ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME
Various Networks, 8:00 p.m. ET
SPECIAL: This new special, simulcast by CBS, NBC and ABC, is a collaboration between the World Health Organization and Global Citizen. A more expanded version, a sort of massive pre-show, will be streamed on several platforms from 2-8 p.m. ET, including Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Facebook, Apple, and Instagram. The idea – and potentially, it’s a brilliant one – is to present a multi-hour “socially distanced” entertainment event in which musical acts, and appearances by celebrities, are intercut with actual facts and helpful information about how to deal with the current international pandemic. The late-night hosts presiding over this prime-time special – one from each major network – are Jimmy Kimmel at ABC, Stephen Colbert at CBS, and Jimmy Fallon at NBC. (If the 1990s were the era of “The Late-Night Wars,” this date can be proclaimed as the official end of that war. All I am saying, is give peace a chance…) And the guests scheduled for tonight’s show? The program is curated by Lady Gaga, and she’s gone positively Gaga corralling people to take part. During the six-hour streaming “pre-show,” guests include Annie Lennox, Leslie Odom, Sheryl Crow, Connie Britton, Lady Antebellum, Jack Black, and Kesha. So who does that leave for the main event in prime time, apart from Lady Gaga herself? Try this, for starters: Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Celine Dion, Lizzo, Billie Joe Armstrong, Kacey Musgraves, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish, Chris Martin, and Jennifer Lopez. Oprah Winfrey will be there, too, and Ellen DeGeneres, and Amy Poehler. Oh, and The Rolling Stones have joined the bill, and so has Paul McCartney – the first time a Rolling Stone and a Beatle have appeared on the same TV show, I believe, since The Rutles: All You Need is Cash. But I digress. Anyway, make sure to watch. As charity events and TV events go, One World: Together at Home is the biggest entertainment fundraising idea since Live Aid.