Three Men and Linda Lavin in ‘Mid-Century Modern,’ Black Actors Who Became ‘Number One,’ Parents in the ‘Drag Race,’ NCAA’s Pivotal Weekend

Mid-Century Modern

The creators of Will & Grace take a page from The Golden Girls in a sassy retro sitcom about three gay men of a certain age—neurotic Nathan Lane, sweetly dim-witted Matt Bomer and flamboyant Nathan Lee Graham—who move in together in Palm Springs (with Ketel One martinis replacing cheesecake as the go-to nightcap), with the late, great Linda Lavin as Lane’s unfiltered and meddling mother. (Lavin died during production and gets a sweet tribute in the ninth of 10 episodes, all available for binge-watching.) The jokes land hard, some eliciting groans, but beyond the off-color outrageousness, there’s a squishy old-school sentimentality that’s almost refreshing.

Number One on the Call Sheet

“It’s an accomplishment for most actors,” says Idris Elba. “It means you’ve made it,” says Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. They’re talking about the career breakthrough that lands an actor the lead role on a movie, which means you’re listed first on the daily shooting schedule—or in Hollywood jargon, “Number One on the call sheet.” An illuminating two-part documentary from directors Reginald Hudlin and Shola Lynch gives a red carpet’s worth of Black leading men and women a platform to candidly discuss their journeys to stardom and, in many cases, award-winning superstardom. Participants include, for leading men, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Morgan Freeman, Michael B. Jordan, Don Cheadle, Kevin Hart and more, with leading ladies including executive producers Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Viola Davis and Whoopi Goldberg, plus Cynthia Erivo, Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, Taraji P. Henson, Alfre Woodard and many more.

RuPaul’s Drag Race

It’s all in the family when the remaining queens turn their flamboyant gaze toward their nearest and dearest—their moms and dads—in an epic drag makeover competition. Grace and Frankie’s June Diane Raphael is the guest judge. Stay tuned for the RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked after show (9:30/8:30c), when the parents and contestants kick back, though the mood soon turns bittersweet given that the season finale is looming.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

The women’s Sweet 16 round begins early, with No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 North Carolina at 2:30 pm/ET on ESPN and games continuing through 10 pm/ET (No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 1 UCLA). The second night of the men’s Sweet 16 kicks off at 7 pm/ET on CBS with No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, and on TBS at 7:30, No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Kentucky. As coverage of the Elite Eight round continues through the weekend, these pivotal games decide who makes it to next weekend’s Final Four. For a complete schedule, go to ncaa.com.

Yellowjackets

Adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is in for quite a shock—and presumably, so is the viewer—when she tracks down the source of the mystery tape and gets a blast from the Yellowjackets’ secret past. To say more would be a spoiler, except to state the obvious that with Shauna, there’s no such thing as a happy reunion. Back in the woods, teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) is among the contingent of plane-crash survivors who don’t seem to relish the thought of rescue by the intruders to their camp. The episode airs Sunday on Paramount+ with Showtime’s linear channel.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• World Figure Skating Championships (8/7c, NBC, streaming on Peacock): Prime-time coverage of the competition from Boston’s TD Garden includes the women’s free skate.
• Power Book III: Raising Kanan (8/7c, Starz): The drug war escalates when Raq’s (Patina Miller) nemesis Unique (Joey Bada$$) makes a strategic alliance.
• Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy (9/8c, PBS): Famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma narrates a documentary profile of acclaimed British cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose career was cut short by multiple sclerosis and whose recordings remain popular nearly 40 years after her death in 1987.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Life List (streaming on Netflix): Tearjerker alert: Sofia Carson stars as Alex, whose late mother (Connie Britton) posthumously sends her on a journey of self-discovery, courtesy of a bucket list (“a map toward your best self”) Alex made at 13.
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip (streaming on Disney+): A slapstick family comedy follows 11-year-old Alexander (Thom Nemer) and the Garcias (including Eva Longoria and Cheech Marin) on a road-trip vacation to Mexico City that’s derailed by a cursed idol they must return to its source—or else.
• Fight for Glory: 2024 World Series (streaming on Apple TV+): As the new baseball season gets underway, a three-part docuseries replays the highlights of the bicoastal 2024 fall classic that pitted the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Yankees.
• Dope Thief (streaming on Apple TV+): Dark comedy collides with violent action as the thriller picks up with Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and a soul-scorched Manny (Wagner Moura) in hiding from the feds and a deadly biker gang.
• The Rule of Jenny Pen (streaming on Shudder): Chills pervade a retirement home when an impaired judge (Geoffrey Rush) goes to war with a gleeful psychopath (John Lithgow) who wields a creepy doll in his campaign of abuse and terror.
• Queer (streaming on Max): Daniel Craig’s acclaimed performance sparks director Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novella about a dissolute American expat in Mexico City and his obsession with a former soldier (Drew Starkey). The movie premieres on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.