‘This Is Us’ Finale, ‘Rise’ and ‘For the People’ Premiere, Ricky Gervais on Netflix

Matt Roush
16 Comments
This Is Us - Season 2
Ron Batzdorff/NBC
THIS IS US

A selective critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:

This Is Us (9/8c, NBC): For a change of pace, NBC’s four-hanky phenom wraps its second season promising tears of joy. The kind you experience at a wedding, especially one as life-altering as the union of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan), who we’ve been rooting for since they met in Season 1. The network’s promotional teaser has fans buzzing at the vision of Milo Ventimiglia in old-man makeup, apparently giving his blessing from the great beyond. As we like to think long-departed parents do on such happy occasions. Pearsons, you’ll be missed.

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Rise (10/9c, NBC): NBC is all about the feelings, and hopes to replicate the success of This Is Us in a new musical drama that combines elements of Glee and Friday Night Lights. The latter sets the tone, as a burned-out English teacher (Josh Radnor) in a struggling Pennsylvania steel town lobbies to bring new life to the high school’s drama department by staging the controversial Spring Awakening. (Read the full review.)

'Rise' Series Premiere: Clear Voices, Full Hearts—Can't Lose
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'Rise' Series Premiere: Clear Voices, Full Hearts—Can't Lose

For the People (10/9c, ABC): Remember when the core regulars of Grey’s Anatomy were overeager newbies at the start of their professional lives? This slick but overstuffed legal drama from the Shondaland factory hews to that formula, introducing six exceedingly ambitious (and occasionally oversexed) young lawyers joining the high-profile U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, hereafter known as “The Mother Court.” Half are Assistant U.S. Attorneys (prosecutors), the other half public defenders, and always the twain shall meet in court. Overwritten yet also simplistic in its preachy approach to law, People even patronizes most of the grown-ups, including Ben Shenkman and Hope Davis as their respective win-at-all-cost bosses. (Anna Deavere Smith is the wonderful exception as Tina, the stern court clerk.) Susannah Flood as the all-business AUSA Kate Littlejohn is the early standout in the ensemble, although I suspect it won’t be long until the show softens her edges as well.

Inside Tuesday TV: A Netflix favorite returns with Ricky Gervais: Humanity (streaming Tuesday), his first stand-up special in seven years, filmed in London. Among his topics, Gervais is about as happy about the aging process as you’d expect. … Freeform’s The Fosters (8/7c) marks its 100th episode with Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) trying to reconnect on a couples’ retreat, while Brandon (David Lambert) and Grace (Meg DeLacy) go on a road trip. … American Pickers’ Mike Wolfe guests as himself on CBS’s NCIS (8/7c), helping Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Ducky (David McCallum) analyze an antique war stick linked to a 16-year-old cold case. … In back-to-back episodes of ABC’s black-ish (9/8c), Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) deal with hot-button issues including gender bias and parental discipline. … Travel Channel personality Andrew Zimmern launches a new series, The Zimmern List (9/8c), introducing favorite foods in favorite places. First stops: Los Angeles and Austin.

For the PeopleRise (2018)This Is UsRicky Gervais



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  1. C

    CyanFish

    Watching the NEW NCIS episode (Ducky is in the episode, woo-hoo!); and re-watching a favorite movie of mine, "Drums Along the Mohawk," on the Movies channel at 7:30pm (starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert); and another movie, "Supernova" on the MGM channel at 9pm (James Spader, Angela Bassett and Lou Diamond Phillips).

  2. O

    OrangePopcorn

    THE MIDDLE for me, and that's all.

  3. R

    RedCupcake

    I'm not a fan of stunts like the one on NCIS, with "real life" people playing themselves (or a version of themselves) just to try to cross promote and bring in a new audience.

    Rise sounds like earnest sentimental shlock; I would have hoped for better from Josh Radnor. And haven't we seen For the People before? Different title, different characters, maybe, but the premise has that been-there-watched-that feel.

    Re last night's ep of The Alienist.... oooh, somebody's gonna pay, big-time! Kreizler should have kept his secret a little longer, because this is what happen when you talk about your relationships.

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      Who are those guys who barged into his house at the end? Are they current members of the police force or just some hired goons?

    2. R

      RedCupcake

      The one guy with the red hair & mustache (the one who went upstairs,followed by Mary) is the Irish cop who was fired by Roosevelt. He's also the one who killed the rich guy with the silver teeth. He's in cahoots with the older white-haired guy, the one he was speaking to in the coach earlier in the episode. I think the older guy is a retired police captain or some high-ranking guy, who doesn't like Roosevelt. These two (old guy and red-haired former cop) knew the rich silver-toothed boy was a pedophile but protected him and his family because of all their money. (At least, until Red-Head got disgusted and shot him.) I don't know who the other guy in the house is, just another low-life crony, I guess. I hope the black guy wasn't killed too, maybe he was just choked unconscious. Either way, there will be Hell. To. Pay.

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      They showed the black guy recovering after the men left.

    4. R

      RedCupcake

      So there's a witness, good. I just want Red the former cop to burn. He's been asking for it since Day One.

  4. C

    CyanCoathanger

    Watching or recording: The Flash, The Middle, This Is Us, LA to Vegas, and The Mick. Maybe I'll give Rise a look, but it doesn't sound all that exciting to me.

    1. R

      RedQuill

      ..

      "LA to Vegas" and "The Middle" will be DVR'd...

      Their writing is humorous enough that they DON'T NEED a laugh track (like "Will & Grace" and "The Big Bang Theory") to indicate when I SHOULD be laughing...

      ..

      1

    2. R

      RedCupcake

      Is LA to Vegas any good? It really didn't seem too promising when I saw previews.

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      It's a very silly lowbrow comedy about people who commute by the same flight from LA to Vegas every weekend.

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    5. C

      CyanCoathanger

      You shouldn't be reading...or eating or sleeping! Just watch TV! Watch, watch, watch...until you get caught up!

    6. R

      RedQuill

      Dylan McDermott, Peter Stormare and Kim Matula...(did you ever watch The Bold and The Beautiful?)...are QUITE entertaining (to me)...

    7. G

      GreenElephant

      Uh, both "Will and Grace" and "The Big Bang Theory" are, to quote many '70s sitcoms, "filmed in front of a live audience"!

      2

    8. G

      GoldHammer

      You're right, but I agree with the op's probable point that any sort of audience reaction is annoying and distracting.

      1

    9. G

      GreenCupcake

      I agree that the laughter can be annoying at times, but both shows ARE live recorded, so the laughter is real every time.

      1