The Beatles in India, Getting to Know ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘Queens’ Finale, Winter Olympics
A new film chronicles the Beatles’ impactful 1968 visit to India. A bonding exercise on ABC’s Abbott Elementary comedy could reveal more than the teachers intended. The music melodrama Queens wraps (raps?) its first season. The Winter Olympics continues with the short program in the newly controversial Women’s Figure Skating competition.
The Beatles and India
Documentary Premiere
Our fascination with the Fab Four continues with author-turned-director Ajoy Bose’s film (inspired by his book Across the Universe) that uses unseen recordings and photos, archival footage and eyewitness accounts to tell the story of the Beatles’ life-altering trip to India in 1968. With walkthroughs of the scenic locations the band visited as further visual allure, the film also explores the evolution of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as artists.
TV Guide Magazine’s The Beatles on TV Special Collector’s Edition is available for order online now at BeatlesonTV.com.
Abbott Elementary
This terrific freshman comedy about teachers in an underfunded Philadelphia elementary school gets better the more we get to know these put-upon teachers. Ever the optimist, Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson) urges her fellow teachers—her “work family”—to share some personal secrets after learning that Jacob (Chris Perfetti) has kept details about his private life from her because he sees her as a “work friend.” The ploy may backfire when Janine begins to feel she’s being judged after sharing a pertinent detail about her own life. In a strong subplot, Gregory (Tyler James Williams) discovers he still has a lot to learn about teaching, when Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) step in to mentor him about loosening up in front of his young students.
Queens
Season Finale
A pivotal Season 1 finale finds the Queens in a self-reflective mood as they prepare to be inducted into the Hip Hop Fall of Fame—minus Brianna (Eve), who’s left the group. Valeria (Nadine Valesquez) wonders if she’s ready to take the leap to go on a solo tour, while Naomi (Brandy) is challenged about her daughter’s paternity.
If you didn’t get up early to watch the Women’s Figure Skating short program, featuring the controversial Russian skating prodigy Kamila Valieva, you can stream the replay on Peacock or wait until it’s shown in NBC’s prime-time package, which features live coverage of Men’s Alpine Skiing with the slalom first run (and after midnight/ET, the final run). Other sports featured through the day and evening on NBC, USA, CNBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app include Men’s Biathlon and Nordic Combined Skiing, Two-Man Bobsled, Men’s Speed Skating, Men’s Freestyle Skiing, Hockey and Curling. For complete listings by sport of what to watch, where and when, go to nbcolympics.com/schedule.
Inside Tuesday TV:
- Finding Your Roots (8/7c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): Trailblazing entertainers John Leguizamo and Lena Waithe learn fascinating new details of their ancestors’ journey to America.
- Icahn: The Restless Billionaire (9/8c, HBO): A new documentary profiles “Lone Wolf of Wall Street” Carl Icahn, renowned and feared for his acumen in business takeovers which earned him a reputation as a corporate raider. Despite his wealth (estimated at nearly $17 billion) and impact on the markets, he is an outspoken critic of corporate excess and income inequality.
- Frontline: American Reckoning (9/8c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): A new Frontline report uses the still-unresolved 1967 murder of NAAPC officer Wharlest Jackson in Natchez, Mississippi to shine a light on the civil-rights era, when a resistance group called Deacons for Defense and Justice staged a historic boycott. Jackson’s death is one of more than 150 victims of racial violence on the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act list.
- black-ish (9:30/8:30c, ABC): Dre (Anthony Anderson) experiences a crisis of confidence when he learns that hipster co-worker Griffin (Reid Scott) has a sneaker collection that puts his own kicks to shame.
- Luda Can’t Cook (streaming on discovery+): Rapper/actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges is back in the kitchen for three new episodes, with master chefs helping him learn more about specific regional cuisines, including Haitian, Korean and Cuban food.
- Unseen (streaming on MHz Choice): In this eerie European import, a supernatural drama unfolds in a Belgian village when townspeople begin to turn invisible, creating a schism between those who are seen and those who aren’t.
