Let’s celebrate Betty White: First Lady Of Television
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, August 21. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Betty White: First Lady Of Comedy (PBS, 8 p.m.): This year marks the 80th anniversary of Betty White’s career in show business—the longest career in the history of television. To celebrate this incredible, low-key mind-boggling achievement, the team behind Pioneers Of Television followed White and her team over the course of 10 years, capturing her life on- and off-set, chronicling interactions with friends (including a 900-pound grizzly bear), and digging into her accomplishments behind the camera. Among them: becoming the first woman to produce a national television show, the first producer to hire a female director, and the first woman to snag an Emmy nomination.
If you need yet more reasons to tune in and celebrate this national treasure, who even are you? What are you doing here? It’s Betty White, you monster. But here you go: Expect appearances from doting fans like Valerie Bertinelli, Carl Reiner, Ryan Reynolds, Alex Trebek, Tina Fey, and others.
Regular coverage
Wild card
Bachelor In Paradise (ABC, 8 p.m.): The German word backpfeifengesicht translates to “a face in need of a fist”—a punchable face. Anyway, in tonight’s episode, Jordan the Model will try to win back the woman he drove away by throwing a giant stuffed animal in the ocean. If you need a palate cleanser afterward, and you probably will, Making It (NBC, 10:01 p.m.) is cramming all the holidays into one charming hour.