Tag Archives: Billy Joel

The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch and more

Friday, July 18 – Thursday, July 24

Worlds collide! Snoopy and sharks, Billy Joel and Mickey Mouse, LL Cool J, bagpipes, housewives with guns, and ‘Clueless’ turns 30!

FRIDAY, July 18
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang break out in original songs (by Emmy Award nominees Jeff Morrow and Ben Folds) in this franchise special about the magic of summer camp (Apple TV+).

Billy Joel: And So It Goes
New two-part documentary presents an expansive portrait of the singer-songwriter’s life and career. Continues on July 25 (HBO).

SATURDAY, July 19
Faith in the Flames: The Nichole Jolly Story
Chrissy Metz stars in this faith-based drama as a nurse torn between her duty to protest her patients and her desperation to find her missing husband and kids (Lifetime).

Clueless
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ‘90s high-school satirical classic (below) starring Alicia Silverstone as a Beverly Hills teen who upsets the pecking order and becomes a matchmaker, which will air three times in a row today—once for every decade it’s been around—on Pluto TV’’s 90s Throwback channel.

SUNDAY, July 20
Shark Week
Annual week-long event of shark-centric programming kicks off tonight, celebrating its 37th year. With shows like “Dancing with Sharks,” “Expedition Unknown Shark Files” and “How to Survive a Shark Attack,” it’s fin-tastic! (8 p.m., Discovery).

Shark Week Support Movie Marathon
Dive into this watery trio of shark-adjacent flicks: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Aquaman (begins 2 p.m., TBS).

MONDAY, July 21
The Hunting Wives
In this new ensemble drama (above) based on the hit mystery thriller by May Cobb, a woman moves to deep East Texas and becomes consumed by a socialite’s charms, tumbling into a world of obsession, seduction and murder. Starring Malin Ackerman, Brittany Snow, Chrissy Metz and Dermot Mulroney (Netflix).

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
New animated incarnation of the iconic kiddie show, geared to preschoolers, continues the adventures of Mickey and his pals—and features the song “Hot Dog!” by They Might Be Giants (9 p.m., Disney Jr.).

Battle of the Bagpipes
Discover the history of Scotland’s musical heritage with performances from the military and  civilian “piper” bands, below (streaming on Acorn TV).

TUESDAY, July 22
The 1% Club
Joel McHale hosts season two of this game show in which contestants vie for cash prizes by attempting to answer questions that only 1% of the population can answer (8 p.m., Fox).

WEDNESDAY, July 23
Hip Hop Was Born Here
LL Cool J hosts this docuseries about the creation, evolution and ongoing legacy of the music which became a global culture sensation (Paramount +).

Washington Black
New series follows the 19th-century odyssey of an 11-year-old boy, George “Wash” Washington Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr.), on a globe-spanning adventure that challenges and reshapes his understanding of family, freedom and love (Hulu)

THURSDAY, July 24
The Congregation
Season two of the award-winning Swedish psychological drama is based on a real-life cult and its abuses, infidelities, threats and feverish prophecies (Viaplay).

Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965
Learn the story of the civil rights era from the perspectives of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life (PBS on Prime).

BRING IT HOME

As the old saying notes, death comes to us all. One of the most successful modern-horror franchises returns with Final Destination: Bloodlines (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), with another group of young characters meeting their inevitable ends in more gruesome, nightmarish and horrifically inventive ways.

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The Russians Are Humming

Billy Joel rock ‘n’ rolls back the Iron Curtain

SONY DSCA Matter of Trust: The Bridge To Russia

Billy Joel

2-CD/Blu-ray, $34.88 (Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings)

In 1987, piano-man superstar Billy Joel was invited to take his show on the road—to Russia, becoming the first American act ever to bring a full-fledged rock ’n’ roll tour to the Soviet Union. His tour, regarded as playing a major role in helping thaw once-chilly international relationships, was documented by a film crew, recorded and widely reported a worldwide news event. Now all the elements of that historic excursion have been remastered and reassembled into one dynamic package: a full-length film of one of the concerts; two live audio CDs of the music; plus the recent two-hour Showtime documentary about the tour, and a book with photos and notes from writers and journalists who were there.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mop Top Mania

Remembering the Beatles’ invasion, 50 years ago this month

Rowlands_The Beatles_revise_8_28.indd
The Beatles Are Here!

By Penelope Rowlands
Softcover, 256 pages ($15.95,
Algonquin Books)

The author (pictured on the cover, in the middle, just above the ‘A’ and the ‘T’ of the sign), corralled essays from more than 40 musicians, fellow writers and fans to commemorate Beatlemania’s arrival on American shores 50 years ago. Singer-songwriters Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper and Janis Ian; journalists Gay Talese, Griel Marcus, Roy Blount Jr.; and radio personality “Cousin Brucie” Morrow are among the contributors who recall and reflect on the emotional joy, musical shock waves and sheer hysteria that greeted John, Paul, George and Ringo on their first trip to the United States on Feb. 7, 1963. “How quickly the Beatles changed…everything,” writes Rowlands, noting that “She Loves You” was “two minutes and 18 seconds that seemed to render almost everything, musically, that came before it obsolete.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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