AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET
I don’t know about you, but when Rhea Seehorn, as Kim Wexler, confronted Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman at the climax of last week’s show, I was expecting her to erupt in anger and disappointment and betrayal regarding their personal relationship. I wasn’t prepared, though, for her proposed Plan B, and I can’t wait to see how that plays out in tonight’s show. For a “prequel” show painted into several corners by the fact that it must adhere to what we know will happen in the timeline of Breaking Bad, it’s amazing how often Better Call Saul manages to pull off surprises. And whatever happens, this Kim and Saul thing is a huge one.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
In Episode 3 of this excellent new David Simon and Ed Gross miniseries, based on the fiction novel by Philip Roth, the community and religious leader played by John Turturro speaks in the synagogue in support of presidential candidate Charles Lindbergh, despite his anti-Semitic comments and policies. And as the nation rallies around him, a noose of oppression tightens around this story’s central family members.
CBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
When James Corden took over from Craig Ferguson and launched his version of The Late Late Show in 2015, he did so by going to the streets – and doing his show for a week, guerrilla style, by showing up at people’s homes in Los Angeles to broadcast the show remotely from those makeshift locations. Now, five years later, Corden is broadcasting from homes again – but, in this prime time special, for a very different, infinitely more somber reason. But how somber can things be when BTS is performing remotely?
AMC, 10:08 p.m. ET
This is Episode 6 of this intriguing Jason Segel miniseries – and continues the quartet’s search for the mysterious, inspirational Clara, with whom we spent last week’s episode. The group splits up temporarily in search of new clues, and avenues of exploration. Peter revisits work, despite having just either quit or been fired – and Simone follows the clues in Clara’s artwork. I may be wrong about this, but based on some of the planted visuals so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if Simone ended up at Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation. At least that’s my impression, regarding its displays of impressionism…
Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET
Last Friday, Daily Show host Trevor Noah, from the safety of his home, interviewed infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, in one of the best and most informative extended interviews with the doctor I’ve yet seen. And yes, I’ve been watching the daily presidential briefings. It was Fauci’s idea to reach out to prominent players in the social media universe, whose younger audience figures number in the millions, as an effective way to spread the word about how to behave, social distance-wise, to young people otherwise less likely to hear, absorb, and believe the warnings. And this week, Noah keeps up the focus, back on Comedy Central this week – still from his home – for a show he calls, for now, The Daily Social Distancing Show. When I typed that, my computer’s autocorrect program changed that title to The Daily Social Distraction Show, which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be a bad name either.
TBS, 11:00 p.m. ET
Working from home, and without an audience, some late-night hosts shine, while others sputter. (
Read all about it in TVWW’s Eric Gould’s latest blog in Cold Light Reader.) Tonight, Conan O’Brien joins the fray, and I’m betting on him to do well. O’Brien always has gravitated to things
he thinks are funny, rather than trying to second-guess his audience, and therein lies originality, and laughter.
ABC, 11:35 p.m. ET
ABC News Nightline began in 1979 as a late-night 11:30 p.m. ET news program reacting to an ongoing crisis, with Ted Koppel anchoring nightly reports, initially focused on the hostage crisis in Iran. Eventually, Nightline outlasted that single-topic focus. Decades later, the program, was shifted to after midnight, so Jimmy Kimmel could compete more directly with the other network’s late-night major-league hosts. But now, in the course of the coronavirus epidemic, ABC wisely has moved Nightline back to its original time slot opposite the late local news, and announced that, for now, the virus news will be its sole nightly focus. Good call.
CBS, 11:35 p.m. ET
Stephen Colbert has done very funny Late Show remote programs from his home, and even from his bathtub, online. Now he’s back on CBS, but still socially distant. And since he’s one of the best comics out there when it comes to reacting to the daily headlines, he’s one of the most prominent broadcast TV voices to watch. Keep it up, please, Stephen.
ABC, 12:05 a.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel is now televised after midnight, and, like his cohorts on other networks, is working without an audience, remotely from home, and pretty much without a net. But watch. These are extraordinary times, and the times are providing us with some truly unprecedented television. And I’m pretty sure, in Kimmel’s desktop shots from his home, that birdcage drawing behind him is a drawing by Kurt Vonnegut. So it goes…