Worth Watching: A Tale of Two James (Holzhauer on ‘Jeopardy,’ Corden’s ‘Karaoke Special’ with Celine Dion), ‘Private Lives of the Monarchs’
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
Jeopardy! (syndicated, check local listings): Welcome back, James! After a two-week hiatus imposed by the Teachers Tournament, the unstoppable quiz show welcomes back James Holzhauer to continue his remarkable run, second only to Ken Jennings in consecutive games played (22 wins so far) and money won (he’s up to nearly $1.7 million). Love his aggressive style of play or not, James has put Jeopardy! back in the news in its 35th season.
The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2019 (10/9c, CBS): The title’s a mouthful, but the appeal is simple: Watching the effervescent late-night host drive around, matching a legendary singer lyric for lyric as their instantly recognizable tunes play inside the vehicle. Winner of Emmys in 2016 and 2017 for Outstanding Variety Special, the Carpool Karaoke spectacular now welcomes Celine Dion into the passenger seat for a motor tour of Las Vegas in what promises to be a titanic hour of entertainment.
Private Lives of the Monarchs (8/7c, Smithsonian Channel): Private lives, what a quaint concept. In a departure from the current obsession with Harry and Meghan and little Archie, this five-part series takes a historical long view, revisiting some of Europe’s more memorable monarchs and their intrigues behind closed palace doors. First up: Queen Victoria and her troubled relationship with her eldest son, Edward, whose well-documented debauchery takes host Tracy Borman (Chief Curator of the Royal Palaces) to Paris brothels and Edward’s official residence of Marlborough House, where spouse-swapping was commonplace. How scandalous.
Gentleman Jack (10:05/9:05, HBO): The boisterously entertaining yet curiously modern period piece presents ahead-of-her-time Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) with an unwelcome reality check when her beloved, Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle), begins to cave from social and peer pressure and 19th-century values to cool their forbidden relationship. Naturally, our fierce Miss Lister won’t give up without a fight, even when the battle is coming at her from all sides.
Inside Monday TV: Borrowing a page from Jeopardy!’s recent Teachers Tournament, Fox’s musical competition Beat Shazam (8/7c) returns for a third season with teams of teachers trying to name those tunes… Season finales include The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (8/7c), in which the magical creatures aboard the Wavefinder take center stage while Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Nora (Courtney Ford) continue their search for a Neron-possessed Ray (Brandon Routh)… Still waiting for word of a second-season renewal, NBC’s The Enemy Within (10/9c) ends its first with Shepherd (Jennifer Carpenter) convincing Keaton (Morris Chestnut) to let her go to Cuba to stop Tal’s (Lev Gorn) attack. But as always, the question remains: Can she be trusted?… And in the series finale of ABC’s The Fix (10/9c) after just one season, the legal drama promises answers and resolution with a conviction in the murder case of Jessica Meyer… History’s ever-popular Pawn Stars is back with a new season (10/9c), staying current in the opener by putting a limited-edition autographed Game of Thrones artifact up for sale.
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Don't forget "Chernobyl," which is HBO's best show this week (and weeks start on a Sunday, so I'm definitely including you-know-what in that assessment).
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FINALLY...after that mundane Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament...James Holzhauer is back!!!
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Haha, I'm just the opposite. After watching the Teachers Tournament*, I'm back to ignoring Jeopardy!
*Gotta admit, some of those teachers weren't very smart. There were a number of questions they SHOULD have known, and didn't. But that's what makes the show interesting.
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What in the hell happened to Celine? She looks like a freak. Who ever is her makeup person should be fired. She looks awful and she is a pretty woman but not in the pictures that I see. Do you think she is sick and this is to cover it up?
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I guess there's been a lot of discussion about her dramatic weight loss. She insists she's fine and just lost the weight because she's taken up ballet as a pastime. I doubt she'd hide anything after being so open all those years about her husband's health problems.
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Last night, I watched on YouTube an ep of "The Tim Conway Show" which he did after his stint on Carol Burnett. Harvey Korman was a co-star on that one. To tell the truth, it wasn't funny at all. No wonder it was cancelled after a short run. I also saw him on YT on a "Dean Martin Show" clip in which he's the old man as a diner operator and that was a hilarious one especially when Dean, who reportedly never rehearsed, broke up a few times. I also saw a whole "Flip Wilson Show" with Tim and Richard Pryor as guests. One sketch involving all three doing various things with just a chair on stage was a pretty funny "stream-of-consciences"-style skit. And now all three (as well as Dean and Harvey) are up there possibly making a new audience (or maybe their old ones from that previous era) laugh right now...
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I don't remember a Tim Conway Show. That doesn't mean I didn't see it...just that I don't remember it even if I did see it.
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The ep I just watched was one I didn't remember either and I remember seeing quite a few that were funny, at least back in the day...
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The series finale of The Fix on ABC, probably live.
Later NBC's season or series finale of Enemy Within. I don't think NBC confirmed the status yet.
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Legends of Tomorrow is the only thing for me to look forward to tonight.
And by the way, on Legends, the name of the ship is the WaveRIDER, not the Wavefinder.
Any other watchers of The Red Line here? There were some interesting twists and turns in last night's 2 hours. And they kinda-sorta set things up so that there could be a 2nd season. (Although I have my doubts that would be wise.)
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Looks like my only shows still on are Legends of Tomorrow and Enemy Within, and they're both finales!
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