Worth Watching: Dinner with the Shepherds on ‘Grey’s,’ ‘Discovery’ Prepares for Battle, a Magic Camcorder on ‘Twilight Zone’
A selective critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:
Grey’s Anatomy (8/7c, ABC): Guess who’s coming to dinner? It’s an uneasy homecoming for Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) when she heads to the East Coast with Link (Chris Carmack) for a spinal surgery — and they get roped into a very Shepherd family dinner courtesy of Nancy Shepherd (Embeth Davidtz). Joining them at Nancy’s home: sister Kathleen (Amy Acker) and momma Carolyn (Tyne Daly). Where’s Derek’s other sis, Liz (Neve Campbell)? Maybe we’ll find out. But something tells us they’ll be digesting more than food at the table.
Star Trek: Discovery (8:30/7:30, CBS All Access): With the impervious A.I. known as Control in hot pursuit, all aboard Discovery have some tough decisions to make regarding how to keep Control from getting, well, control of the sphere data. As usual, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) finds herself in the stickiest situation, leading to an emotional episode that might as well be titled “The Long Goodbye” as they consider destroying their ship, then taking an even greater leap of faith as they prepare to face off with Control’s fleet.
The Twilight Zone (streaming on CBS All Access): A classic Zone device of a magical machine — in this case an old-school camcorder that plays back events that haven’t quite happened yet — is wedded to a topical theme of #blacklivesmatter in the first-rate allegory “Replay.” Sanaa Lathan stars as a mom trying to drive her son (Snowfall’s Damson Idris) to college — but the camcorder keeps showing horrible outcomes of the young man’s encounter with a racist cop (Glenn Fleshler). Can she avert an all too familiar fate for her son?
Inside Thursday TV: For those going through The Walking Dead withdrawal, Netflix offers up the new series Black Summer, starring Jamie King as a mom braving a zombie apocalypse to be reunited with her daughter… Jake (Andy Samberg) and Amy (Melissa Fumero) celebrate their first anniversary on NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine (9/8c) the only way they know how: by working, spending their special day in a hospital guarding a comatose perp… TV journalist Elizabeth Vargas partners with A&E for the new investigative series The Untold Story (9/8c), previously A&E Investigates, opening with “Hunting JonBenét’s Killer: The Untold Story,” which seeks yet new leads to the unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey. The report features a new interview with John Ramsey.
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For tonight...DVR hankering to record...
Superstore...is interesting...but beginning to back-up on the ol' DVR...
A.P.Bio...seems to be "gaining strength" as it goes along...
In The Dark...enjoyed 1st episode enough to check out the 2nd...
Wife Swap...last week's stay-at-home-Mom swap with the stay-at-home-Dad was unique and quite interesting...…
Better Things...always watch almost immediately any NEW episode on the DVR...
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I haven't caught up with A.P. Bio , but I am up to date with Abby's. Since the disappointing pilot it has grown on me. I actually occasionally laugh (unlike most sitcoms today).
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C
I guess it's just Superstore, AP Bio, In the Dark, Orville, and For the People for me!
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I'll watch Superstore( I only watch this occasionally) Abby's (second episode was funnier than the pilot, so looking for improvement) S19 and possibly For The People.
Not sure what I'm watching live.
Meanwhile I just read in the USA TODAY "Save Our Shows" poll that Whiskey Cavalier and The Rookie were voted most desired to be renewed . In 2017 Timeless earned a renewal (second season and a movie) with the assistance of topping that poll.
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I think Superstore is always funny. It suffers from being up against Grey's and Big Bang.
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Yeah, Superstore is usually funny for me too, but like most comedies, I just don't have time to watch every single episode. I sometimes catch up with them in the summer.
When it comes to my dramas , I'm much more loyal.
Anyway I needed a fresh new comedy and I'll give Abby's a third try tonight. I actually giggled a little bit last week.
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Is it just me...or...is AP Bio actually getting funnier week by week???
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I've always found it amusing but seldom laughing out loud funny. On the other hand, I laughed and laughed at Happy! last night!
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I'm skipping Abby's because I've got other shows on at that time.
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Re the blurb about Discovery.... a powerful A.I.? a being named Control? Flashbacks to Person of Interest. (Not quite an exact comparison, but....)
Supernatural is the only new show for me tonight.
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I miss Person of Interest. I re-watched many episodes in syndication In the last couple of years.
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Perhaps better on FOX?
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I love that show when Taraji P Henson was on it. When they killed her off in such a tacky way I had to stop. It hurt too because I really loved it but the direction they went into with the machine stuff taking over the whole show and the boring new characters that were forced in didn't interest me. I still have the first two seasons on dvd though lol
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I thought her death was the most shocking and surprising thing I'd seen on TV in years! They had to get rid of her somehow, and they decided to make it exciting instead of dull and ordinary.
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True, the earlier episodes were best.
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I had a hard time grasping the whole "machine" thing taking over the entire story arc of the show (I wanted just the cool Case of the Week things), plus I had a tough time figuring out who was who and what was what: the Machine, Vigilance, Samaritan, Decima, etc.). But eventually I got the hang of it. It was pretty interesting, and I agree with unicornkatana that maybe CBS didn't know what to do with the show, as it really doesn't fit neatly into any category (especially not in CBS's crime-solving procedural world.
As or Taraji P Henson... she knew from the get-go that her character was going to get killed, so even though a lot of people were mad that the show "killed her off," Henson herself was perfectly fine with it. And in fact, she moved right on to Empire. However, when she was shot, I was absolutely STUNNED. I sat on the edge of my couch in complete shock, and I think I might have shed a tear or two. In this day and age, it's AMAZING that it happened without any spoilers leaking out. Her death, and the takedown of HR, gave a whole new direction to the show.
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True, it was shocking i'll give 'em that. But for me the heart of the show died with Carter. I checked in a few times after that during it's later years and it was just too dark and depressing for me. I need balance. The earlier seasons had that wonderful balance of humor, hope, darkness, intrigue etc. Carter was a big part of the heart, humor and hope
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