Jeremy Renner Talks to Diane Sawyer, Where’s the ‘Beef’ on Netflix, ‘Grease’ Prequel, ‘OC’ Rips from Headlines

Special

10/9c

Twice Oscar nominated and currently the star of the Paramount+ drama Mayor of Kingstown, Jeremy Renner survived a nearly fatal accident on New Year’s Day when he was run over by his own seven-ton snowplow while trying to rescue his nephew. Suffering more than 30 broken bones and a punctured lung, Renner reflects on the accident and his recovery in a prime-time interview with Diane Sawyer, who also interviews his relatives and the first responders who helped save his life.

Series Premiere

Tempers run high in a savagely unsettling 10-episode dramedy starring The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun and comedian Ali Wong, both excellent as Los Angelenos who succumb to road rage after a near-miss in a parking lot. He’s a struggling contractor barely making ends meet, and she’s an entrepreneur who married into privilege. Each stressed to the limit by life’s pressures, they’re pushed to the brink as their encounter festers and escalates into an all-out feud.

Series Premiere

Less Grease than crude oil, this noisy and sluggish musical prequel tells the origin story of the Pink Ladies several years before Rizzo immortalized the feisty 1950s girl gang in the classic Grease. Ostensibly a fable of female empowerment about a quartet of Rydell High outsiders learning to be comfortable in their own skin, the original but unmemorable score shrieks its message in songs that feel more like manifestos with spastic choreography unsuited for this or any other period. My hand jive kept urging me toward the mute button.

10/9c

In classic “ripped from the headlines” fashion, the task force tackles a case echoed in recent New York City headlines, when they discover a pattern of robberies involving the drugging of gay men. The investigation turns personal for Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) when she tries to help a fellow officer victimized by the crooks. The franchise deals with more topical issues when Law & Order (8/7c) suspects a cult’s influence is behind a woman’s death from an untreated infection, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c) looks into misdeeds within a powerful construction tycoon’s family.

A truly thrilling episode works as many nostalgic Next Generation angles as possible while our heroes try to regain advantage against the fiendish Vadic (Amanda Plummer, gloating like a conductor of chaos), who with her fellow Changelings have taken control of the Titan. While Vadic demands the enigmatic Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) be delivered to her—though no one knows why—everyone’s best hope may be Data (Brent Spiner), but only if the android can avoid being erased by his meaner and lesser half, Lore.

Inside Thursday TV:

• The Masters: First Round (3 pm/ET, ESPN): Could 2022 winner Scottie Scheffler be one of the few golf masters to repeat in back-to-back tournaments? The battle for the green jacket begins at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club.
• CMT Music Awards Extended Cut (8/7c, CMT): If you were left wanting more after Sunday’s CBS telecast, a replay offers 30 minutes of bonus content and unseen performances.
• Next Level Chef (8/7c, Fox): The competition becomes spirited (literally) when the chefs are challenged to pair a craft cocktail with an appetizer. Likewise on Bravo’s Top Chef: World All-Stars (10/9c), the chef-testants are tasked to create dishes featuring mead to impress U.K. chef and Michelin-starred restauranteur Adam Handling.
• Ghost Hunters (9/8c, Travel Channel): The Walking Dead’s Chandler Riggs joins the TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) team in the Season 3 premiere to snoop around a century-old abandoned county jail in Hanford, California.
• Celebrity Prank Wars (10/9c, E!): Following the Season 4 premiere of Celebrity Game Face (9/8c), host Kevin Hart is joined by co-host Nick Cannon to judge which of their celebrity friends can pull off the best viral pranks.
• Wild West Chronicles (10/9c, INSP): The third season opens with Bat Masterson, now a retired lawman, heading to Nebraska to help a friend save his brother from being hanged.
• Good Trouble (10/9c, Freeform): The Fosters’ Teri Polo and Sherri Saum guest on the spinoff when Stef and Lena pay a visit to adoptive daughter Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) to help her make a major decision.
• Slasher: Ripper (streaming on Shudder and AMC+): The horror anthology travels back to the 19^th century to reveal the grisly deeds of The Widow, a serial killer targeting Toronto’s elite society, with tycoon Basil Garvey (Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack) a potential target.
• The Winchesters (streaming on HBO Max): If you missed any of the first season of the Supernatural prequel, it’s now available for streaming on the HBO app.