Worth Watching: ‘Will & Grace’ Wedding Finale, CW’s ‘Dark’ Premiere, A Year on the ‘American Farm’
A selective critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:
Will & Grace (9/8c, NBC): Here come the… grooms in the finale of the hit sitcom’s second comeback season. Jack (Sean Hayes) is finally ready to say his “I do’s” with Estefan (Brian Jordan Alvarez), but their planned dream wedding in Spain hits a travel bump, so thankfully Miss Coco (Clinton Leupp) is on hand at the airport for an impromptu ceremony. The rest of Jack’s entourage are preoccupied with their own relationship issues: Will’s (Eric McCormack) boyfriend McCoy (Matt Bomer) is considering a job offer in London, and Grace (Debra Messing) is so disenchanted with Noah (David Schwimmer) that she lets her head get turned by a charming stranger (Veep‘s Reid Scott) at the airport. As for recently bisexual Karen (Megan Mullally), she has a decision to make regarding her sexual orientation and future with Nikki (Samira Wiley).
In the Dark (9/8c, The CW): She’s a nympho. She’s a drunk. She’s a self-confessed mess. And Murphy (Perry Mattfeld) also happens to be blind, but is not even very nice to her guide dog, named Pretzel. To the show’s credit, this murky hybrid of character study and murder mystery doesn’t make its sight-impaired central figure very likable. (Even her parents are understandably fed up with her bad decisions and lack of impulse control.) What there is of a story kicks in when one of her few friends, a street-smart youth named Tyson (Thamela Mpumlwana), is apparently murdered in an alley. Murphy discovers what she believes to be his body, but when the police arrive — including Mad Men‘s Rich Sommer as a detective with a blind daughter he somehow thinks would benefit by meeting Murphy — the body is nowhere to be found. And Murphy has, shall we say, a credibility problem. As does In the Dark.
The American Farm (10/9c, History): From the producers of Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers and other top-shelf examples of docu-reality TV comes an eight-part series shining a light on five hard-working farming families in different parts of the country: Virginia, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Utah and, inevitably, Alaska. Crews spent a year following these farmers in their battles against unpredictable nature and the unrelenting demands of a job that is also a way of life.
Inside Thursday TV: Abigail Spencer (Timeless) returns to ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (8/7c) as Megan Hunt, Owen’s (Kevin McKidd) sister, who’s very much out of the loop regarding the complicated situation of her brother, pregnant Teddy (Kim Raver) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone). In medical news, Dr. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) prepares for her first surgery since her own life-saving operation… Freeform’s Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger launches its second season with a two-hour episode (8/7c) in which superpowered teens Tandy (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph) put their training to the test to take on underworld baddies in New Orleans… Paramount Network revives Wife Swap (9/8c), opening with a control-freak perfectionist wife who swaps families with a carefree all-play-and-no-work dad… Polarizing presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders guests on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (11/10c)… The Walking Dead‘s Sarah Wayne Callies stars in SundanceTV’s eight-part docudrama Unspeakable (midnight/11c, continues Friday). She plays a whistleblower in the early 1980s who exposes a medical disaster in Canada in which tainted blood infected thousands with HIV and Hepatitis C.
Conversation17 Comments
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G
I'll give Abby's another try tonight. The pilot was better than the one for I Feel Bad and I gave that one several episodes.
I also might sample For The People tonight. Dabney Coleman is such a great actor. I recently watched him on a Columbo episode , As usual he was fantastic.
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O
That was a great Columbo episode. He was so sleazy and irritating and was the perfect nemesis for Columbo. I really cheered when Columbo finally got him!
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C
Every time I see "Abby's" in print, my mind first thinks it says "Arby's," and I want to recommend the Greek Gyro!
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G
Hahahaha. I hope I can laugh a t least once with Abby's tonight. I need a new funny comedy. I'm more than satisfied with my dramas.
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G
Such classic!! Even the sub par episodes are entertaining to me.
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C
I don't find very much funny anymore. Big Bang is probably the only show I can always count on to make me laugh at least a couple of times per episode.
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G
Yeah, Big Bang is reliably funny. I usually watch the reruns in syndication, rarely new episodes.
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R
I get A LOT of laughs out of Happy!...
(But...I'm not really sure that it's listed as a "comedy"!!??!!)
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C
I think it counts as one even with all the blood and gore. Wikipedia calls it: An American fantasy black comedy crime television series.
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R
Wife Swap always had chuckles and insights (for us)...so will DEFINITELY check out Paramount's new version...
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C
When they switched the name to Paramount, I lost access to the channel. I watched a Celebrity Wife Swap the other night. I'm not sure what channel that was on or how old the episode was.
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R
Supernatural ans SWAT.
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C
NBC comedies tonight along with For the People, and maybe I'll take a look at In the Dark since it's had some pretty good reviews.
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R
"Not very nice to her guide dog"? That's all I need to hear.... I won't be watching.
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C
It doesn't say she beats it. I was always getting accused of being mean to my pets because I made them behave.
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You're right, it doesn't mean the character beats her dog. But dogs can't distinguish verbal tones, for one thing, and especially service dogs (in this case guide dogs)... they're trained to obey certain commands from their 'people,' and activity counter to that can be confusing and distressing to them. (I know, I know, it's not real, but still.....)
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C
Heaven forbid you'd distress a dog! Give it a pat, and it won't even remember it.
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