What’s Worth Watching: ‘Mr. Robot’, ‘Suits’, ‘Conan’ and more for Wednesday, July 20.
Mr. Robot (10/9c, USA): If you can tear yourself away from the GOP antics in Cleveland (I jest), consider celebrating the success of USA’s cult curiosity. Having broken through at the Emmys with six nominations for its freshman season—including for drama series, lead actor (Rami Malek) and writing—this provocatively brain-teasing drama continues its second season with Elliot (Malek) still trying to beat Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) at his own mind games. In what passes for the real world, Angela (Portia Doubleday) goes behind-the-scenes of Evil Corp., where the view isn’t likely to be any prettier than it is inside Elliot’s tortured psyche.
Suits (9/8c, USA): The night’s other most gripping drama isn’t letting up on its embattled protagonists, with senior partners Harvey (Gabriel Macht), Jessica (Gina Torres) and Louis (Rick Hoffman) trying to quash a class-action suit that could take down the firm. In prison, Mike (Patrick J. Adams) clashes with an inmate, and while we appreciate the gravity of the situation, we hope for a resolution to this particular story before Suits becomes the next Oz.
Politics as Unusual: On the penultimate night of the Republican National Convention, there are quite a few TV interlopers trying to bring the comedy amid the commentary. CBS’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (11:35/10:35c) continues its live run, with comedian Lewis Black and Scandal’s fake president Tony Goldwyn among the scheduled guests. HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher (11/10c) joins the live fray with a half-hour special, inviting provocateurs Michael Moore and Dan Savage onto the panel, and TBS’s Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (10:30/9:30c) delivers a special episode from Cleveland. Even MSNBC is getting in the game, with Colin Jost and Michael Che of Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” expected to deliver a satirical news report around midnight/11c. And upstaging all of them might be Michelle Obama’s ride-along on the latest Carpool Karaoke segment of the Emmy-nominated The Late Late Show With James Corden (12:37 am/11:37c). Beyoncé will be sung. (And note to her critics: singing karaoke does not equal musical plagiarism.)
Inside Wednesday TV: While the other late-night hosts obsess on politics, TBS’s Conan (11/10c) geeks out at ComicCon, returning to San Diego for a series of shows at the annual fan-fest. First up: the cast of HBO’s nerd-tastic Silicon Valley, including Emmy-nominated Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani. … The self-absorption of Bravo’s reality stars finds yet another outlet in The Bravos (10/9c), a pop-culture party of an awards show, hosted by the ubiquitous Andy Cohen, featuring categories like “The Susan Lucci Award for Best Performance in a Reality Show” and “The Queen of Shade Award.” Mariah Carey will be on hand to accept the “Giving Me Life Achievement Award.”
