What’s On: The Return of ‘Nashville’ and the Final Leg of ‘The Amazing Race’
Nashville (9/8c, CMT): “Some of these critics just want to hate everything.” That’s Avery (Jonathan Jackson) talking about the poor reception to Juliette’s (Hayden Panettiere) gospel album, but he might as well be referring to the fan uproar over Nashville killing off its beloved leading lady, Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton), last winter. As the musical drama returns from hiatus for the second half of its first season on cable, jumping ahead 10 weeks, it now falls to widower Deacon (the estimable Charles Esten) to pull the show out of its funk, and to be honest, it’s still a bit of a mopey dirge. Example: Scarlett (Clare Bowen) is not exactly glowing in her pregnancy, as she tries to determine just who’s the baby daddy. But as we watch Deacon nurture stepdaughter Daphne (Maisy Stella) through her depression while counseling rising-star daughter Maddie (Lennon Stella), “When you make music, you never really do it alone,” you may get a glimmer of hope for happier times ahead.
The Amazing Race (10/9c, CBS): Strangers no longer, the final three teams head to Chicago for the last leg of the million-dollar race. (Is it wrong to wish that height-phobic Scott is somehow asked to scale the Sears—now Willis—Tower? Or that in this 11th hour, they might bring back one of the ousted contestants to replace his horrific partner, Brooke?) I’ll be rooting for Tara and Joey, the strongest team still in the running.
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night (8/7c, post-game on West Coast, ABC): The popular late-night host marks his 10th year of special episodes airing in prime time in conjunction with the NBA Finals. Kevin Hart is the scheduled guest for opening night.
2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee (8:30/7:30c, ESPN): Just try not to fall under the spell of this annual competition, now in its 90th year (and 24th on ESPN). SportsCenter’s Kevin Negandhi hosts from National Harbor, Md., with live coverage beginning qt 10 am/9c on ESPN2, leading to the Finals in prime time on ESPN. For those who want to play along, a multiple-choice option is available on ESPNU.
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Fred: Did you watch The F Word? I watched about a half hour of it, and that was all I could take. I was totally bored by it. MasterChef was much better.
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Never watched F Word. Title is awful! And yes I'm sure Master Chef is superior. Hells Kitchen as well.
Did you ever watch The Great American Baking show or the British version on PBS?
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I can't watch Hell's Kitchen. I'm not amused by the way he treats those poor chefs constantly yelling, swearing at them, and calling them names.
I've seen episodes of the baking shows. I'm not that interested in baking, so I don't really get into those shows. In fact, I've always complained about how many baking challenges they have on shows like MasterChef.
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I could only understand about half of what Foxx said. They only had him on to promote his show anyway.
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I want to see the end of The Amazing Race...even if I don't care who wins.
I didn't know spelling is now considered a sport. Evidently, poker and cheerleading are too. I guess ESPN can't find enough real sports to fill their schedule.
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Lol regarding ESPN. I guess your right about them not finding enough real sports to air this time of year.
Nashville for me if CMT is still providing non subscribers free access via ON DEMAND. Don't think they are, because a couple of months ago I checked in to watch Sun Records and the last new episode of Nashville and it was asking me to subscribe.
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Do you remember when ESPN was just starting out, and they showed hours of Australian Rules Football? I especially remember the referee, a funny little guy with a funny little hat who came out and held up flags.
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Hahaha, I don't watch sports so don't recall. But my brother does and he remembers. I'm reading that Disney is looking to sell ESPN. Seems like ratings are falling (lots of cable cord cutters) and there are other ways to watch sports these days. Also ESPN fired multiple on air sportscasters. Budget cuts, I guess.
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More like sexual harassment suits. (Not that I know of any in particular, but there seems to be an epidemic of them against TV announcers lately.)
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ESPN does OK in the ratings when it can get the rights to major sporting events. The problem is that everybody wants them, and they get bid up to the point that it's impossible to make any money on them.
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Read somewhere that NBC pays a bloody fortune for NFL rights. Its really not profitable on paper, but the large viewership allows NBC to promote all of their regular programs throughout the NFL season.
It worked last season, NBC was #1 again. But they also beat the other networks with non-sports programing in the all-important 18-49 demo.
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I caught up with Nashville. My DVR recorded all the episode on Nick at Night. My cable package doesn't have CMT.
The enormous talent involved with Nashville helps compensates for the loss of Connie Britton's Rayna. No, the show isn't the same without her but its highly watchable and I'm happy to have a solid scripted drama for the summer.
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No Weekend What's On post? Hope we get Mondays soon. I rewatched Still Star-Crossed on ABC ON DEMAND. I enjoyed it more the second time, too confusing for me at first. Tonight is the second episode. Another solid scripted show for me this summer.
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I realize there wasn't a lot on over the weekend, but there were a few things worth mentioning like the return of Fear the Walking Dead, the season finale of Class, and the live concert for Manchester. As I'm writing this, he still hasn't posted one for today. Let's hope it doesn't mean he's quit doing them.
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And just after I posted this, a new one showed up!
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He posted one today. I just commented there. Sometimes can't find it by clicking What's On. Have to click Matt Roush. Site is still not perfected.
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And sometimes, the link shows up on the homepage before it does on the Worth Watching page.
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