An ‘FBI’ Mega-Crossover, ‘Frontline’ on the Taliban, ‘American Auto’ in Mourning, An NBA Star Redefines Himself
All three FBI series tackle an international terror plot in an evening-long crossover. PBS’ Frontline begins a three-part docuseries investigating America’s longest war against Afghanistan’s Taliban and the fallout from the chaotic 2021 withdrawal. A death in the corporate family brings out the worst in the American Auto C-suite. A Prime Video docuseries follows former NBA star J.R. Smith as he goes to college and finds a new vocation with golf.
FBI
In the first global crossover of all three FBI series since 2021, the International spinoff moves an hour earlier to kick off a thriller about a terror attack aimed at New York City, revealed after the abduction of an American architect in Rome. NYC Feds Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) and a pregnant Nina (Shantel VanSanten) fly to Italy to join Forrester (Luke Kleintank) and the Fly Team to investigate. On FBI (9/8c), stars from International and Most Wanted converge to help Agent Scola (John Boyd) in his undercover efforts to locate the terrorists. The story concludes on FBI: Most Wanted (10/9c), with the New York and Fugitive Task Force squads hunting down the fugitive terrorists, with an assist from Forrester in Europe.
Frontline
Longtime correspondent Martin Smith and his team begin a hard-hitting three-part investigation (continuing the next two Tuesdays) to tell the full story of America’s military efforts in Afghanistan following 9/11 to take down Al Qaeda and its ruling ally, the Taliban. Interviewing U.S. and Afghan military leaders, soldiers, diplomats and Taliban officials, the series illuminates the missteps that led over time and several administrations to the tragic and chaotic withdrawal of troops in 2021, with countless Afghan citizens and nearly 2,400 American service members killed and the Taliban back in control.
American Auto
Mourning has broken at Payne Motors, but only to an extent, when weaselly Wesley’s (Jon Barinholtz) grandfather passes away and rumors spread that the heirs plan to sell their shares, which could be devastating to the stock price. As you’d expect in this barbed corporate satire, CEO Katherine (Ana Gasteyer) and her C-suite cronies are not on their best behavior at the funeral, as they attempt to do the sort of damage control where no one is allowed to rest in peace.
Redefined: J.R. Smith
Series Premiere
Proving there are second acts in life, a four-part docuseries tracks the new path forged by two-time NBA champion (with the Cleveland Cavaliers and L.A. Lakers) J.R. Smith, who was drafted right out of high school in 2004 into the NBA, where he played through 2020. In Redefined, Smith sets his sights on college, enrolling at North Carolina A&T, the nation’s largest HBCU, where he finds a new athletic passion on the golf team.
INSIDE TUESDAY TV:
- Night Court (8/7c, NBC): Character actor Kurt Fuller (Evil) guests as NYC’s district attorney, who’s ready to meet with Abby (Melissa Rauch) to discuss her ideas for reform when Dan (John Larroquette) barges in with his insider knowledge of “backroom dealing.”
- Accused (9/8c, Fox): Hawaii Five-0’s Ian Anthony Dale stars in an episode of the legal anthology, following a familiar formula: A good person making questionable and reckless decisions while aiming to do the right thing, in this case desperately trying to protect his brain-damaged younger brother from abuse in a group home.
- Gotham Knights (9/8c, The CW): Genre queen Veronica Cartwright (Alien) guest-stars as the mysterious Eunice, a seemingly benign nursing-home resident who may hold the key to the long-simmering evil plaguing Gotham.
- The Sun Queen (9/8c, PBS): American Experience profiles Mária Telkes, a pioneering scientist who should be better known for her visionary experiments in harnessing the power of the sun for solar energy, including designing and building the world’s first successfully solar-heated house in 1948.
- My Name Is Mo’Nique (streaming on Netflix): The Oscar-winning comedian gets real in an explosive stand-up set, baring her soul with bawdy anecdotes about her Baltimore upbringing and life lessons of adulthood.
- 80 for Brady (streaming on Paramount+): This light comedy that hit theaters in February is now available for streaming, featuring the formidable talents of Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Jane Fonda as golden girls determined by see their football idol Tom Brady play in Super Bowl LI.
- Sister Boniface Mysteries (streaming on Acorn TV): The 1960s crime-solving nun (Lorna Watson) is back for a second season, bringing her divine detection skills to help the Great Slaughter Police Department in the Cotswolds.
