‘Transplant’ Finale, ‘Gospel Live,’ TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar, Ranking Super Bowl Ads
The Season 3 finale of Canadian medical drama Transplant welcomes its hero back from a volunteer mission in Lebanon. A rousing gospel concert acts as curtain-raiser to a PBS docuseries on the spiritual music genre. Turner Classic Movies kicks off its monthlong countdown to the Oscars with vintage winners and nominees. Ahead of Sunday’s big game, watch a rundown of classic Super Bowl ads.
Transplant
The Canadian medical drama wraps a strong Season 3—no word yet when NBC will air the already-completed fourth and final season—with an emotional episode that finds the doctors of York Memorial at a crossroads. Bash (Hamza Haq) is back from his mission to Lebanon with a decision to make about his professional future, with an even more profound choice looming for his love interest Mags (Laurence Leboeuf), who realizes, “Doing what I love is killing me.” June (Ayisha Issa) faces a moral quandary with her patient, while a traumatized Theo (Jim Watson) risks his career yet again by getting personally involved in his patient’s domestic situation.
Gospel Live!
Prepare for your roof to be raised as voices combine to make a joyful noise in a music special that serves as a rousing prelude to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s four-hour Gospel docuseries, beginning Monday. The concert, filmed live at L.A.’s Oasis Church, features performers touched by the gospel tradition, including EGOT John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and The Ton3s, LaTocha, Mali Music, Lena Byrd Miles, Sheléa and Tauren Wells, with music direction by Alonzo “Zo” Harris.
31 Days of Oscar
With the Oscars a month away (March 10 on ABC), TCM launches its annual monthlong celebration of Oscar winners and nominees, focusing on a specific category each day with a 24-hour marathon. First up is a gallery of films that were nominated or won for costume design, starting with 1948’s Adventures of Don Juan. Prime-time slots are designated for winners only, starting with 1973’s Best Picture winner The Sting (8/7c), starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, followed by 1953’s charming romcom Roman Holiday (10:15/9:15c), pairing Gregory Peck with Audrey Hepburn.
Super Bowl Greatest Commercials
Back for a 23rd year, the survey of classic Super Bowl ads unfolds in Las Vegas just days before Super Bowl LVIII, with QB turned analyst Boomer Esiason and NCIS: Los Angeles alum Daniela Ruah returning as hosts. Viewers (in East and Central time zones) can vote on their all-time favorite, while Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier provides a preview of some of this year’s most highly anticipated spots, including the return of (a personal fave) the Budweiser Clydesdales.
Masters of the Air
The aerial sequences build in intensity in this first-rate historical war drama when a new major (Nate Mann) joins the 100th while another pilot celebrates his milestone 25th completed mission and a downed pilot tries to survive behind enemy lines. As the squadron faces what becomes regarded as their “toughest mission of the war,” targeting Nazi U-boat pens at Bremen, “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) witnesses the horror of bombing first-hand while on leave.
INSIDE FRIDAY TV:
- Good Times (8/7c, TV One): Running through Sunday, a marathon marking the 50th anniversary of the classic Norman Lear sitcom about a Black family in Chicago opens with two episodes of Maude that introduced the character of matriarch Florida Evans (Esther Rolle).
- Power Book III: Raising Kanan (8/7, Starz): With disloyalty and tension growing in both his gang and blood families, teenage Kanan (MeKai Curtis)—en route to his merciless killer future—faces a big decision in the Season 3 finale: whether to reconcile with his drug-queenpin mother Raq (Patina Miller).
- RuPaul’s Drag Race (8/7, MTV): As if dancing the flamenco with the iconic Charo wasn’t enough to make the queens’ heads spin, they’re then challenged to design dolls based on their drag personas.
- True Detective: Night Country (9/8c, 6 pm/PT, HBO): Rightly figuring most eyes will be on football Sunday, HBO makes the penultimate episode of this creepy mystery available early. When the Anchorage office declares the case of the frozen scientists is closed, local chief Liz (Jodie Foster) and trooper Navarro (Kali Reis) beg to differ.
- True Crime Watch: ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) investigates two murders-for hire in Nashville in 2020 that stemmed from the blackmail attempt of a Texas auto executive. On Dateline NBC (9/8c), a package bomb explodes at a Long Beach (CA) day spa, killing esthetician Ildiko Krajnyak, with the trail leading to her ex-boyfriend.
- Mama June: Family Crisis (9/8c, WEtv): In the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo spinoff’s Season 6 winter premiere, June Shannon and her family are truly in crisis: planning a last-minute wedding for daughter Anna, who begins chemo after receiving a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. (Anna passed away in December 2023, after filming had wrapped.)
- CMT Campfire Sessions (10/9c, CMT): In honor of Valentine’s Day, a “Love Songs” edition of the acoustic music series features covers from Darius Rucker, Chris Young, Caitlyn Smith, Dustin Lynch with MacKenzie Porter &. Madeline Merlo, NEEDTOBREATHE, Riley Green, Sara Evans and Tenille Townes.
ROMCOMS ON THE STREAM:
- Upgraded (streaming on Prime Video): Riverdale’s Camila Mendes stars in a romcom as Ana, an art enthusiast and auction-house trainee who’s mistaken by wealthy Will (Archie Renaux) for her boss (Marisa Tomei) when she’s upgraded to first class during her first work trip.
- Meet Me in Rome (streaming on the Roku Channel): An improvised romcom follows three singles (Lauren Simmons, Dhruva Patel, Christa Belle Allen) as they pursue romance in the Eternal City, following a daily script leading them to their next suitor and adventure.