‘Boys’ Goes to College, Apple’s Irish Charmer, Miss USA and an FX Exposé, ‘Shark Tank’ and More Premieres

Gen V

“Being a hero, a real hero, it’s not about glory, it’s about sacrifice.” This life lesson, couched in cynicism and sinister mystery, is par for the undergraduate course in a gory, raunchy and utterly gripping spinoff of The Boys, set at superhero-nurturing Godolkin University. The newest student, orphaned Marie (Jaz Sinclair), is still struggling to master her grisly blood powers and has some catching up to do when it comes to social media—she doesn’t even have a phone—but soon she’s swept up in intrigue that strikes at the heart of the college’s deepest secrets. There’s also plenty of media and genre satire, and outrageous plot twists—including a peculiar sex scene that’s bound to get attention—as Marie ingratiates herself with elite students including top-ranked “Golden Boy” Luke Riordan (Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of you-know-who).

Flora and Son

Irish filmmaker John Carney (Once, Sing Street) once again threads music into a memorable fable in this salty-sweet depiction of a combative mother-son relationship. Bad Sisters’ Eve Hewson is the formidable, flinty Flora, a single mom barely getting by and driven to distraction by her borderline-delinquent son Max (Orén Kinlan). The catalyst for healing is a guitar rescued from the rubbish, and when Flora begins taking online lessons from Jeff (a charming Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a stalled songwriter who lives half a world away in California, a shared interest in making music brings Flora and Max closer together. You’ll root for Flora and Jeff as well. Be sure and stay tuned through the credits for one last poignant song.

Miss USA Pageant

Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton of E! News are hosts of the long-running pageant, returning to broadcast TV for the first time in nearly a decade. As women from each state compete for the title at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, with the winner moving on to the Miss Universe pageant later this year, the organization’s rocky history is put under the spotlight in FX’s The New York Times Presents: How to Fix a Pageant (10/9c). The news special investigates allegations of pageant rigging and contestant revolt that led to the departure of former Miss USA president Crystle Stewart, a 2008 titleholder who gives her first interview since leaving the organization.

Shark Tank

The Sharks are back for a 15th season of dealmaking with hopeful entrepreneurs pitching products that often sound too good to be true. Among the premiere’s offerings: low-cal chocolate, herbal soap for eczema, a medical eye-patch designed for kids and wine that’s perfect with pizza.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Gold Rush (8/7c, Discovery): The search for gold resumes in the reality series’ 15th season, opening with 28-year-old mining upstart Parker Schnabel weighing whether to take a gamble that could either bankrupt him or make him king of the Klondike.
• Secret Celebrity Renovation (8/7c, CBS): Singer-songwriter Elle King closes the season by returning to Wellston, Ohio to transform the home of her beloved “Pawpaw” and perform at the local Rowdy’s Smokehouse.
• Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court (8/7c, Showtime): With the Supreme Court’s new term beginning next week, this historical docuseries moves into the 1970s, as a conservative movement pushes back against the progressive rulings of the Warren Court. The blocked confirmation of Robert Bork lays the ground for bruising hearings to come.
• True Crime Watch: Friday’s dueling true-crime newsmags overlap more than usual this week. ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) officially launches its 46th season with Deborah Roberts joining David Muir as co-anchor. The premiere, reported by Eva Pilgrim, revisits the 2020 murder in Dallas of American Airlines director Jamie Faith while walking his dog with wife Jennifer, later implicated in the crime. Dateline NBC (9/8c) likewise officially launches its 32nd season with Josh Mankiewicz’s report on the same murder, featuring an interview with convicted killer Darrin Lopez. A&E launches a new crime franchise with Murder in the 21st(10/9c), which revisits homicide cases since 2000 by diving into the victim’s digital records.
• The 36th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards (9/8c, PBS): Honorees include musicians Café Tacvba, Omar Apollo and Wisin, news executive Cesar Conde and food brand Siete Family Foods at a ceremony featuring a centennial tribute to Tito Puente. Followed by A Song for Cesar (10/9c), a joint presentation of American Masters and VOCES that explores the legacy of labor activist Cesar Chavez.
• Rebuilding Black Wall Street (9/8c, OWN): Morris Chestnut (The Best Man) hosts a six-part docuseries depicting the restoration of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, once known as Black Wall Street before a mob destroyed the community in a horrific 1921 rampage. In the premiere, Tulsa Race Massacre descendant Montika Collins works to open a natural birthing center in North Tulsa, reviving the tradition of midwifery.
• Mystery Island (9/8c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries): Elizabeth Henstridge (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) stars in a mystery set at an immersive murder-mystery-themed resort as a London police psychiatrist on holiday when the founder is murdered, and her skills come in handy to help a local detective (How to Get Away with Murder’s Charlie Weber) solve the case.
• Blue Bloods (10/9c, CBS): Until a strike-delayed Season 14 premieres months from now, vintage episodes chosen by fans will fill the time period—starting with an episode from November 2021 in which Frank (Tom Selleck) assigns Jamie (Will Estes) to guard his older brother Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), who’s had a hit put out on him.
• Real Time with Bill Maher (10/9c, HBO): With the writers’ strike over, late-night talk is back. Real Time’s return features Florida Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis in a one-on-one interview.

ON THE STREAM:

• Reptile (streaming on Netflix): Benecio Del Toro stars and is co-writer of a mystery thriller as seasoned New England homicide detective Tom Nichols, with Justin Timberlake as the victim’s boyfriend—ergo, a prime suspect—and Alicia Silverstone as Nichols’ wife.
• Launchpad (streaming on Disney+): Disney presents a second series of diverse short films from underrepresented filmmakers.
• Nightmare (streaming on Shudder): The horror network prepares its core audience for next month’s “FearFest” with a Norwegian chiller about a young couple whose renovated flat may be harboring an evil spirit that’s invading pregnant Mona’s dreams.