What’s On: ‘This Is Us,’ ‘Marvel’s Runaways,’ ‘Fixer Upper,’ Thanksgiving storylines

Matt Roush
12 Comments
Chris Sullivan as Toby and Chrissy Metz as Kate in This Is Us drinking coffee on the couch - Season 2, 'Number Two'
Ron Batzdorff/NBC

A critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:

This Is Us (9/8c, NBC): If shedding tears is your idea of a good time, this might just be the feel-good episode of the week, as Kate (Chrissy Metz) and her loyal mate Toby (Chris Sullivan) confront the tragic event revealed at the end of last week’s “Number One” episode. Unlike Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) addiction meltdown, the “Number Two” section of the midseason-ending trilogy does at least leave the viewer with a bit more hope for the couple reeling from this poignant setback, although not without moments of predictably deep angst. The episode also explores the often fraught relationship between Kate and her mother, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), whom she always feared disappointing. Let’s hope Randall (Sterling K. Brown) has an easier time of it next week—though we’re not counting on it.

Marvel’s Runaways (streaming on Hulu): Yet another Marvel comic-book adaptation about tormented young mutants, although with executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl) at the helm, there’s a wry sensibility to the generation-gap conflict when a group of teens discovers their parents are part of a secret cabal of super-villains. Don’t you hate when that happens?

Fixer Upper (9/8c, HGTV): The fifth and reportedly final season of the hit home-makeover show featuring Chip and Joanna Gaines will feature special guests including former First Lady Laura Bush and football’s Tim Tebow. But first, the Gaines come to the aid of Matt and Samantha, a young couple moving from Austin, Texas to Waco in search of a family home. For a sentimental flourish, the Gaines turn to Matt’s woodworker grandfather to provide some handmade furniture before the grand reveal.

It’s Thanksgiving! Holiday-related storylines include an early special delivery on CBS’s NCIS (8/7c) for McGee (Sean Murray) and Delilah (Margo Harshman). … On CBS’s Bull (9/8c), Bull (Michael Weatherly) ends up working a new case alone after letting the rest of the team go home to their families. … Bradley Whitford, Katey Sagal and Jimmy Smits are among the special guests on a very funny episode of Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine (9:30/8:30c) in which Jake (Andy Samberg) and Amy (Melissa Fumero) bring their parents together for a turkey dinner that goes messily awry. Back at the precinct, Capt. Holt (Andre Braugher) grills his underlings with Jack Webb ferocity when a special holiday pie goes missing.

Inside Tuesday TV: Emotional family histories are revealed to Madam Secretary’s Téa Leoni and Transparent’s Gaby Hoffman in a new episode of PBS’s Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates (8/7c, check local listings at pbs.org). … A winner will be named on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars in a two-hour finale (9/8c). … A&E’s six-part Who Killed Tupac? (9/8c) enlists civil-rights attorney Benjamin Crump on an investigation into the murder of influential rapper Tupac Shakur more than 20 years ago.

 




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  1. C

    CyanCoathanger

    I think this is the last night with a regular schedule until after the holiday. I'm sticking with The Flash, Legends, Lethal Weapon, This Is Us, and Major Crimes. I'll watch The Middle online later.

    1. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes, I just checked my TV GUIDE listings and not much new going on until after the holiday weekend.

      I'll likely watch reruns of the CW/DC shows and FOX's Gotham. If I get bored I'll check out some movies. Maybe I'll go to the theatre and see Justice League. I'm ignoring the critics. They mostly trashed Man of Steel and I enjoyed that one. Batman vs Superman was a depressing dark movie, but not THAT terrible. Gosh, critics love piling on when a movie or show is not ground breaking.

    2. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I have plenty of shows to catch up on. I'm still at least 4 episodes behind on Inhumans for instance.

  2. G

    GoldSubmarine

    I would have loved to watch Marvel's Runaways. But I don't subscribe to Hulu.

    Probably will watch ABC all night live. CW later on.

    1. C

      CyanCandy

      Hulu is always offering a free month. You could wait for the first season of "Runaways" to end, then get the free month and watch the whole season.

      I did this with some shows on Netflix, but eventually subscribed to it.

      1

    2. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Thanks for the advice!

    3. G

      GoldSubmarine

      My friend has Netflix and gave me his code. So I'm good there. But I don't really have that much time to watch Netflix this time of year. Most of my favorite shows on broadcast are airing now.

    4. C

      CyanCoathanger

      It sounds somewhat like The Gifted. Are you liking that any better now? I know I'll never have time to watch shows on Hulu, Netflix, or any other pay services, so I just ignore them.

    5. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes, seems similar to The Gifted, The Runaways is about mutants, but their parents are evil. I'm with you, this time of year it's barely possible for me to keep up without all of these streaming services. It would be like flushing $$ down the toilet if I subscribed.

      The Gifted has impressive CGI/SFX and some of the action scenes are fun to watch. But the characters and storylines aren't grabbing me like other shows in the genre.

      Did you catch up with Marvel's INHUMANS? I know it had flaws, but I found it enjoyable to watch nonetheless.

      If granted another season, there is a likelihood it would improve. Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. improved astronomically from the first half (or so) of season 1 towards the second half. By the end of the initial season it became my favorite show of the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

    6. C

      CyanCoathanger

      No, I haven't caught up at all with Inhumans. This week, I've been catching up with my PBS shows especially Poldark. Maybe I'll have time to catch up with everything over the holidays.

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    8. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Thank you for enlightening me about Runaways. I'll figure out a way to watch it soon. So it really is quite different from The Gifted, going by your description. I still watch The Gifted but I must admit its among my least favorites in this genre. Simply put its not fun to watch and I don't find the characters intriguing or plots very compelling. On the plus side the CGI/SFX and many of the action scenes are above par. So that keeps me coming back to it every week.

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    10. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes, agreed the later episodes of INHUMANS were better than the early ones. My favorites were ep 3, 5, 6,7, and 8. Ep 4 was the very worst. The first 2 was needed to set up the characters and plots for the remaining 6. All in all, it was fun series to watch and didn't deserve being crucified at the stake.