Pomp and circumstance
On Monday, President-elect Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated for his second term. And one question that rushes through the minds of Americans (or at least culture journalists at The New York Times) is: Who will perform? And now we know: During the swearing-in ceremony, Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful,” and the tenor Christopher Macchio will perform the national anthem. The Village People, Billy Ray Cyrus and Gavin DeGraw will perform at the various inauguration balls and rallies. Coverage starting at 10 a.m. on several networks.
Are you nervous yet?
We have seen Leo Woodall as an unlikable but slightly charming scoundrel in “The White Lotus” and a foolish college grad turned doting father in “One Day.” In “Prime Target,” he is playing a completely different type of character. As Edward Brooks, he is a mathematician on the verge of a breakthrough involving prime numbers, which would give him access to every single computer in the world. Taylah Sanders (Quintessa Swindell), at the National Security Agency, is tasked with watching his every move, but the two end up joining forces. Streaming Wednesday on Apple TV+.
When “The Night Agent” premiered in 2023, it became one of the most watched shows on Netflix, and now it’s coming back. The first season focused on the F.B.I. agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), who is thrown into a conspiracy involving the White House; this second season, filmed in New York, Washington and Thailand, brings similarly stressful stakes. Brittany Snow joins the cast as his new partner. Streaming on Netflix on Thursday.
There have been many screen iterations of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but this might be the first twist as a medical procedural. In the new series, “Watson,” which takes place in modern day, Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) resumes his medical career at a clinic dedicated to treating rare diseases after the death of Holmes. Once he returns, he discovers he isn’t able to jump back into his old life the way he thought he could. Airing on CBS at 9 p.m. on Sunday and available to stream on Paramount+.
Choose your reality: dating, whodunit or tests of strength?
Though lots of reality TV fans are still mourning the end of an especially fun season of “Love Island U.S.A.,” a bunch of recognizable bombshells will be walking into a South African villa for a second season of “Love Island All Stars.” Like most “all stars” iterations of reality shows, the premise is simple: Bring back a group of singles who didn’t find love the first time around. And as fans of the show know, there is no shortage of content, with a new episode coming out almost every day for the weeks ahead. Available to stream daily on Peacock.
“The Traitors,” a murder mystery game hosted by the actor Alan Cumming, also gets some of its charm by mixing up a group of familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting — in this case Boston Rob, Bob the Drag Queen and Ciara Miller, to name a few, in a castle in the Highlands of Scotland. For its third season, the show is following the same format as before: Contestants are either traitors or faithfuls, and the faithfuls must discover the traitors among them before they themselves are murdered (metaphorically speaking, of course; this isn’t “Squid Game”). Streaming Thursdays on Peacock.
“Special Forces,” which just began its third season, puts athletes, reality and television stars through the training exercises that are used for the U.S. Army Special Forces. This season features Brody Jenner, Cam Newton, Alana Blanchard and others. While the show is emotionally heavy and seemingly physically draining, sometimes it yields incredible memes like Jojo Siwa carrying Tom Sandoval on her back last season. Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Fox and available to stream on Hulu.
Remembering a basketball great
For a certain generation of basketball fans, Kobe Bryant’s death on Jan, 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash was one of those “where were you when …” moments. Timed to the anniversary of his death, CNN is airing a three-part series entitled “Kobe: The Making of a Legend,” which goes through Bryant’s childhood in Philadelphia and Italy and features interviews with his former coaches, teammates and family friends. Saturday at 9 p.m. on CNN
