Carson on TCM
Here’s Johnny—at his absolute best. Culling three decades’ worth of The Tonight Show’s archives, Turner Classic Movies has assembled about two dozen of Johnny Carson’s most memorable interviews into five hour-long showcases. The first features sit-downs with Kirk Douglas, George Burns, and a 7-year-old Drew Barrymore. Conan O’Brien, who briefly occupied Carson’s vacated Tonight Show chair, hosts each showcase. Monday, July 1, at 8 p.m., TCM
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This new scripted drama follows contestants in a reality-TV show after they’re dropped in northern Siberia and a series of frightening events—including the disappearance of the producers—plunge them into an unexpected fight for survival. Campy but gasp-inducing, the show suggests that supernatural forces were unleashed in the region by a massive 1908 meteor landing. Monday, July 1, at 10 p.m., NBC
A Capitol Fourth:
America’s Independence Day Celebration
The west lawn of the Capitol has been the scene of an Independence Day concert for decades. This year, performers will include Barry Manilow and American Idol winners Scotty McCreery and Candice Glover. Also, film composer John Williams will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra as it plays the music he created for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.Thursday, July 4, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Life’s Too Short Special
Viewers never did warm to Life’s Too Short, a series that starred “showbiz dwarf” Warwick Davis as a vain, grasping version of himself. But co-creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant upped their game for the short-lived show’s hour-long finale, which softens Davis’s sharp edges and makes good use of Val Kilmer—who co-starred with Davis in the forgettable 1988 film Willow and reappears here trying to raise money for a sequel. Friday, July 5, at 10 p.m., HBO
Masterpiece Mystery!: Endeavour
Before he became the irascible title character in PBS’s long-running Inspector Morse series, he was an irascible rookie constable embarrassed by his first name: Endeavour. In this prequel series, Morse (Shaun Evans) is also a 20-year-old Oxford dropout learning the art of crime-solving from a mentor (Roger Allam) while developing a taste for opera, booze, and red Jaguars. Sunday, July 7, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Other highlights
Bizarre Foods America
As a new season starts, chef Andrew Zimmern is still finding and sampling odd fare, like pig’s-head tamales, that prove our nation has never sustained itself on grilled cheese alone. Monday, July 1, at 9 p.m., Travel Channel
Below Deck
Reality TV gets its own Love Boat. Cameras follow the crew on a 164-foot yacht as a new crop of wealthy passengers comes aboard each week. Monday, July 1, at 10 p.m., Bravo
Katmai: Alaska’s Wild Peninsula
Filmmaker John Grabowska creates a stunning portrait of Katmai National Park, a 500-mile stretch of wilderness that’s home to the world’s largest concentration of brown bears. Friday, July 5, at 10:30 p.m., PBS; check local listings
