‘Project Runway’s New Home, ‘Trek’s Genre Parody, AFI Salutes Coppola, Carrie Carries On

Project Runway

It feels like old home week on the pioneering fashion competition when Heidi Klum returns to host Runway‘s 21st season, joined by original judge and mainstay Nina Garcia and “fierce” Season 4 winner Christian Siriano, one of the series’ most successful alums, who’s serving as mentor to the new batch of contestants, and new judge Law Roach. Some of the designers will be familiar to reality-TV watchers, including Mexican-born Jesus Estrada, who appeared in Season 7 back in 2010, now competing against his twin brother, Antonio; and Caycee Black, trying again after being the first one eliminated in Season 19. Also in the mix: Ethan Mundt, aka “Utica” from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Who’s in and who’s out will be determined by who creates the most memorable looks in the two-part season opener, with a theme of Disney princesses and villains.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

With tongue firmly in cheek, this enjoyable throwback to the pleasures of early Star Trek gleefully parodies the 1960s style of the original series: mini-skirted female officers, laughably cheesy alien costumes, arch dialogue delivered pompously. It’s all part of an inspired spoof that cleverly mashes up sci-fi clichés with classic murder-mystery tropes. This fantastically entertaining outing takes place largely on a prototype of the holodeck, which La’An (Christina Chong) has been tasked to test with a puzzle only she can solve. “Push it as hard as you can,” orders Capt. Pike (Anson Mount), words he and others on the Enterprise may soon regret. The crew becomes characters in a scenario involving a Trek-like TV series (The Last Frontier) that, echoing the original series, isn’t allowed to live long and prosper. Kudos to recurring guest star Paul Wesley‘s lovingly spot-on caricature of an actor playing the fictional captain. This is must-see TV.

AFI Life Achievement Award

Shown on TNT last month, the AFI’s salute to the Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola is being replayed as part of a nightlong tribute. An A-list Hollywood gathering including Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Morgan Freeman and Adam Driver is joined by Coppola’s family members, with Josh Groban performing the theme from The Godfather in Italian. Followed by a screening of Coppola’s 1979 epic Vietnam allegory Apocalypse Now (9:15/8:15c), a replay of the AFI tribute at midnight/11c and the 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness (1:15 am/12:15c), co-directed by Coppola’s wife Eleanor, about the turbulent filming of Apocalypse Now.

And Just Like That…

When all else fails, including her latest attempt at romance, Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) can always return to her first love. Not shoes (although maybe), but writing. “Her pain turned into productivity,” she writes, and writes, consulting with her downstairs neighbor and fellow author Duncan (Jonathan Cake), a working relationship that she protests—possibly too much—is strictly professional. (If only Aidan had trusted that.) Elsewhere, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) tries to find time for a “psychic energy cleanse” on Zoom (with Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Susie Essman), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) hits yet another personal low when meddling in her son’s messy personal life.

Leanne

Reminiscent of the days when comedy mogul Chuck Lorre collaborated with talents like Cybill Shepherd and Brett Butler to create hit network sitcoms, this old-school comedy pairs Lorre and co-creator Susan McMartin with Southern comedian Leanne Morgan, starring as (who else) Leanne. We first meet this Knoxville mother and grandmother at her lowest, consoled by her feisty sister Carol (sitcom pro and Mom alum Kristen Johnston) on the morning after Leanne’s husband of 33 years (The Drew Carey Show‘s Ryan Stiles) dumps her for another woman. Morgan has a way with a self-deprecating wisecrack—trying on a revealing dress for a girls’ night out, she laments, “This thing’s full of windows and they’ve all got bad views”—and she gets solid support from a cast including Celia Weston and Blake Clark as her aging parents and Graham Rogers and Hannah Pilkes as her grown children. The 16-episode first season is available for binge-watching.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• ESPN8: The Ocho (7 pm/ET, ESPN2): The showcase for off-the-beaten-track sports runs through Sunday on ESPN platforms, starting with Red Bull Flugtag, featuring human-powered flying machines soaring over the Ohio River, followed by National Ball Hockey League and T-Rex World Championship Races.
• NFL Hall of Fame Game (8 pm/ET, NBC): For those who are always ready for some football, the Detroit Lions take on the Los Angeles Chargers to kick off the NFL’s pre-season at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, where Enshrinement Week continues through Sunday.
• Bob’s Burgers (8/7c, Fox): In back-to-back episodes, the kids find danger while exploring a marine scrapyard, and Linda helps Uncle Teddy rehearse for a play.
• Revival (10/9c, Syfy): Past and present collide when Dana (Melanie Scrofano) and Em (Romy Weltman) look into Revival Day’s origins.

 ON THE STREAM:

• Code of Silence (streaming on BritBox): Alison (Rose Ayling-Ellis), the deaf woman who’s helping the police in their surveillance of a burglary gang, continues risking her neck to identify another person of interest, all the while being drawn closer to Liam (Kieron Moore), the hacker who insists he’s not as violent as his bosses.
• Twisted Metal (streaming on Peacock): The post-apocalyptic action comedy returns with John Doe (Anthony Mackie) and Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) competing in a high-octane demolition derby tournament hosted by the mysterious Calypso (Barry‘s Anthony Carrigan). Launching with three episodes.
• The Sandman (streaming on Netflix): After the July 24 series finale, the fantasy series offers a bonus episode in which a depressed journalist (Colin Morgan) meets Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) on her day off.
• Dutch III (streaming on BET+): Master thief Dutch (Lance Gross) is back for another caper after faking his death, pulling together his crew to steal back a valuable diamond from a mob boss.
• Just Hands: For the Love of Racing (streaming on Prime Video): An inspirational four-part sports docuseries profiles quadriplegic race-car driver Torsten Gross, founder of the Just Hands Foundation.