TV critic's choice: May 30-June 5

CBS pays tribute to fallen soldiers with 'National Memorial Day Concert.'

May 29, 2010 at 7:02PM
US film director and actor Clint Eastwood poses in Lyon, central France, Sunday Oct. 18, 2009, during the first edition of the Lumiere 2009 Film Festival. Eastwood is the guest of honour of the film festival.
US film director and actor Clint Eastwood poses in Lyon, central France, Sunday Oct. 18, 2009, during the first edition of the Lumiere 2009 Film Festival. Eastwood is the guest of honour of the film festival. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Sunday For the fifth year in a row, CBS tough guys Joe Mantegna ("Criminal Minds") and Gary Sinise ("CSI: New York") show off their sensitive sides as hosts of the "National Memorial Day Concert" (7 p.m., KTCA, Ch. 2). Colin Powell, Lionel Richie and Brad Paisley are among the stars paying tribute to fallen soldiers.

Monday TCM's all-day tribute to Clint Eastwood is packed with classic films, including "A Fistful of Dollars" (7 a.m.) and "Dirty Harry" (11:15 p.m.), but the real draw is a new documentary, "The Eastwood Factor" (9:30 p.m.), in which Clint and only Clint provides insight on his long career. Interesting stuff, but I've heard it all before. I would have loved to have heard from his colleagues.

Tuesday John Cazale isn't a household name -- but he should be. The late actor starred in only five movies, all of which were Oscar-nominated for best picture, including "The Godfather," "The Deer Hunter" and "Dog Day Afternoon." Huge names such as Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Cazale's former fiancée Meryl Streep share fascinating tales about their co-star in "I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale" (7 p.m., HBO).

Wednesday The new sitcom "Are We There Yet?" (8 p.m., TBS) is a harmless but less-than-hilarious spinoff of the movie with Terry Crews ("Everybody Hates Chris") taking over as the hapless father. Executive producer Ice Cube makes an energetic cameo in the premiere, but that's not enough to make viewers feel as if they've been here before.

Thursday Jimmy Kimmel, the hardest-working man on ABC, continues to go to bat for the network -- or should we say go to court? Once again, the late-night host will pick up prime-time duties with "JKL: Game Night" (7 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5), a half-hour warm-up to the first game of the NBC Finals.

NEAL JUSTIN

Jimmy Kimmel, star of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is shown in this May 15, 2007, file photo in New York. ABC says Jimmy Kimmel will join NBC's late-night hosts in returning with new shows in January despite the Hollywood writers strike. Kimmel, along with Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and other hosts, had honored the strike that began Nov. 5. Kimmel says it was a difficult decision to resume work on Jan. 2 without his writers, but he wants to save the jobs of other staffers on the show.
Jimmy Kimmel, star of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is shown in this May 15, 2007, file photo in New York. ABC says Jimmy Kimmel will join NBC's late-night hosts in returning with new shows in January despite the Hollywood writers strike. Kimmel, along with Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and other hosts, had honored the strike that began Nov. 5. Kimmel says it was a difficult decision to resume work on Jan. 2 without his writers, but he wants to save the jobs of other staffers on the show. (Elliott Polk (Clickability Client Services) — Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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