Cooking with Harry Hamlin, Leaping into Egypt, Season Finales, Rogue Tigers in ‘Slow Horses’

In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin

Real Housewives fans already know that Harry Hamlin (aka the spouse of Lisa Rinna) is a whiz in the kitchen, with spaghetti Bolognese a signature dish. Getting an assist from his niece, Le Cordon Blue-trained chef Renee Guilbault, Hamlin prepares a classic beef bourguignon in a holiday special that teases his In the Kitchen series to premiere in May on IFC and AMC+. Hamlin serves this savory dish, an homage to Julia Child, to a select group of family and friends including sax superstar Kenny G, Rinna and Hamlin’s offspring including daughter Delilah and son Dimitri. Think of it as a pre-midnight snack.

Quantum Leap

The pivotal midseason finale of the time-travel fantasy lands Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) in exotic Egypt circa 1961. The episode, filmed on location in Cairo, has a Hitchcockian flair, when Ben finds himself in the body of an undercover CIA agent embroiled in international intrigue with a woman’s life at stake. Followed by the last new episode in 2023, with only a few remaining, of Magnum P.I. (9/8c), where Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) investigate an allegation of a professor having an inappropriate relationship with a grad student at the University of Oahu.

The Amazing Race

The latest running of the around-the-world race arrives at its final destination in Seattle, where the first-ever “scramble leg” awaits the remaining three teams. Whoever first completes three challenges—involving swinging from a trapeze, glassblowing and being a roadie for a grunge band—will take the $1 million prize. Other season finales include The CW’s Sullivan’s Crossing (8/7c) and The Spencer Sisters (9/8c), and streaming on Apple TV+, the “Wedding of the Season” on the period romance The Buccaneers, where Nan (Kristine Frøseth) has some reckoning to do regarding her messy love triangle, while sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) feels trapped in her toxic marriage and their mother Patricia (Christina Hendricks), who’s already declared her own marriage is toast, tends to the needs of her broken family.

Slow Horses

The outrageous what-could-go-wrong-next third season of TV’s most ironic spy thriller keeps ratcheting the suspense. In the wake of an embarrassingly public murder, putting the Home Secretary (Samuel West) and all of British Intelligence (such as it is) in a sordid spotlight, “First Desk” MI5 head Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo) decides to give a rogue “Tiger Team” access to a secret facility storing seemingly irrelevant files. She assigns Slough House’s “slow horses” as escorts, a sure sign that something’s going to go sideways. Bonus: an appearance by Jonathan Pryce (who plays Prince Philip in the final episodes of The Crown, dropping Friday) as River’s (Jack Lowden) grandfather, a retired master spy who’s seen better days.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): After a reward challenge treating the winner to a picnic in the ocean, an immunity challenge requires balance, deciding who’ll move on to the Final Five for next week’s finale.
• Network (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): A night devoted to Oscar-winning screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky includes his blistering and prophetic 1976 satire of the TV business, followed by 1971’s The Hospital (10:15/9:15c), The Americanization of Emily (12:15 am/11:15c) and the 1980 thriller Altered States (2:30 am/1:30c), for which he removed his name from the credits after disputes during filming. (It’s still a terrific movie.)
• The Minister of Defense (9/8c, ESPN): The 30 for 30 series profiles NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White, known as “the minister of defense” because of his off-the-field identity as an ordained evangelical minister. The special features footage from a 2004 interview filmed shortly before his death at 43.
• Bart Starr: America’s Quarterback (9/8c, SEC Network): The SEC Storied series profiles another football great, the legendary quarterback for 16 seasons (1956-71) for the Green Bay Packers.