose time has come. He even acquits himself well on Craig Ferguson’s “Celebrity Name Game.” So his receiving as Emmy for “This is Us” seems right this year. Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul” or Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards” would also have been worthy choices.
I rooted for either Susan Sarandon or Jessica Lange to win an Emmy for “Feud,” but I also found Nicole Kidman naughtily delectable in “Big Little Lies,” so I shrugged and said, “Yes, this is good.”
In an amazing year of performances by lead actors in a limited series, several men could have been called to the podium with no complaint, but I am thrilled that the television Academy chose to pass on Geoffrey Rush in ‘Genius” and Ewan McGregor in “Fargo” to honor Riz Ahmed for his brilliant work as an innocent who learns there’s a seamy side to everyone in “The Night Of.”
Possibly I need to watch “Atlanta” more closely, but I did not consider in that show to be a match for Jeffrey Tambor in “Transparent” or Aziz Ansari in “Master of None.”
Supporting awards brought glee, especially in the comedy categories in which “Saturday Night Live’s” Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin received their full due for their great takes on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the 2016 election. Baldwin proves his versatility over and over again,. His Trump was a highlight of the campaign season.
I became an Ann Dowd fan when I saw her live in Passage Theatre’s production of “Song for the Disappeared” two Septembers ago. She more than earned renewal of my admiration, and her Emmy, for “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
John Lithgow is always award-worthy. Playing the most important person in most of our lifetimes, Winston Churchill, in “The Crown,” he probably couldn’t miss being chosen for an Emmy. My preference would be “Better Call Saul’s” Jonathan Banks.
Yes, if “Big Little Lies” was to glom acting awards, it is only fitting that one should go to the best in tis cast, Laura Dern.
Neal Zoren’s column appears Monday.
