What’s On: ‘Preacher’ Returns, a Younger Jane Tennison in ‘Prime Suspect’ Prequel, Finales of ‘Silicon Valley’ and ‘Veep’
Preacher (Sunday, 10/9c, AMC): Funnier, freakier, faster and somehow even gorier than before, this raucous graphic-novel adaptation finds its groove in the second season. Leaving behind the ruins of Annville, Texas, bad boy of the cloth Jesse Custer (a wry Dominic Cooper) hits the road with badass Tulip (Oscar nominee Ruth Negga) and vampire sidekick Cassidy (Joe Gilgun), and fans of creative carnage will not want to miss the first 10 minutes of the two-part opener (concluding Monday in the show’s regular time period). Ostensibly about the search for a missing God, Preacher operates as a sexy chase thriller, with our heroes being tracked relentlessly by a supernatural gunslinger known as the Saint of Killers. Pray for them, because survival won’t be easy.
GLOW (Friday, Netflix): This exuberantly loopy deep dive into kitschy ’80s nostalgia is an affectionate and bawdy fable about the formation of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It’s so much fun it hurts, and we’re not faking. Alison Brie is charming as the aspiring L.A. actress determined to become a star in this low-rent TV startup, led by a sleazeball director terrifically played by comedian Marc Maron.
Playing House (Friday, 11/10c, USA): “Cancer has picked the wrong duo to mess with,” declares Maggie (Lennon Parham) to her ailing BFF, Emma (Jessica St. Clair), halfway through the long-awaited third season of this wacky buddy comedy, instantly thrusting the show into the kind of real-world situation Laverne & Shirley never had to face. The diagnosis in Episode 4, reflecting St. Clair’s own successful battle with breast cancer, is handled with a graceful balance of raw emotion and wry irreverence that continues through the remainder of the eight-episode season—all of which will be available for On Demand binge-watching starting Saturday. On opening night, though, it’s all fun games as we reacquaint ourselves, after a long hiatus, with these proudly silly “sisters for life.” Friendship through comic and seriocomic adversity is at the heart of this endearing kooky comedy.
Prime Suspect: Tennison (Sunday, 10/9c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): What an unenviable assignment: tackling a role forever identified with the peerless Helen Mirren, who won two Emmys as the formidable Jane Tennison over seven acclaimed seasons of Prime Suspect. Playing Jane at the start of her career in the overly sexist 1970s, doe-eyed beauty Stefanie Martini lacks the steel and fire to make us truly believe this rookie constable could be so precociously intuitive as to connect a prostitute’s murder with the plotting of a bank robbery. In three gritty but rather routine 90-minute chapters, the prequel is most intriguing when Jane, still living with her parents and defending her unorthodox (for the time) career choice, struggles with an ethical work dilemma and the affections of a superior. We know where her unsentimental education will lead, which makes it almost worth the uneven flashback.HBO Comedy Finales: HBO’s comedy block of Silicon Valley (Sunday, 10/9c) and Veep (Sunday, 10:30/9:30c) wraps Season 4 and 6, respectively. It’s one crisis after another, as usual, for Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and his team on Silicon Valley, and it seems as if the desperate leader will throw anyone and anything—even Anton?—under the bus to save Pied Piper from destruction. … On Emmy darling Veep, Selina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) finally prepares to break ground on her misbegotten presidential library, while the pathetically on-the-ropes Jonah (Timothy Simons) isn’t too proud to ask anyone for help. Even Dan (Reid Scott).
Inside Weekend TV: The first outdoor taping of CMT Crossroads (Friday, 10/9c, CMT) features the classic Earth, Wind & Fire performing with country stars including Darius Rucker, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans and Lady Antebellum. … Saturday Night Live’s Leslie Jones hosts the BET Awards (Sunday, 8/7c, BET) from Los Angeles, where Beyoncé rules the nominations with seven. … National Geographic Channel’s From the Ashes (Sunday, 9/8c) takes a hard look at the coal industry, going beyond the current political debate to explore the complex economic and environmental issues regarding its future under the Trump administration. … The fourth season of hit Starz drama Power (Sunday, 9/8c) opens with James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) in prison, wrongly arrested for the murder of a fed, and wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton) scrambling to get bail money to rescue her man from that hellhole.
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On Syfy's "Dark Matter," tonight's episode, "All the Time in the World," involves Three (Anthony Lemke), reliving the same day over and over again. Oddly enough, the series creators, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie's first Stargate SG-1 script was "Window of Opportunity" -- where Jack and Teal'c relived the same day over and over again.
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Are you insinuating they recycled an old script?
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I think "insinuating" is too subtle a word. 🙂
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BTW...do you have any family from Toledo? My next door neighbors growing up there were named Coffman.
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None that I'm aware. My family was Nebraska.
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I loved Preacher last year. I'm just hoping this season doesn't get too crazy to follow. Too many sci-fi shows have lost me in the second season because I couldn't follow them anymore.
PBS is just getting crazy on Sundays. My Mother, Grantchester, Prime Suspect, and, for some reason, our local channel has opted to schedule The Tunnel after them at 11:30! It is going to be difficult to see someone besides Helen Mirren in the role of Tennison, but I'll try to be open minded about it.
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True about some of those sci-fi shows. But it is my favorite genre so I usually watch anyway.
I tried watching Nashville live last night on Nick being that CMT isn't in my already expensive cable package, but now Nick is no longer available!!
And my bill doesn't decrease it increases!
Very frustrating. Good think On Demand still works so I watched it late last night.
I would watch CMT's Crossroads but of course I can't.
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Are you sure about Nick? It's always been in the most basic of cable packages here. I haven't tried watching The Mist online yet. I hope that still works!
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Yup. Last night my TV turned black when I turned on Nick. It stated I needed to subscribe. First time ever. I hear Comcast is also pulling other cable channels randomly. But my bill doesn't get reduced. It actually rose! Some of my friends and family cut the cord and use Hulu for streaming shows. But have to see if Hulu includes the networks my family watches. I hear CBS isn't included with Hulu so CBS ALL ACCESS would need to be added. And of course Netflix is essential for past seasons of shows and their own programing. All of these platforms would still be cheaper than cable. My bill is almost $200 with internet and multiple digital box (basically turns the TVs into Smart TVs- I even get Netflix on it).
I do like watching live as much as I can. So I'm not ready to get rid of cable yet.
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I have Comcast's digital starter package which I believe is now their lowest tier with most basic cable channels, and I still have Nick. As I mentioned before, they moved CMT and Spike to the higher tier recently, but they brought a couple of channels down to the basic tier at the same time. I pay $95.00 which includes $12.00 for two additional outlets with digital adapters.
I haven't noticed them just pulling channels without moving them to the upper tier. A few channels have ceased operations (like Esquire is going to do in a couple of weeks), and disappeared because of that.
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I guess it depends where one lives. All I know is I have watched Nashville on Nick live for the past several weeks since it returned. And last night it the screen blacked out with a subscription message. If I call and wait on hold for an hour some person in a foreign country speaking broken English will tell me unfortunately you no longer have that service or I'm sorry your needs aren't met..... They never solve any issues, but the billing department sure know how to increase every so often.
Truth is, if I'm able to watch many shows on channels that aren't in my basic package via On Demand, I'm fine. But still like to have the live viewing option.
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I haven't called Comcast recently, but when I did, I always got someone in the US when I called support. You might try the chat feature on their site. If I were you, I'd at least want to ask someone if they removed Nick or if it's an error.
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I think you should have stuck with Preacher since it just got better to me. I'm guessing they tamed it down a lot at first because they were trying to introduce the characters to those of us who hadn't read the comics.
I have to agree with you on Fear the Walking Dead. I've complained from the beginning that I don't really like any of the characters, and the plots are mostly just boring. I still watch it, but I wouldn't say it's gotten any better.
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