Mutants in the ‘Shadows,’ Tracy Morgan on Stage, Peacock Is ‘Killing It,’ ‘Cold Case Files’ Revived

10/9c

The Island of Dr. Moreau has nothing on the bizarre freak show spilling out of the laboratory of Laszlo (Matt Berry), who’s been experimenting with half-human/half-vampire Guillermo’s (Harvey Guillén) DNA to try to learn why the familiar’s transformation is such a bust. The creatures he’s inadvertently created are as repulsive as they are hilarious—in other words, just another day in supernatural Staten Island. Elsewhere, Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) hopes that by teaching American customs—as only she interprets them—to her newfound “little Antipaxos” community might help reverse the hex under which she’s been living. An eccentric “magic woman” named Helen (Reno 911’s Kerri Kenney-Silver) may be able to help as well.

Special

The Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock comedian is back on the stand-up stage—occasionally using a chair, considering all that he’s been through—with his first comedy special in seven years, entertaining an audience from Boston’s Wilbur Theater with reflections and riffs that often get personal. His subjects include gentrification of his beloved Brooklyn, re-entering the dating pool in his 50s—lap dancers are now shooed away because of his sciatica—and the traumatic 2014 car accident that led to a sizable settlement: “My Tinder profile is a Walmart truck dropping off a bag of money on my front lawn!”

Season Premiere

The Office’s Craig Robinson continues to expose the dark side of the American capitalist dream in the gonzo comedy’s eight-episode second season. Having found success by any means necessary in a state-sponsored python hunt in Season 1, Craig now embarks on a more legit—or so he hopes—enterprise a year later, opening a saw palmetto farm with partner Jillian (Claudia O’Doherty). Their intent: harvesting berries to sell to the always-above-board pharmaceutical industry. Soon enough, Murphy’s Law kicks in, and between state sanctions and a neighboring hillbilly crime family, Craig begins to realize that human snakes may be even more lethal.

Series Premiere

The pioneering true-crime docuseries from the early 2000s has returned yet again, with original host and executive producer Bill Kurtis back at the helm. The 10-episode season explores unsolved cases that were ultimately resolved with the help of DNA and forensic science.

The Sex and the City sequel is nearing the end of its labored second season, and with only one episode to go, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is throwing a “last supper” at her old digs before moving into her swank new Gramercy Park dream home. Given the nature of this New York City fairy tale, the chef is a Michelin-starred celebrity she won in a charity raffle. But even that won’t lure Aidan (John Corbett) back into the place that holds so many painful memories—and his ties to his Virginia family could put a further damper on their burgeoning romance just like that. Cameo alert: Sam Smith as a buyer at Charlotte’s (Kristin Davis) art gallery. Cringe alert: Che (Sara Ramirez) is back doing stand-up, and why would Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) ever think they wouldn’t use their busted relationship as material?

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Alone (9/8c, History Channel): Only three survivalists are left in the grueling game, and only one will survive the cold to claim the $500,000 grand prize.
• The Challenge: USA (10/9c, CBS): The CBS reality stars declare war on the Challenge vets, prompting one of the latter to turn on one of their mates to save their own back.
• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (10:30/9:30c, Bravo): The Peacock series, narrated by Amy Poehler, brings three Season 1 episodes to Bravo, enlisting a team of Swedish de-clutterers to help subjects face their mortality while getting rid of unnecessary baggage. The opener features a man struggling to deal with his late parents’ possessions stored in his basement.
• Warrior (streaming on Max): In the Season 3 finale of the martial-arts drama, the Secret Service descends on the Tongs’ printing operation, while Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) and Nellie (Miranda Raison) plot revenge.
• The Upshaws (streaming on Netflix): New episodes of the family comedy resume with Regina (Kim Fields) trying to get husband Bennie (Mike Epps) to go to therapy with her in the wake of her heart attack.
• International intrigue in Topic’s Dark Rivers, from Germany, about a Berlin policewoman living in witness protection with her daughter in the river town on Passau; and streaming on Viaplay, Fenris, a Norwegian thriller about a biologist investigating disappearances near a wolf-infested forest.