What's a true NFL fan to do while waiting for the Big Game? The conference championships were last Sunday and the filler game Pro Bowl (for whatever that's worth) will be this Sunday. But Super Bowl LII (that's 52 for the Roman-numeral impaired) won't be played until Feb. 4 on NBC.
Now, imagine you are a CBS programming executive charged with keeping viewer interest on your network and milking the NFL cash cow even though you're out of games for the playoffs. What do you do?
After several late-night brainstorming sessions you come up with a twist on that all-American favorite, the reality show talent competition. How about something like America's Got Talent featuring current professional football players showcasing their best off-the-field talent?
Brilliant! Genius!
And voila! We have MVP: Most Valuable Performer airing live at 7 p.m. today on CBS and hosted by NCIS: Los Angeles star, the increasingly ubiquitous rapper/actor/entrepreneur LL Cool J.
Trivia: His real name is James Todd Smith and LL Cool James stands for "Ladies Love Cool James." He and football go way back. As an actor, his first speaking role was a small part in the 1986 high school football comedy, Wildcats, which starred Goldie Hawn and was the film debut of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
The hour special will be an interactive talent show where the viewers will pick the winner from a pool that began with 32 players voted on by fans on the Sports Illustrated website. The finalists were teamed with celebrity mentors who helped polish their performances.
During the live show, a panel of judges will critique each performance and then viewers will vote online at CBS.com to decide the winner at the end of the hour.
Some of the 32 players competing and their talents are Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (piano); A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals (juggling); Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers (archery); Juju Smith-Shuster, Pittsburgh Steelers (cooking); Domata Peko, Denver Broncos (guitar); and Miles Killebrew, Detroit Lions (drums).
Some of the other talent on display includes solving Rubik's Cube, opera singing, Irish step dancing, tuba, rapping, yoga, violin, saxophone and dog tricks.
Bottom line: This'll kill an hour on a Thursday when your 7 p.m. options include the disappointing The Four: Battle for Stardom on Fox and a marathon of old Season 2 Brooklyn Nine-Nine reruns on TBS.
• Great Performances at the Met begins Season 12 at 8 p.m. Friday on AETN. Conducted by Carlo Rizzi, Vincenzo Bellini's Norma features Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato and Joseph Calleja.
The Metropolitan Opera boasts that the three hours are the next best thing for those who can't make it to New York to see the show.
Norma is a tragic opera in two acts that was first produced at La Scala in Milan, Italy, on Dec. 16, 1831. It has everything -- a druid priestess, invading Romans, forbidden love, a love triangle, and (spoiler alert) a double self-immolation sacrifice at the end.
All of that is sung in Italian and unless you speak the language, you might get lost.
Full disclosure: I may be confessing my plebeian philistine proclivities, but I've never seen an opera and have no desire to watch a bunch of folks singing in Italian.
There. I said it.
The only thing I do know about opera is that the colloquialism, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings," is a reference to the plus-size valkyrie Brunnhilde, who closes out the show in Richard Wagner's Gotterdammerung with her own immolation.
Evidently, fiery death is big in opera.
• RuPaul's Drag Race: all-stars kicks off Season 3 at 7 p.m. today on VH1 with a special 90-minute episode. This is probably the polar opposite of opera at the Met, further proof that TV has something for everyone.
For those unfamiliar with the background, the 57-year-old two-time Emmy-winning drag queen RuPaul (full name RuPaul Andre Charles) is the host of RuPaul's Drag Race, which already has been renewed for a 10th season.
In the spinoff, past performers are invited back to compete for a coveted slot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame (Google it). That, and the $100,000 grand prize (which will buy a lot of wigs, makeup and false eyelashes).
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will be a guest judge.
There will be nine "legendary" all-stars going for the win this season. They are Aja, BenDeLaCreme, Chi Chi DeVayne, Kennedy Davenport, Milk, Morgan McMichaels, Trixie Mattel, Thorgy Thor and third-time contestant Shangela Laquifa Wadley.
My money is on 36-year-old BenDeLaCreme (real name Benjamin Putnam), although this could finally be Shangela's (real name D.J. Pierce) season to shine.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 01/25/2018