Worth Watching: An Hour of ‘Last Man,’ Live Action ‘Kim Possible,’ More Valentines on ABC, ‘Lorena’ on Amazon
A selective critical checklist of notable Friday TV:
Last Man Standing (8/7c, Fox): ABC’s loss was Fox’s gain when the network picked up Tim Allen’s sitcom after a year’s absence, and Fox could see double the ratings bump with back-to-back episodes. Say a prayer for Chuck (Jonathan Adams) and Carol (Tisha Campbell) as they prepare to renew their vows, when Mike (Allen) volunteers to officiate. And add a thought for Outdoor Man, because with Chuck away, Ed (Hector Elizondo) takes over the security detail with a very different attitude.
Kim Possible (8/7c, Disney Channel): The animated hit becomes a live-action movie, with Sadie Stanley as the eponymous teen hero and The Goldbergs’ Sean Giambrone as her sidekick, Ron Stoppable. (Buffy’s Alyson Hannigan is Kim’s brain-surgeon mom, and Christy Carlson Romano — who voiced Kim in the original series — appears as a pop star named Poppy Blu.) With Team Possible learning the ropes of freshman year in high school, their extracurriculars include taking on super-villain Dr. Drakken (Todd Stashwick) and henchwoman Shego (Taylor Ortega). One carry-over: The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright continues to provide the voice of Rufus, Ron’s pet naked mole rat.
Fresh Off the Boat (8/7c, ABC): Valentine’s Day may be over, but not for ABC’s “TGIF” comedies. On Boat, parents Jessica (Constance Wu) and Louis (Randall Park) compete to give Evan (Ian Chen) Valentine’s tips for how to woo his new girlfriend, Sicily (Julia Garcia). Followed by Speechless (8:30/7:30c), in which JJ (Micah Fowler) celebrates with Izzy (Kayla Maisonet), but a dateless Ray (Mason Cook) ends up taking sister Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) on a prepaid night out. As for mom Maya (Minnie Driver) and dad Jimmy (John Ross Bowie), they scoff at the holiday until they realize they can make a profit from it.
Proven Innocent (9/8c, Fox): She may be on the side of the angels, but Madeline Scott (Rachelle Lefevre) could be the season’s most annoying protagonist, a smugly self-righteous advocate for the wrongly imprisoned — because she was once one herself, convicted with her now-recovering-addict brother (Riley Smith) of murdering her BFF and spending 10 years behind bars before being exonerated. Now running a generic Injustice Defense Group operation in Chicago, Madeline and her bland sidekicks go to war against slimy state’s attorney Gore Bellows (Kelsey Grammer), who’s as odious and corrupt as his laughably Dickensian name suggests. Subtlety is not this show’s friend, and I’m thinking Fox had a reason for scheduling this legal migraine of a drama in a dead-end Friday time period.
Lorena (streaming on Amazon Prime Video): Jordan Peele is executive producer of a four-part documentary revisiting the lurid story of Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt, whose history of marital discord and spousal abuse escalated into a shocking incident of mutilation that made national headlines. The series takes perhaps too much time getting past the tabloid shock value to explore the issues of domestic violence and media coverage of this human tragedy.
Inside Friday TV: Netflix’s big-ticket item of interest is The Umbrella Academy, another graphic-novel adaptation about disgruntled young-adult superheroes. When their adoptive father mysteriously dies, the estranged super-sibs reunite to avert an impending apocalypse… Christen a new queen on the grand season finale of VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (8/7c). In the last round, the final four contestants write and perform a verse of RuPaul’s song “Super Queen” and appear on the “What’s the T” podcast with RuPaul and Michelle Visage. Guests include Todrick Hall and past winners Chad Michaels, Alaska and Trixie Mattel… With Jack (George Eads) gone, the team of CBS’s MacGyver (8/7c) welcomes a new recruit: Desi (Levy Tran)… Another movie awards show? At least this one knows its audience. PBS’s Great Performances presents the 18th annual Annual Movies for Grownups Awards (9/8c, check local listings at pbs.org) from AAPR the Magazine, hosted by Martin Short. Honored with a Career Achievement Award: Shirley MacLaine.
Conversation23 Comments
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R
From what I had run across...was thinking of just ignoring Proven Innocent…
But then Matt goes and writes:
season’s most annoying protagonist...
a smugly self-righteous advocate...
as odious and corrupt as his laughably Dickensian name suggests...
Subtlety is not this show’s friend...
legal migraine of a drama...
Now I think I HAVE to check it out...if only to see if it's, truly, as awful as he suggests!!??!!
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C
I'm not going to bother. I already watch enough crap. Have you been watching I Am the Night?
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R
I have...
It's a little slow moving...at first I was mixing up the guy following her with her Grandfather...and I have NO idea what the Black Dahlia stuff is...
But I find it engaging...and there are NO episodes backed-up on the ol' DVR...
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C
Yes, it's like Fred and I said about the 2 Genius series...they could have told the story in a 2-hour movie rather than dragging it out to 6 episodes.
The Black Dahlia stuff only matters in that the girl in this show may have been her daughter and that her grandfather might have killed her mother. They are just theories which have never been proved or disproved.
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G
I found it watchable enough. Reminds me of last summer's Burden of Truth on CW. Friday is definitely the wrong night for this genre.
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C
MacGyver and Speechless are back! Hendersons and Graham Norton are new! That's enough to keep me occupied tonight!
I saw that hour of Last Man in my listings and thought it was a mistake!
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O
I know! LOL I couldn't believe LMS was an hour. Double the fun.
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G
Speechless may be a rerun, although not sure.
That gruesome Bobbbitt story was recently featured on 20/20 also.
I can't watch that subject matter.
Lastly , I think FOX is smart for previewing their new legal drama Proven Innocent after one of FOX"s biggest hits. I'll give it a try tonight.
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G
That should provide the new Proven Innocent with a strong lead in audience. I know I will be watching FOX all night.
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C
No, Speechless is new. That's why Matt included it above.
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G
Enjoy tonight's programing!
I'll let you know if FOX's new law show is worth sampling
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C
I already know it's not...for me anyway.
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G
Some of my favorite shows in the past have been law shows:
LA LAW
THE PRACTICE
BOSTON LEGAL
so I'll give this one a shot.
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C
I've never seen LA Law. I watched the other 2.
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O
Ready for Last Man Standing, Blue Bloods and Fresh Off The Boat tonight!
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R
CBS all night. I might also try to catch the Kim Possible movie sometime on a re-airing of it. Not that I usually watch Disney movies, but back in the day I liked the original animated show. It really was very clever and funny, so I'm cautiously interested to see how the live-action thing goes.
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G
I've been searching for the Thin Man sequels on You Tube and can't find them. They are always just previews or different movies even though a Thin Man movie is stated. I might break down and rent them on Comcast. I can watch the Thin Man movie series multiple times and still catch something I missed before.
If you happen to find the very entertaining Topper Returns somewhere, give it shot.
Its a muti-murder mystery with lots of comedy and that cute dog from the Thin Man movie series.
I may have mentioned this before, but its worth repeating.
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C
Ever check with your library for movies? Ours has lots of movies you can borrow and they share with a lot of other libraries in the area.
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O
Oh, man, you missed it. TNT JUST did a Thin Man marathon last week. Check and see if they are on TNT's On Demand.
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O
Our libraries have lots of current trash, but try to even find Casablanca... I tried to grab an old Elmore Leonard book yesterday while I was in, and they did not have ONE in the collection-- and I live in MICHIGAN.
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G
I watched the original on TNT on Demand for free multiple times already
But the sequels cost money
On Demand. My cable bill is over $200 already (including Internet and a land line) so I hate buying and renting !
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G
Yes I used to all the time, thanks for reminding me!
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C
I know, and even the older librarians seem fixated on the newest things. I asked if they had a list of the DVDs available, and one older woman told me she'd just made a list....of the newest, most popular titles.
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