Using reenactments and interviews with historians, “Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator” (9 p.m., PBS) will air over the next three Tuesday nights.
Experts and authors offer breathless accounts, almost like breaking news, describing a ruthlessly ambitious man who had no respect for the established order and the Roman republic’s allergy to monarchy. He’s first seen nominating himself for the role of high priest, or pontifex maximus, despite a reputation as a bankrupt and louche gambler.
A man capable of the most unlikely alliances who “branded” himself as a man of the people, challenging the Senate and intellectual elites with rambling rallies tinged with real and potential violence, this Caesar is no stranger to our current scene. But our would-be dictator would probably ridicule Caesar for his epilepsy.
— As mentioned in yesterday’s column, Peacock is now streaming all six seasons of “Community,” an NBC series from 2009-2015 whose ensemble cast continues to impress in so many other efforts. Some of them, including Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” and Alison Brie’s “BoJack Horseman,” are among the best television of this not-so-young century.
It’s sad to see that NBC, once home to comedy innovation, has just completed a season of the execrable and unfunny “Extended Family” and now offers two helpings of “Lopez vs. Lopez” (8 p.m., and 8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-PG), a sitcom that only seems like it’s from 1996.
— Alcoholic country star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) falls for a singing waitress (Lady Gaga) whose inherent talent eventually eclipses his squandered promise in the fourth iteration of “A Star Is Born” (8 p.m., HBO), this one from 2018. Sam Elliott stars as Maine’s frustrated older brother.
It’s interesting to watch this effort after Cooper’s recent ambitious Netflix biopic “Maestro.” To go from a guitar god to Leonard Bernstein is a bold move, but “Maestro” was largely derided for being nothing but one bold move and gesture after another.
There’s something much more comforting about the familiar confines of “A Star Is Born” and the trajectory (and chemistry) of its characters.
This is hardly a perfect movie. There are times, particularly at the beginning, when Cooper seems to be imitating real country rocker Kris Kristofferson, who played the Maine character in the 1976 version opposite Barbra Streisand. And there are other times when Sam Elliott seems to be doing a barely credible imitation of Sam Elliott.
But who cares? This is Lady Gaga’s movie, and she’s never not astounding to watch. She begins the movie channeling Edith Piaf in a drag bar and ends the story with stadium audiences in the palm of her hands. She performs in at least a half-dozen pop and cabaret genres and excels at them all, while at the same time offering a dazzling act of shape-shifting. At one moment she’s a diva and in the next, she looks no more glamorous than the girl who sat next to you in your high school algebra class. A star is born, indeed. She’s the reason to watch and (re)watch this impressive effort.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A victim is found in the rubble of a restaurant bombing on “FBI” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Amanda attracts a series of threats on “Will Trent” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— A kidnapping sparks intrigue in Tuscany on “FBI: International” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A toddler emerges from a crime scene search on “The Rookie” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— A prisoner exchange results in a bloodbath on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Marriage redefined on “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— Cornered by an Osaka cabal, Toranaga looks for a new partner on “Shogun” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
A mini-marathon of movies featuring MGM player Ann Dvorak includes the 1937 mystery “The Case of the Stuttering Bishop” (5:30 p.m., TCM), in which she plays Della Street, the assistant to lawyer Perry Mason (Donald Woods). Born Ann McKim, she referred to Dvorak as “her fake name,” one that few could pronounce.
SERIES NOTES
Making the best of a horrible situation on “The Cleaning Lady” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Weakest Link” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … An overeager neighborhood watch captain vanishes on “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Password” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, Dr. David Agus and Preacher Lawson on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Tim Robinson, Wendell Pierce and Lindsay Mendez visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:37 a.m., CBS).
