Samantha Bee Takes ‘Full Frontal’ to Puerto Rico, ‘The Americans’ and ‘Suits’ Return, ABC’s ‘Alex, Inc.’
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee: The Great American Puerto Rico (10/9c, TBS): There are times when TV’s satirical news spoofs present actual quality journalism, and that appears to be the case with Full Frontal’s latest passion project, an hourlong special that embeds Samantha Bee in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico with guests including The X-Files’ David Duchovny and Hamilton’s Javier Munoz. Segments will address the U.S. commonwealth’s struggle to restore power after Hurricane Maria and how mainland American millionaires use the island as a tax haven. Full Frontal is raising funds for Puerto Rico’s recovery through the sale of T-shirts at the TBS Store, and has committed to print all charity T-shirts through 2018 in Puerto Rico.
The Americans (10/9c, FX): The acclaimed spy drama jumps forward three years for its riveting sixth and final season, taking our favorite married spies into the age of Gorbachev and glasnost. Philip (Matthew Rhys) has happily checked out, spending more time with the expanded travel agency and line dancing with employees, while hard-liner Elizabeth (Keri Russell) remains suspicious of the enemy all around her. She collaborates with those trying to derail a crucial arms summit and devotes the rest of her energies to coaching daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) in the fine arts of Soviet culture and surveillance. Hard to imagine a happy ending for this family constructed on lies. (Read the full review.)
Suits (9/8c, USA): The seventh season of the slick legal drama returns with increased scrutiny, as fans prepare for the exit (in a two-hour season finale April 25) of core characters Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel (Meghan Markle, future princess). For now, though, it’s turbulent business as usual, as Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Louis (Rick Hoffman) continue to fight for the firm’s future, while Harvey is still trying to process that kiss from Donna (Sarah Rafferty).
Alex, Inc. (8:30/7:30c, ABC): Zach Braff (Scrubs) is one of TV’s more likable personalities, but even his considerable charm can’t keep this unfocused and pitifully bland sitcom from evaporating before one’s eyes. Or ears. Based on NPR reporter Alex Blumberg’s biographical podcast “StartUp,” Inc. stars Braff as the self-absorbed Alex Schuman, who quits his radio day job to launch a podcast start-up, causing some tension at home. His kids feel neglected, and wife Rooni (an appealing Tiya Sircar) is peeved she wasn’t consulted before he took this risky financial leap. Shifting focus between workplace shenanigans and domestic comedy, Alex, Inc. isn’t fully invested enough in either venue to compel attention.
Inside Wednesday TV: Yet another sudden tribe swap on CBS’s Survivor (8/7c) feels like a desperation tactic to get this season back on track. … Freeform’s successful black-ish spinoff, grown-ish (8/7c), signs off from freshman year with Zoey (Yara Shahidi) making a tough decision about her love life: choosing activist Aaron (Trevor Jackson) or fashion student Luca (Luka Sabbat). … It’s a big night for Andrew Lloyd Webber fans. First, ABC’s The Goldbergs (8/7c) presents its latest salute to the Broadway composer, when Adam’s drama teacher (Ana Gasteyer) goes all out to produce Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, capped by her performance of “Any Dream Will Do.” … Later, to celebrate Lloyd Webber’s 70th birthday, and in advance of Sunday’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, NBC airs Andrew Lloyd Webber Tribute to a Superstar (10/9c), with Sunset Boulevard Tony winner Glenn Close, Superstar’s title star John Legend and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda joining to sing his praises. … A different sort of musical mash-up is on display in the latest edition of CMT Crossroads (10/9c, CMT), when Motown legend Smokey Robinson and country star Cam team up to sing each other’s hits.
Conversation36 Comments
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Nothing new airing tonight that I'm interested in watching. However, there are some movies airing that I'm interested in: 1) 1981's Dragonslayer on the FREE Movies TV Network at 9:30pm; 2) FX HD is airing Spectre at 7pm; 3) and a movie I haven't seen before, The Space Between Us, airing on Showtime at 9pm, starring Carla Gugino and Gary Oldman -- and it's scifi too! Woo-hoo! I just set my DVR to record it.
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Noticed (on the Worth Watching "main" page) that Snakes on a Plane will be on BET at 4P ET...
My DVR is Ready and Waiting!!!
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I stopped watching movies on channels with commercials. They censor them too much, and the commercials chop them up too much for me.
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Well Don...I agree with you about "new" movies that I've NEVER seen...
But...for something like Snakes (which I've already seen 100 times and just re-watch every year or two for the laughs)...I'll first check Verizon's "Search" and if I ONLY find it available on a channel with commercials...I figure I'd rather watch it WITH commercials than NOT watch it at all...
(And, of course, once I DVR it...commercials are NEVER a hassle.)
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Yes, you can fast forward through them, but it still interrupts the flow of the movie and usually at a most disruptive spot.
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And they are censored. For some movies I don't mind a little censoring but for others it ruins the movie.
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Sometimes, Comedy Central doesn't censor the movies when they run them after 11:00 pm. I think SyFy is starting to do that too in certain cases.
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Snakes on a Plane is a hoot. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
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I'll watch Designated Survivor and SEAL Team.
Speaking of Designated Survivor, I'm just not feeling the Seth and Emily relationship. I don't think they have any chemistry, other than as brother and sister. She was better with that other guy, Aaron.
ETA: I thought NCIS was actually quite good last night. Except for the really disappointing aspect of the "inside (wo)man." That is sooooo "24." And there wasn't even a good reason. Threats to family, or extortion, I can see. But really, not too many people are going to commit treason for what basically amounts to a year's salary. That was weak, but I guess the writers needed a Trojan Horse, so they had to make something up.
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I agree. Seth and Emily do not compute.
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Seth and Emily are totally mismatched. His personality and looks don't meld well with her. They should have developed the Aaron/Emily relationship into a long term one.
I guess they will try and ship Aaron with Hannah .
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I wonder when they're going to start trying to match the president up with someone.
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My guess is not this season. If renewed, they will probably have him dating next season.
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Maybe not "dating" (he can't really take someone out to dinner and a movie) but getting close to someone. And of course not this season...it's too soon.
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Yeah, not this season, but apparently there's already a good candidate (heh) waiting in the wings or when the time is right. May or may not end up being her, but if it is, the groundwork is definitely being laid for it.
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It's ABC all evening for me...all the comedies plus Designated Survivor. I'll also record Riverdale and Krypton and catch Suits when it repeats later.
Any thoughts on Roseanne last night? I thought they relied too much on nostalgia for the original show instead of coming up with more lines that would have been funny even if you never saw the original. I also thought the kid would have been expelled for bringing a weapon to school not just sent home that day. It's my understanding that schools today have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to weapons.
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Now that's a profound comment. 😀
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My computer froze up while commenting. I finished the post. Reload the comments to see it.
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Ah, I see it now. Ain't technology grand??
I saw an article this morning aobut how Roseanne "relied too much on nostalgia and not enough on fresh humor." So you're not the only one with that opinion.
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Good to know. Where'd you see it?
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Well, it's from the ultimate "fake news" site, so make of it what you will. 😀
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/27/entertainment/roseanne-review/index.html
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I didn't like the political stuff either. Their characters are really stupid people, so why would I care who they voted for?
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I remember hearing back in the day that Roseanne was made a show to sort of counteract the Cosby effect: instead of an upper-middle class family in the big city, this was a lower-middle-class family in suburban heartland. I think the "lower-middle-class" part was emphasized a bit too much when it came personal characteristics. Just my opinion. I did watch a number of the first seasons, but bailed well before the final one.
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I didn't watch the last 2 seasons until years later in reruns. They were pretty bad...especially after she won the lottery and became filthy rich. It was a whole different show after that.
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I didn't watch...or don't remember watching...(actually, of course, the SAME thing)...the last season or two...
If she won the lottery and became filthy rich...why was she whining last night about "almost losing our house"???
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I assume it's because they're ignoring everything that happened in those seasons including the lottery win and Dan's death.
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It was all a dream like that Dallas season with the gorgeous former Bond girl, Barbara Carrera later in its run.
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Yeah, I remember that season from '85-'86...
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Last Man Standing also delved into politics quite often. Tim Allen was especially clever with the political jokes. I read that ABC is hoping to bring him back for Home Improvement 2.0
The ratings were exceptional for Roseanne last night and helped Black-ish and Splitting Up Together garner strong ratings.
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Just looked. Wow! Over 18 million viewers! And NCIS still had nearly 12 million at the same time. Everyone must have stayed in last night.
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Tim must have been fairly subtle about it because I don't remember anything in particular.
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He was more subtle than Roseanne for sure, but he was anti- Obama / Clinton for sure. And last season he was pro Trump.
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It'll be interesting to see how the ratings are, going forward. A lot of people wanted to see the premier, but whether they're interested enough to tune in every week could be a different story.
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That's true of just about all shows. The premiers usually draw a bigger audience, but in this case, even if they lost half their audience, they'd still have decent ratings.
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Your going to sample Alex Inc? Did you watch Splitting Up Together?
Btw, I read that Roseanne gets funnier as the season progresses.
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Yes, I'm watching all the ABC shows including Alex and a repeat of Splitting Up.
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