TV critic's picks 8/14-20

August 13, 2011 at 6:56PM
"A League of Their Own"1992 baseball movie from Columbia Pictures. Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks, center), manager of the Rockford Peaches, and Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis, right), his catcher and top player, root for their team. Handout photo.
"A League of Their Own" (Columbia Pictures/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Sunday

"CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" (7 p.m., ABC) is a three-hour capsule of the annual four-night fanfest held in Nashville in June. Some of country's biggest mononyms are there: Taylor, Brad, Miranda, Blake and Dierks. But we're most excited about the duet by Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson on "Don't You Wanna Stay."

Monday

Enough about the bickering between Tiger and Stevie, his ex-caddie. Let's get back to golf when it was a gentleman's game by watching "Byron Nelson: A Texas Gentleman" (7 p.m., Golf). In this 2000 documentary, Sam Snead, Ben Crenshaw and Tiger Woods talk about Nelson, who also relives 1945, when he won 18 of 30 PGA events that he entered, including a record 11 consecutive wins.

Tuesday

Look back at the women of summer in "A League of Their Own" (7 p.m., AMC). Penny Marshall directs a fine 1992 cast that includes Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Lori Petty and Tom Hanks, as the ex-big leaguer turned manager.

Wednesday

On paper, "Love in the Wild" (9 p.m., NBC) kind of feels like a PG-rated network answer to some MTV hookup reality show. This is the season's finale. The "wild" refers to the setting, not the final two couples' behavior.

Thursday

"Conan the Barbarian" (7 p.m., AMC) is not about that bearded guy who bounced from NBC to TBS. No, it's about the buff guy who bounced from the movies to the governorship of California. In his breakthrough role, Arnold Schwarznegger stars as the heroic ancient warrior. The script was co-written by Oliver Stone. James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow and pro football's Ben Davidson also appear in the 1982 classic.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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