With the Olympics rapidly shooshing toward Sunday’s closing ceremonies, most of TV is holding off new and returning programming this week. It’s a good time to catch up with the overflowing tidbits basket.
Country roads. The project won’t hit the PBS schedule until 2018, but Ken Burns is turning his attention to country music.
Over the years, the acclaimed documentarian has tackled the Civil War, baseball, jazz and a number of other subjects. Now Burns will examine the origins of country in minstrel music, ballads, hymns and the blues, follow it through hillbilly music, bluegrass and rockabilly and take it into modern times when many consider country music as mainstream as it gets.
Among others, the multi-episode series will focus on the careers of Arkansas native Johnny Cash, the Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson.
The documentary will be written by Burns’ longtime producing partner Dayton Duncan.
Burns has other projects in the works for PBS, including one on the Gettysburg Address that will air this spring, and films on the Roosevelts, Jackie Robinson and Vietnam.
Mob City. TNT has canceled the noir period drama after the six-episode Season 1. The season started with 2.3 million viewers and went south.
The series was set in 1940s Los Angeles and focused on the bloody conflict between LAPD Chief William Parker (Neal McDonough) and gangsters Bugsy Siegel (Ed Burns) and Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke).
Armisen on board. Seth Meyers has hired his old Saturday Night Live buddy Fred Armisen as bandleader for Late Night With Seth Meyers. Armisen, star of Portlandia, was a musician before he went into acting.
Meyers’ new series debuts at 11:35 p.m. Monday on NBC. His first guest will be another former SNL standout, Amy Poehler.
Poehler pleased. NBC has renewed Poehler’s Parks and Recreation for a seventh season. NBC has also committed to making a pilot for a comedy about older people that Poehler is writing.
Trivia: While a member of the comedy/improvisational troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, Poehler worked with Brigade founder and Little Rock native Matt Besser.
Portlandia. Season 4 of the quirky comedy starring Armisen and Carrie Brownstein debuts at 9 p.m. Feb. 27 on IFC.
Guest stars this season include Kirsten Dunst, Olivia Wilde, Ed Begley Jr., Jeff Goldblum, Jason Sudeikis and Kyle MacLachlan.
Leno numbers. The finale ratings are in for NBC’s The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. The Feb. 6 farewell drew 14.6 million viewers, the most since 1998 when Jerry Seinfeld appeared to mark the end of his eponymous sitcom.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon kicked off the new era Monday at 11 p.m. and begins its regular time of 10:35 p.m. Monday.
Digital age. Nielsen media reports American consumers own four digital devices on average. The majority of households own high-definition TVs, along with Internet-connected computers and smartphones. Almost half also own DVRs and gaming consoles.
The average consumer spends about 60 hours a week viewing content across these various platforms, Nielsen found, including almost 134 hours of live TV a month.
Bates Motel. The A&E original drama starring Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore returns for Season 2 at 8 p.m. March 3.
Kitchen Nightmares. Season 6 debuts at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 on Fox. The first episode finds chef Gordon Ramsey paying a follow-up to Amy’s Baking Company.
It got really ugly last season at Amy’s. To remind you, Fox will rerun that explosive episode at 7 p.m. Friday.
Almost Human. I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed this sci-fi adventure. It’s on our highly selective, must-see DVR list.
Season 1 of the series starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy as a damaged detective and his robot sidekick comes to a conclusion at 7 p.m. March 3 on Fox.
Make a note because I’ll be getting daily email starting March 10 from readers asking if Almost Human has been canceled.
Ink Master. The tattoo competition series returns for Season 4 at 9 p.m. Feb. 25 on Spike TV.
New series. USA has picked up Benched, a new courtroom comedy starring Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings) and Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted). No debut date has been set.
Olympics stuff. Finally, if you are hooked on the Olympics, you probably already know this. If not, be aware that NBC’s prime-time lineup today (7 to 10:30 p.m.) includes gold medal runs in women’s giant slalom, men’s freestyle skiing and women’s short track.
The real action will be Wednesday with women’s curling from 4 to 7 a.m. on USA, and men’s curling from 4 to 7 p.m. on CNBC. Beware of keen ice affecting the quilted turns.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: [email protected]
Style, Pages 24 on 02/18/2014