Michael J. Fox in ‘Shrinking,’ Remembering Rob Reiner, ‘Abbott’ Says Cheese, Real Female Gladiators

Shrinking

The line between laughter and tears shrinks even further in the third season of the poignant comedy about neurotic psychiatrists and their frazzled family of friends. In the terrific hourlong opener, Michael J. Fox guest-stars as a new acquaintance of Paul (Harrison Ford), who’s also living with Parkinson’s, inspiring an “Enough whining, I’m still here” and “F**k Parkinson’s” philosophy that helps Paul cope with troubling new symptoms and embrace life more fully. For him and his co-workers, widowed Jimmy (Jason Segel) and the fabulous Gaby (Jessica Williams), it’s a time to rethink and restart their lives. “Maybe happiness is not this impossible thing,” muses Jimmy, who’s also dealing with the impending departure of his beloved daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) to college. His best friend Brian (Michael Urie) is anticipating a baby and fretting about setting boundaries with their surrogate. Seems they could all use some therapy in what’s shaping up to be the best season yet. 

The Princess Bride

Rob Reiner had a long history with TCM, having hosted The Essentials from 2001 to 2003 and being honored with his father Carl at the first TCM Classic Film Festival in 2017 with a foot and handprint ceremony on Hollywood Blvd. To honor the late director, who was shockingly killed with wife, Michele, in December, TCM presents four of Reiner’s best-known and most-loved films, starting with 1987’s delightful swashbuckling fantasy starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, and Mandy Patinkin as the dashing Inigo Montoya (8/7c). The lineup also includes 1980’s genre-defining romcom When Harry Met Sally (10/9c), the 1986 coming-of-age drama Stand By Me (midnight/11c), and Reiner’s feature directorial debut, 1984’s classic mock-rock comedy This Is Spinal Tap (1:45 am/12:45c). 

Abbott Elementary

One of the season’s funniest episodes depicts that fraught annual ritual known as “Picture Day,” this year’s made more chaotic than usual because principal Ava (Janelle James) forgot to alert the staff about the rescheduled date. Making matters worse: Everyone shows up bedraggled and waterlogged on a stormy day, and few are happy with the finished result. Can you say “photoshop?” A strong subplot pits Ava against a disgruntled cafeteria staff, to whom she replies, “This is a school. We’re all disrespected!”

Secrets of the Dead

Were female gladiators ever a thing? The bloody Starz action melodrama Spartacus: House of Ashur has adopted that as a pivotal plot point all season, introducing the fierce Nubian warrior Achillia (Tenika Davis) and an even more fearsome Scythian gladiatrix. In a well-timed installment of the investigative history docuseries, experts root through archaeological and forensic clues to determine if females ever fought alongside men in ancient Rome’s arenas.

The Price Is Right at Night

Starting this week, CBS flips the time periods of its prime-time game shows, with Price now airing at 8/7c and Hollywood Squares following at 9/8c. On Price, there’s a surprise twist in the Spelling Bee game and a potential $80,000 jackpot in the game “It’s in the Bag.”

Elsewhere on the competition front, Fox‘s The Masked Singer (8/7c) celebrates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles night, while contestants are buried alive on Fear Factor: House of Fears (9/8c), where a fan favorite comes face-to-hissing-face with a boa constrictor. … On Prime Video’s Beast Games, a contest 100 feet in the air across a life-sized puzzle determines who’s the strongest and the smartest player in Beast City. 

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV: 

• Shifting Gears (8/7c, ABC): Luke Macfarlane guests as Matt’s (Tim Allen) son Sam, a Navy hero who’s got some news (probably unwelcome) for his dad. 
• Chicago Med (8/7c, NBC): It’s not the happiest of reunions for Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) when friends from his med-school days pay a visit. Followed by new episodes of Chicago Fire (9/8c) and Chicago P.D. (10/9c). 
• The Beauty (9/8c, FX and Hulu): Things get even freakier in this sci-fi thriller when Cooper (Evan Peters) heads to New York to investigate the fallout from the literal meltdown at a fashion magazine. 
• Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV (9/8c, ABC): The docuseries’ third and final episode depicts the race to the bottom of the sensationalism sweepstakes, with the mayhem on The Jerry Springer Show leading the way. 
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (11:35/10:35c, CBS): Bad Bunny, this year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, takes the Colbert Questionert. And the Emmy-winning breakout star of The Pitt, Katharine LaNasa, is the scheduled guest. (She’s also scheduled to appear on The Daily Show on Thursday.) 

ON THE STREAM: 

• The Wrecking Crew (streaming on Prime Video): Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista are half-brothers reuniting in Hawaii to avenge their father’s death, taking on yakuza and other violent threats in a raucous action comedy.
• School Spirits (streaming on Paramount+): The YA supernatural thriller returns for a third season, with Maddie (Peyton List) straddling two worlds and Simon (Kristian Ventura) now trapped in the afterlife.
• Hijack (streaming on Apple TV): When the smoke clears after what appeared to be an underground railway explosion, Sam’s (Idris Elba) motives for commandeering a train full of unruly passengers become more apparent. Also on Apple TV: a new episode of Drops of God.