Worth Watching: A Legend Joins ‘The Voice,’ The Real Story of ‘Green Book,’ ‘Enemy Within’ and ‘London Kills’
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
The Voice (8/7c, NBC): With an Emmy for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert and a holiday special making him something of an NBC go-to guy, John Legend segues into the spinning-chair brigade as the singing competition’s newest coach. He joins Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson in what is always the best part of any season of The Voice: the Blind Auditions.
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom (8/7c, Smithsonian Channel): Even if you didn’t see the Oscar-nominated film Green Book, this documentary promises to be illuminating as it tells the true story behind the travel guide that gave African-Americans a road map of safe havens during the Jim Crow era. Interviewing historians, business owners and citizens who learned first-hand the rigors of “traveling while black,” Green Book illustrates the realities of a segregated past while championing the resolve of those who risked everything by hitting the often unfriendly road.
I Am the Night (9/8c, TNT): In the penultimate episode of the atmospheric fact-based crime drama, Jay (Chris Pine) and Fauna (India Eisley) head to Hawaii in hopes of finding answers from her birth mother, Tamar Hodel (Jamie Anne Allman). All roads lead back to L.A. and creepy Dr. George Hodel (Jefferson Mays), and as Jay cynically notes, “Death and evil, they’re around us all the time — and the line between us is thin as tissue paper.”
The Enemy Within (10/9c, NBC): Basically The Blacklist without a sense of humor, this uninspired spy thriller stars Dexter‘s Jennifer Carpenter as former CIA Deputy Director Erica Shepherd, now in prison for treason — turns out she was manipulated into spilling deadly secrets, and does she ever regret it. Despite her dark past, and the objections of unforgiving FBI agent Will Keaton (Morris Chestnut), Erica becomes the feds’ “secret weapon” in a crusade against Russian terrorist Mikhail Vassily Tal, who’s coordinating attacks on multiple U.S. cities. Seeking redemption in hopes of reconnecting to her daughter, Erica is a pushy know-it-all willing to break the rules to take down Tal’s network. With typical subtlety, she brags, “You can save this country — but you cannot do it without me.” We figured as much.
London Kills (streaming on Acorn TV): Gritty in look and tone, but otherwise a fairly routine big-city procedural, this straight-to-series commission from the distinguished Brit-focused streamer is a grim affair. A dour Hugh Speer stars as Detective Inspector David Bradford, whose return to the job from months of compassionate leave is clouded by the unresolved disappearance of his wife. As he and his by-the-numbers team (including Inspector Lynley’s Sharon Small as a Detective Sergeant bristling against the “old-boys’ network”) investigate murders, new revelations continue to dog Bradford about his vanished spouse. Not so sure about “kills,” but this London kind of bores.
Inside Monday TV: Nurse your Oscar-night hangover with Live’s After Oscar Show (9 am/8c, syndicated). Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest broadcast bright and early from Oscar central, L.A.’s Dolby Theatre, with a performance from Bebe Rexha among the highlights… Freeform’s supernatural action series Shadowhunters (8/7c) is back, as the demon-fighters deal with the “death” of star hunter Clary (Katherine McNamara) and the ominous arrival of her sadistic brother, Jonathan (Luke Baines)… HBO’s documentary It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It (10/9c) allows 13 men serving long sentences at Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility — the location used for HBO’s movie O.G.to get behind the camera (collaborating with co-director Madeline Sackler) and use filmmaking to explore the paths that led them to prison. Scenes from their lives are also animated by Yoni Goodman.
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O
Finally going to be able to check out the Sammy Davis Jr. PBS special also will schedule in Boyz in the hood, Columbo and Barney Miller and if time check out this show The Passage starring Zack Morris
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If you haven't been watching The Passage, I recommend you go back and start with the first episode. There are too many things you won't know to be jumping in at this point.
The Sammy Davis bio is really good.
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O
I'm picky with current television but I heard good things about Passage
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C
The Passage, The Good Doctor, I Am the Night, and I guess I'll check out The Enemy Within.
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R
Still no new Arrow, but at least Magnum is finally back--yay!! I might check in on the sitcoms that precede it, but Magnum is my only Must-See for tonight.
Don, did you watch The Zoo last night? One of the segments was kind of a different type of story.
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I still don't understand why CW is in reruns for what it seems like most of February.
CBS's Magnum, FOX's The Passage and lastly NBC's Enemy Within. The previews for Enemy Within don't look all that intriguing, but I still feel I should give it a shot. I have all set on my DVR, not sure what I'll watch live.
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What segment?
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Interestingly(?)...since I got my DVR...the only shows I've ever watched LIVE...are sporting events and election night results...
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G
I mentioned this before, but if I watched everything on my DVR or On Demand, I wouldn't have enough time to finish my shows in a reasonable amount of time. So when I can I try and watch as many live as possible, especially serialized ones that can be ruined by inadvertently seeing a spoiler.
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The one with the "pet store" lizards, or whatever they were. Very sad. 🙁
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One huge fringe benefit of having a DVR to me is that, even if you haven't set it to prerecord, the channel you're watching at the moment is taped by default at least as long as you stay on it. So whether you're just kind-of watching and suddenly want to rewind or you intentionally start late to skip commercials it's a big help. We routinely pause a program at, say, 8 p.m. and fire it up 15 to 30 minutes later so we can still finish right at 9 or 10 when the programs end, then delete it/them from the DVR if they'd been set to record without having even technically played them back. (Edit: I don't know about others, but our Verizon FIOS only keeps up to the past hour of live TV in its memory without prerecording.)
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Yes. Sometimes I utilize that function via Comcast.
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Well Fred...I'll admit that I was always one of the guys sitting in the back row of the classroom...
But...if a LIVE show takes 60' to watch...and a DVR'd show takes 43' to watch...it seems that someone who doesn't "have enough time to finish my shows in a reasonable amount of time"...would watch ALL their shows via their DVR...
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C
I've seen basically the same scenario on a couple of other shows. The one about the animals at the airport has had several shipments of animals with many of them dead or dying.
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G
I rather watch my very favorites live as much as possible. This way when I go online to discuss the episodes I don't have to worry about spoilers.
Shows like Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with multiple surprises, cliffhangers and shocks per episode is made for live viewing.
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My DVR always has the last 6 hours of live TV available.
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That's how I choose what to watch live...by whatever shows I think will be most likely to be talked about or have spoilers posted the next day.
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There are shows I won't talk to friends about if I haven't seen yet -- or visit Facebook or even look at my news feed maybe -- usually the superhero series, which I attempt to watch as close to live as possible but I will still start late like I said above.
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G
Live viewing is the best! It feels more exciting than just watching a DVR “whenever.” I don’t like to watch recorded shows unless I’m desperate.
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Also, I'm always anxious for answers asap especially serialized shows. And of course I love discussing plot points on social media and friends & family that watch .
However I DVR just about everything I watch, just in case. Occasionally I wait 15-20 into a show and watch while its recording. This way I avoid most if not all of the commercial breaks, my DVR allows that.
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