Dan Rather will add another feather to his AXS TV cap with “Dan Rather Presents,” a new documentary series premiering Tuesday, May 6 (8 p.m.), which will tackle challenging issues.
First up: “One Way Ticket to Nowhere: America’s Mental Health Crisis,” a report detailing how the country is dealing with the mentally ill, who, by some estimates, comprise 25 percent of our population. For this report, Rather visits Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas, which was criticized for “patient dumping” — busing nearly 1,500 patients out of state since 2008.
Over on TV’s syndicated side, “Queen Latifah” was the only freshman show to register a rise in ratings (1.6 million viewers). It was also up a whopping 50 percent in women 25-54 for the week ending April 6. That’s its best showing in the demo since its premiere week last September.
Meanwhile, Sam Champion’s Weather Channel show, “AMHQ,” featured its first live performance Tuesday with rock keyboardist Chuck Leavall (who also founded Mother Nature Network). William Shatner (“Shatner’s World” ) and Jane Goodall (“Bears”) also stopped by to chat.
‘MOMS’ take their PIX
‘The MOMS,” aka Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, are joining the “PIX11 Morning News” (6-9 a.m. with Sukanya Krishan and Kori Chambers) as weekly contributors starting Thursday, April 24.
Albert and Gerstein will appear every Thursday in segments tied to — what else? — families and moms. The duo, who created and hosted Ch. 4’s “Moms & The City” (2010-2011) and “A Dad Named David,” also appear on Sirius/XM Stars (Ch. 106) and have guested in the past on shows including “Good Morning America” and the “Today” show.
More new programming: MSG Network is producing exclusive Rangers playoff previews — for New York City cab riders. It starts Thursday when the Blueshirts take on the Flyers in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Each 45- to 60-second segment seen in cabs will be updated after every game and will appear in over 7,500 yellow cabs featuring MSG broadcasters Al Trautwig, Bill Pidto and ex-Rangers star Ron Duguay.
Last, but not least …
Stephen Colbert, who’s replacing David Letterman next year, will visit the “Late Show” this Tuesday, April 22 (11:35 p.m./Ch. 2) . . . The first season of the ’60s series “Route 66” (Martin Milner, George Zaharis) is now available on Hulu and Hulu Plus . . . April 21: HBO Home Entertainment will release “Girls: The Complete Third Season” on Digital HD. It will be available via digital retailers (including iTunes) and features all 12 episodes from that season.