Patti LaBelle and Friends Sing Sacred Music, ‘Fargo’ Prepares for Action, Sharkbite in Sydney, Isabella Rossellini Visits ‘Chopped’
Patti LaBelle is joined by Kristin Chenoweth, Sandi Patty and more inspiring singers in a PBS concert of sacred music, new and old. Fargo sets the table for another violent collision. NCIS: Sydney is on the case when a shark expels part of a former Navy diver. Julia’s Isabella Rossellini is a guest judge for Chopped’s tribute to Julia Child.
How Great Thou Art, A Sacred Celebration
Special
Few can make a joyful noise more vigorously than Patti LaBelle, who leads a concert devoted to sacred music with The American Pops Orchestra, filmed in May at Washington, D.C.’s National United Methodist Church. Also taking the stage, with traditional and contemporary songs of praise, are Tony and Emmy-winning Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth, Grammy winner Sandi Patty, operatic baritone Will Liverman and more. LaBelle belts “Lord’s Side,” “You Are My Friend” and “Walk Around Heaven,” with Chenoweth performing “Joyful, Joyful,” “Because He Lives” and “Prayer of Saint Francis,” and Patti delivering “Precious Memories,” “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and teaming with Chenoweth on the title song, “How Great Thou Art.” All worth adding to your playlist along with the carols we’ll be hearing for the next month.
Fargo
The harrowing and hilarious fifth season of the chilly crime anthology picks up with an understandably paranoid Dot (Juno Temple) making more preparations for the next attempt to disrupt her happy household, including a memorable trip to Gun World, where a pirate salesman reminds her and milquetoast Wayne (David Rysdahl), “It’s hard to put a price on life.” The episode also provides a disturbingly surreal glimpse into Lurch-like mercenary Ole Munch’s (Sam Spruell) backstory and displays Lorraine Lyon’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) possibly misguided contempt for the local authorities.
NCIS: Sydney
“Let’s go play Pin the Arm on the Frogman,” quips NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) after a shark ejects the severed arm of an unidentified Navy diver into a tidal pool. Not to worry, this isn’t turning into Jaws Down Under, as the investigation leads to the victim’s group of former divers and evidence of a mysterious missing underwater drone. Back at headquarters, easily flustered forensic lab tech Blue (Mavournee Hazel) believes this is her last week on the job. Especially once Mackey declares, “This is NCIS, not a refuge for misfits with personality disorders.” Unless you’ve never watched TV before, it’s pretty clear Blue isn’t going anywhere. In another world, she’d be besties with Abby Sciuto.
Chopped
On Max’s delightful dramedy Julia, Isabella Rossellini steals her scenes as Simca, Julia Child’s great friend and collaborator in France on cookbooks and exotic recipes. Presumably this role has given the actress some insight into guest-judging the latest round of the Chopped competition inspired by Child’s cuisine. She joins judges Scott Conant and Alex Guarnaschelli while four chefs attempt a chicken appetizer with a very non-Childlike potato product, an entrée course inspired by Julia’s classic cassoulet and a dessert complicated by a giant egg. The winner moves on to next month’s finale.
INSIDE TUESDAY TV:
- Dancing with the Stars (8/7c, ABC): In the semi-final round, each of the remaining five couples performs two dances, one ballroom and one Latin style, to advance to next week’s finals. A special number features the pro dancers who are participating in the 2024 DWTS Live tour, executing a Mandy Moore routine to Janelle Monáe’s “Make Me Feel.”
- South to Black Power (10/9c, HBO): Inspired by his book The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, columnist Charles M. Blow of The New York Times embarks on an odyssey to test his provocative vision of a reverse migration of Black people to Southern states with a high percentage of Black residents. The goal: to reclaim power and political control of Southern legislatures and fight white supremacy. “I have to figure out if I am being an apostle of Black power or am I chasing windmills?” Blow muses.
- Verified Stand-Up (streaming on Netflix): A new stand-up series, filmed at New York’s Webster Hall, launches with two episodes, presenting riffs from 10 top comics including The Daily Show‘s Dulcé Sloan, Asif Ali, Gianmarco Soresi, Isiah Kelly, Leslie Liao, Nimesh Patel, Robby Hoffman, Rosebud Baker, Sabrina Wu and Vanessa Gonzalez.
- A Murder at the Top of the World (streaming on Hulu): “The billionaire’s largesse is a Venus flytrap,” suggests one of the freaked-out guests, after another death in the Icelandic retreat sends everyone into lockdown in a sealed room while an ominous storm approaches.
