Worth Watching: ‘Amy Schumer Growing,’ Fox’s ‘Mental Samurai,’ Relive ‘Farscape’ on Amazon
A selective critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:
Amy Schumer Growing (Netflix): When a very pregnant Amy Schumer is asked, “Do you know what you’re having?” she answers, “Hemorrhoids.” And that’s about as clean as it gets in the comedian’s uproariously raunchy set before a full house in Chicago, where the audience revels at every explicit detail of her difficult pregnancy. If you thought impending motherhood might soften her approach, you’d be foolishly mistaken. But if you long to hear someone describe Kris Jenner as “the mother of dragons,” by all means tune in. As always with Schumer, it’s not for the squeamish, or easily offended.
Mental Samurai (9/8c, Fox): Rob Lowe keeps calling this elaborate new game/quiz show “the ultimate obstacle course for the mind,” but what it really feels like is Jeopardy! with a possibility of whiplash or motion sickness. As contestants are jerked up and down and sideways around a high-tech set while strapped into a capsule incongruously named Ava, Lowe cheers them on while they attempt to answer a series of trivia questions and solve puzzles through their giddy disorientation. It’s all fast-paced and purposefully over the top, but unlike the winter hit The Masked Singer, at least it’s not grindingly stupid.
Farscape (Amazon Prime Video): No, still no news of a revival after these many years — it was canceled in 2003, with a concluding miniseries in 2004 — but to mark the 20th anniversary of its premiere on the then-Sci Fi Channel, the wondrously enjoyable sci-fi series resurfaces on Amazon. All four seasons, plus a remastered version of the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, are available for a very merry binge. How we’ve missed you, John Crichton.
This Is Us (9/8c, NBC): Life gets back to normal, within reason, for the Pearsons after the premature delivery of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby’s (Chris Sullivan) son, Jack Pearson Damon. While the new parents maintain their vigil over their fragile infant in an episode that is at its best a paean to motherhood, Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Zoe (Melanie Liburd) come to terms with his alcoholic relapse, and his own desire for a family, while Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) continue to clash over their diverging careers and schedules. The most enjoyable parts of this hour flash back to the first school dance for “the Big Three,” chaperoned by Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), whose troubled upbringing kept him from ever tripping the light fantastic as a kid. How everyone still misses you, Jack Pearson.
The Village (10/9c, NBC): As if to provide an object lesson of just how hard it is to pull off an emotionally driven show like This Is Us, a new drama about the tightly knit residents of a Brooklyn walk-up apartment building lays on the hokey schmaltz as thick as asbestos. With forced uplift and dialogue that feels borrowed from throw-pillow samplers (“Family’s where you find it, kid”), The Village puddles through most of the pilot episode before finding an authentic connection: a reunion between returning veteran Nick (Warren Christie) and his similarly scarred war dog. That show I’d watch.
Inside Tuesday TV: Kudos to C-SPAN, marking its 40th anniversary of the date it began the invaluable service of broadcasting live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the workings of the U.S. Congress… In a reversal of the current college-admissions bribing scandal, Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) are outraged on ABC’s black-ish (9/8) when they try to place cousin Kyra (Quvenzhané Wallis) into a fancy prep school and are treated like a charity case… PBS’s invaluable Frontline presents the two-hour The Trial of Ratko Mladic (9/8c, check local listings at pbs.org), an in-depth look at the historic five-year trial of the Bosnian Serb general accused of genocide, including a massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys that is considered the worst crime on European soil since WWII. Producers go behind the scenes with access to the prosecution and defense teams as well as witnesses telling their harrowing stories.
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O
Damn, Amy Schumer's still doing comedy? Wow, 2019 really does suck lol. But anyway as far as current tv its just Blackish for me tonight. But need to get to my John Ritter special, the first Blade with Wesley Snipes and METV\Antenna for the rest of the night
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C
So many good shows on Tuesdays, and you only watch one of them? You're way too picky!
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O
Lol perhaps but I have very specific tastes so Its hard for me to find current shows I like though there are a handful, plus they keep cancelling shows I like so that makes it worse. I did like Fresh off The Boat on Tuesdays until they moved it to Fridays.
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G
I tried to find Black-ish funny, but I almost never laugh when I watch it.
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C
I don't care for him. The wife and kids are OK. In fact, I get a few laughs when just the kids are on.
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G
The dad isn't funny at all. The wife is a good actress ( living legend Diana Ross's daughter). Kids are no better or worse than other family comedies. I could name multiple funnier black comedies. Sanford and Son, Jeffersons, Cosby Show, Different World, Good Times, What's Happening, 229 among others.
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G
Oh, I left off My Wife and Kids and Everybody Hates Chris!!! Funny shows.
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C
Out of all that, I only really liked The Jeffersons. I never did like Cosby.
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C
I liked Chris. I don't think I've ever seen the other one.
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G
Jeffersons was hilarious! Every single character , even the white ones. Lol.
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G
Chris was a UPN show. Very very funny. My Wife and Kids was wit Damon Wayans ,an ABC hit.
Martin and Bernie Mac were funny too. I think they were on FOX.
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C
I barely remember any of them anymore.
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R
For me, it's the wife who's annoying. Then the parents are off-the-wall annoying.
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R
Funny, even though I've only seen her in this show, I'm not a fan of Tracee Ross Ellis.
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G
I used to watch her on UPN's Girlfriends.
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G
It's actually "227".
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G
Yeah, Tom Willis, Ralph the Doorman, Charlie the Bartender were hoots!
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G
I'm guessing it's because it's now opposite "Last Man Standing"?
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G
Thank you for the clarification . Funny show!
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R
Guess I'll watch reruns of NCIS and FBI. Not sure why they're repeats tonight, though....
BTW, I was thoroughly enjoying last night's repeat (!!!) of Big Bang, when Howard dressed as Sheldon for Halloween. It was such a hoot!! But the show took a very wrong turn toward the end when, once again, Sheldon is considered the 'victim' and gets sympathy. Once again, he seems to 'win.' That's one of the things I don't like about this show.
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G
Exactly! Why is CBS repeating Tuesday night shows? This line up has been preempted multiple times this season. Mostly thanks to political addresses or whatever. I understand it's March and not a sweeps month, but this is ridiculous.
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G
I'm guessing so the network can run an uninterrupted streak of new shows to the end of May for the following weeks...
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P
The Flash, This Is Us, The Rookie here... but we'll be lucky to get to all of them tonight based on other stuff going on.
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C
Where do I begin? Master Chef Jr., This Is Us, The Flash, Roswell, Mexican Dynasties, One of a Kind, and Hoarders! And that doesn't include the Housewife and The Kids which I'll have to watch on demand later!
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G
I hear American Housewife is especially funny this season. I watched previous seasons but didn't get around to it this season.
I sampled The Kids and enjoyed it. But haven't had time to keep up with it.
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O
The Kids happens to be Matt's favorite show lol he compared it to The Middle which was enough for me to know it must be an instant classic
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G
The Enemy Within has been improving every week. The previews for next week look insane! That ad for Microsoft within the show was awesome. That technology was used on Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2013, but of course wasn't an advertisement just part of the plot.
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C
Yes, I'll agree that Enemy is improving. That ad had me all confused. I was headed to the bathroom, and I stopped and thought, "Wait...is this still part of the show?" I didn't want to miss anything.
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C
I didn't watch the Housewife much before this season. It's OK. I mainly watch because it's paired with The Kids. If I'm watching live, I hate to watch an unpaired half hour show and have a half hour just hanging there with nothing to watch.
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G
Very clever ad. That is the future of advertising .I've seen them in the past but not as effective as this one.
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C
I've seen that type of ad before too, but this one was so well integrated, informative, and interesting that I didn't mind it a bit.
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C
The only comedy he really likes that I don't care for is Mom because I don't find alcoholism and drug addiction funny.
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G
Exactly!
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C
Did you see the article about this week's American Housewife being a crossover episode with American Idol?
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G
Yes!!! I'm watching that!
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C
I figured you would.
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G
LOL! On another note , I'm surprised your not sampling The Village. From what I see from the promos it looks similar to This Is Us and A Million Little Things. Of course my mom will watch it.
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C
After seeing some previews and reading some not so positive reviews, I'm skipping it for now. I only started watching Million Things because it has so many of my favorite actors in it. Village doesn't.
Besides, do you see my list for tonight??? It's going to take me the rest of the week just to watch all of them!
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G
Yeah, you watch a lot of shows. Enjoy.
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G
Problem with reviews are some of the worst reviewed shows were good to me. And some of the best reviewed shows were not watchable for me.
Examples: Last season's The Crossing was my favorite new show last season. The reviews were mostly negative.
The Passage received mixed reviews (some really negative) , but turned out to be my favorite new show this season.
Ten Days In The Valley garnered mostly positive reviews, but became unwatchable to me after the first several episodes.
The Terror (cable show) was hailed as a superb drama. I found it sleep inducing.
And don't get me started on over hyped Netflix shows like The Bodyguard ,Fauda, Umbrella Academy and Stranger Things. None of these impressed me.
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G
My dad was an alcoholic. Died at age 85 after fracturing a hip.
Addiction to anything doesn't make me laugh either. Not even sex addiction.
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C
I see your point and agree at times, but what I've read about The Village makes it sound unappealing even if the reviews aren't bad.
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C
My mother died after fracturing a hip too. The nurses said it's quite common. Their old bodies just can't take all the trauma of the break and the operation to fix it. She lost too much blood, and her heart gave out a few days later.
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G
Mine suffered for 9 months after the fall. Sad watching him wither away. Passed August 2018. He quit drinking about 10 years ago. Mom isn't addicted to anything except TV shows. She is a healthy 74.
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G
It will likely be a one and done. Very little chance NBC will renew. They have lots of other better quality and probably higher rated dramas.
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C
A couple of years ago, I shocked my doctor by saying, "I have to confess something to you! I'm hopelessly addicted.........to crossword puzzles!" LOL You should have seen his face go from deep concern to relief to amusement!
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