‘Atypical’ Final Season, ‘Leverage’ Returns, ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation,’ Gloria Estefan’s Musical Heritage

Season Premiere

In the fourth and final season of the acclaimed dramedy about Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), a young autistic man finding his way toward independence, the undergrad’s growing pains become even more tangible when Sam sets up home away from home with best friend Zahid (Nik Dodani). As parents Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Doug (Michael Rapaport) contend with an emptier nest while Sam tries to set ground rules with his roommate, the entire Gardner family—including Sam’s bisexual track-star sister Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine)—faces big choices about their future. This is a series I never wanted to end, but Sam’s aspirational goals promise a satisfying conclusion.

Series Premiere

As the rich only seem to get richer in today’s polarized world, it seems the perfect time to reboot the popular TNT caper drama (2008-12), dropping its first eight episodes on Amazon’s free streaming service for an escapist binge. (Eight more are planned for the fall.) The team of Robin Hoods plotting against the unscrupulously wealthy is back: grifter Sophie (Gina Bellman), master thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf) hacker Alec (Aldis Hodge) and muscleman Eliot (Christian Kane). With their former mentor Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton) now deceased, they turn to reformed corporate lawyer Harry Wilson (Noah Wyle) for support. Their first target: an opioid-pushing pharma tycoon (Reed Diamond, who played a similar sleazy role on the final season of Bosch) whose art collection could be just the thing to help restore what’s been taken from the more deserving. Welcome back, you good-guy crooks.

Series Premiere

8/7c

Let’s Make a Deal’s Wayne Brady returns kindness for kindness in the debut of a series in which famous names in entertainment and sports pay back someone who helped set them on the road to fame with a surprise home renovation. For Brady, this means a trip back to Orlando, FL, to give his nurturing Aunt Lilly a dream home makeover. Lest you think this is a ripoff of HGTV’s successful Celebrity IOU, CBS points out that this reality series has its roots in a series of Superstar Renovation specials dating back to the network’s weekend afternoon sports block in 2018, when athletes gave back to their hometown mentors. Future participants include Paula Abdul, Boomer Esiason, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Emmitt Smith, In the Heights’s Anthony Ramos and Survivor fixture “Boston” Rob Mariano.

Special

9/8c

The Grammy-winning Latin music superstar narrates and hosts a Great Performances special that explores her musical roots with a journey through Africa, Cuba and especially Brazil. The special looks at the history of Samba and its variations with stops in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Salvador.

Animation Bonanza:

• Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants spins off The Patrick Star Show (7/6c), featuring a younger version of the cheerful starfish as he hosts a variety show from his bedroom. It’s paired with Middlemost Post (7:30/6:30c), the fanciful adventures of former rain cloud Parker J. Cloud, who delivers mail to the offbeat denizens of Mount Middlemost with the help of his friend and boss Angus and pet walrus Russell.
• The Snoopy Show (streaming on Apple TV+): Good news for Peanuts fans, as six new episodes of the delightful Snoopy-centric series celebrate all aspects of the beloved beagle and his friends.
• Central Park (streaming on Apple TV+): Broadway legend Patti LuPone and Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz (who displays her musical chops in In the Heights) are among the guest voices of another fun outing, in which Owen (Leslie Odom Jr.) nervously takes daughter Molly (Emmy Raver-Lampman) bra shopping—cue the “I’ve Got a Bra-blem” song. On the other side of the park, long-suffering Helen (Daveed Diggs) finds-then promptly loses—a key to Bitsy’s (Stanley Tucci) file cabinet, which could reveal the contents of the tyrant’s will.

Inside Friday TV:

• World’s Most Dangerous Sharks (10/9c, National Geographic): While the great white gets all the publicity, experts debate whether the oceanic whitetip actually deserves the “most dangerous” title in a SharkFest special.
• Dateline NBC (9/8c): From the true-crime blotter: Andrea Canning reports on a nearly decade-old case of a Texas mother and son found murdered in their home.
• For stand-up fans, Showtime’s Pete Lee: Tall, Dark and Pleasant (9/8c) is a set from the rising Wisconsin-raised comic about the downside of being a nice guy. HBO’s Entre Nos Presents: Frankie Quiñones: Superhomies (10/9c) showcases the Entre Nos veteran and viral comedy star in a half-hour special about life as a Mexican-American in Las Vegas, with asides from his alter egos Creeper and “JC” Juanita Carmelita.

On the Stream:

• Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (streaming on Netflix): The second chapter in the horror trilogy moves into the ’70s for a Friday the 13th-style homage, with teens at Camp Nightwing fighting for survival when a killer interrupts their fun and games.
• Black Widow (streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access): Your choice: Go to the movie theater to see Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) contend with her spy-legacy backstory or stream the movie at home for an additional price.
• Virgin River (streaming on Netflix): The soapy drama is back for a third season, with bar owner Jack (Martin Henderson) recovering from his gunshot wound. But there is plenty of trauma yet in store for the rural town, with a funeral, a fire and a hurricane among the season’s highlights.
• This Way Up (streaming on Hulu): Also worth checking out as it drops a second season: the raw British comedy about sisters Aine (Aisling Bea), who’s recovering from mental-health rehab, and Shona (Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan). They each face hurdles in their relationships: Aine with her employer (The Crown’s Tobias Menzies) and Shona with her fiancé (Evil’s Aasif Mandvi).
• Luxe Listings Sydney (streaming on Amazon Prime Video): In the tradition of Million Dollar Listing, this docuseries goes Down Under to profile three top real-estate agents as they market eye-popping and budget-busting properties in one of the world’s most scenic cities.