This week: The end of ‘The Crown,’ a celebration of Willie’s 90th, and ‘A Very Barry Christmas’
1. And now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain … of “The Crown.” The Netflix series returns on Thursday with the last six episodes of the sixth season, which began with the last weeks of Diana and her relationship with Dodi Fayed. Now comes the story of the romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton, among other things. By the way, the show’s story will end before the death of Queen Elizabeth.
2. Back in April at the Hollywood Bowl, there was a concert in honor of Willie Nelson turning
90. Keith Richards joined Willie on a pair of songs, and Kris Kristofferson sang duets with Roseanne Cash and Norah Jones. Other performers included Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Miranda Lambert, Dave Matthews, Willie’s sons Lukas Nelson and Micah Nelson, George Strait, and Chris Stapleton. CBS is going to air the concert, “Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration,” on Sunday at 8 p.m. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
3. Family comedies imported from the UK often have bite and dysfunction aplenty, and “Such Brave Girls” promises to fit the formula. The show, due Friday on Hulu, is a British series about a single mother and her two daughters. Mom wants to date, but there’s no privacy or boundaries in their house. Kat Sadler, who plays one of the sisters along with her real-life sister, Lizzie Davidson, created and wrote the show.
4. He’s 80, and he holds the record as the longest-running resident artist in Las Vegas (formerly held by Elvis Presley). Now Barry Manilow’s doing a holiday special filmed in Vegas, “A Very Barry Christmas,” and it will no doubt feature him singing some of his most famous songs such as “Mandy” and “I Write the Songs.” But there will also be plenty of seasonal classics in the air, such as “Jingle Bells” and his cover of “All I Want for Christmas.” The NBC show airs Monday at 10 p.m. and will be available the next day on Peacock.