History of DC Comics, ‘Shadows’ Gets Freaky for Pride, ‘Tacoma FD,’ ‘Sweet Magnolias’

Documentary Premiere

The streamer is back in self-congratulatory mode, having celebrated the 100th anniversary of parent studio Warner Bros. earlier this year with a docuseries. The home of a library of DC Universe content devotes three hours to a series exploring the colorful history of DC over 85 years, from its origins as a groundbreaking comic-book factory through multiple movie and TV franchises. Among those weighing in on the house of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and countless more are marquee talent including Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman for different generations), Michael Keaton, Margot Robbie, Henry Cavill, Robert Pattinson, Jason Momoa, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Dwayne Johnson, Kaley Cuoco and superstar creator/directors Tim Burton, James Gunn, Patty Jenkins, Greg Berlanti and Damon Lindelof.

10/9c

What would a Staten Island Pride parade be without the participation of “literally the gayest things on the block?” So says Charmaine Rinaldi (Marissa Jaret Winokur) of her vampire neighbors, who are more than happy to help her husband Sean (Anthony Atamanuik) reach out to the “LGBTQ-LMNOP” demographic in his race for city comptroller. Laszlo (Matt Berry) promises to deliver a “knock your socks off” float—when he isn’t busy investigating Guillermo’s (Harvey Guillén) stubbornly regressive vampire transformation. Meanwhile, Nandor (Kayvan Novak) goes out of this world trying to gain his familiar’s attention, and in the wildest subplot, Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and her doll have a Freaky Friday moment that gets out of control. What else is new?

Season Premiere

10/9c

The madcap firefighters of rainy Tacoma are back for a fourth season of sitcom shenanigans. In the opener, the crew’s desire to return to their station—destroyed by fire, don’t you know—is complicated by Capt. Eddie’s (Steve Lemme) reluctance to rejoin them.

Season Premiere

“One walk, one brunch, one conversation at a time,” that’s the mantra-spiced with a margarita or two—for best friends Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott) and Helen (Heather Headley), who lean on each other in good times and bad as the soapy Southern melodrama returns for a third season of 10 episodes. Don’t expect Serenity, South Carolina to reflect its name as the residents endure a new set of romantic complications.

8/7c

The Enterprise’s future captain, James Kirk (Paul Wesley), makes another appearance—this time in the proper timeline—in the terrific prequel, making the acquaintance of several of his Original Series peers. Most notably communications officer Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), who’s beset by a series of troubling auditory and visual hallucinations only she is privy to. At first she thinks Kirk is hitting on her-she might not be wrong-but even more annoyed at his presence is his scientist brother Sam (Dan Jeannotte), who’s got a real “dad always liked you best” complex.

The middle chapters of the suspense drama from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon ratchet up the tension as crime boss Mrs. M (CCH Pounder) seeks to hold accountable those responsible for the botched kidnapping. The weirdness of the incident isn’t lost on postal inspector Melody (Zazie Beetz), whose snarky questioning of the wealthy Browne/McCusker family reveals uncomfortable secrets nearly everyone, including her boss (Jim Gaffigan), would prefer stay buried.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

· The Chase (9/8c, ABC): The season finale brings Jeopardy! ace James “The Highroller” Holzhauer back into the Chaser hot seat to face three contestants.

· Project Runway: All-Stars (8/7c, Bravo): Fashion mavens Paulina Porizkova and Sergio Hudson are the guest judges getting a peek at unmentionables when the designers are challenged to whip up couture undergarments to accompany their high-fashion looks.

ON THE STREAM:

· Supa Team 4 (streaming on Netflix): The streamer’s first animated series from Africa is a teen superhero adventure featuring four girls recruited to save their city of Lukasa from supervillains.

· Black Sands (streaming on Viaplay): The black sands of Iceland provide the scenic backdrop for a moody Scandinavian mystery about a female police officer who returns to her hometown and discovers a serial killer has been targeting tourists for years, the deaths disguised as accidents.

· And Just Like That (streaming on Max): Talk of break-ups and divorce within her inner circle gets Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) thinking about the ex that got away: Aidan. (But you won’t see John Corbett this week.) For now, she’s pitching her memoir about loss to a “Widow Con” convention in a keynote speech, following on stage a comedian played by the great Julie White.