Fans who enjoy watching their music as well as listening to it are in for a treat the next couple of nights thanks to The CW. If you plan to record both nights, set aside four hours on the DVR.
• iHeartRadio Music Festival, 7-9 p.m. today-Friday, The CW. The festival has grown to be kind of a big deal since it kicked off in 2011 in Las Vegas. This year's event took place Sept. 23-24 at the T-Mobile Arena.
Again hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the lineup includes Ariana Grande, Drake, Britney Spears (featuring G-Eazy), Usher, Sam Hunt, Twenty One Pilots, Billy Idol, Florida Georgia Line, OneRepublic, Sia, Cage the Elephant, Zedd, Tears for Fears, Pitbull, U2, Sting and Loverboy.
I don't know how much of her appearance will make the cut, but Taylor Swift interrupted the proceedings the second night to declare "Queen Taylor Awareness Month." Take that for what it's worth. I'm sure it was all part of the show.
Also included is a performance from this year's Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star winner, Los 5, an independent Los Angeles-based pop band from Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
I've seen a preview of Spears' performance and the "Queen of Pop" appears to be back in fighting form, lip-syncing as well as in her younger days and surrounded by 20 well-muscled, tattooed dancers distracting you from the fact that she isn't really moving around all that much.
That sort of flashy arena performance may dazzle the crowd on hand, but for me it always falls a little flat on the small screen.
Those in attendance report that Spears sang "Womanizer" and "I'm a Slave 4 U." Other songs included "Toxic," "Stronger" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy." She also sang "Do You Wanna Come Over?" and "Make Me."
Not all of these may make the cut. Granted, there are four hours to fill, but there are a lot of artists on hand.
• The Ranch. Part 2 of the first season of the Netflix original comedy drops its 10 episodes Friday. Is it binge-worthy? Not for me.
The first 10 episodes arrived April 1 to less-than-stellar reviews.
The series, co-created by Two and a Half Men's Don Reo and Jim Patterson, stars Ashton Kutcher and his old That '70s Show cast mate Danny Masterson as brothers, and veterans Debra Winger and Sam Elliott as their parents.
The novelty of seeing Kelso and Hyde reunited in another sitcom quickly wears thin. Winger is uncharacteristically stiff, and Elliott, well, Elliott plays the same rangy, drawling mustachioed character in everything he does.
Kutcher plays aging semi-pro football star Colt Bennett who returns to his family's Iron River Ranch in Garrison, Colo., to help his dad run the place. The ranch has fallen on hard times due to drought.
Elliott is crusty patriarch and Vietnam vet Beau, and Masterson is the long-suffering older son Rooster.
Winger is the feisty local bar owner and Beau's ex-wife, Maggie, but it's quickly clear she's an ex with benefits.
With faith that the series will improve, Netflix has already renewed The Ranch for a second season of 20 episodes.
• Netflix reminder. Marvel's Luke Cage premiered Friday (13 episodes). It is the next in The Defenders series on Netflix.
The others were Marvel's Daredevil and Marvel's Jessica Jones. On the horizon are Marvel's Iron Fist, and eventually, Marvel's The Defenders.
For those out of the Marvel loop, Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is a superhero with super strength and unbreakable skin. He's a fugitive just trying to rebuild his life in Harlem, but being a superhero, he's soon called upon to do superhero crime-fighting stuff.
Others in the cast include Mahershala Ali, the inimitable Alfre Woodard, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Frank Whaley and Rosario Dawson.
• Thanks, Charles. In case you missed the memo, the legendary Charles Osgood held his final Sunday Morning telecast Sept. 25 on CBS. It was 22 years for the 83-year-old Osgood. Beginning Sunday, Jane Pauley will take his place.
Pauley, 65, was co-host of NBC's Today show from 1976 to 1989, then anchored Dateline NBC from 1992 to 2003. She had her own short-lived syndicated talk show in 2004.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 10/06/2016