Worth Watching: ‘Race’ Returns, Beyoncé’s ‘Homecoming,’ ‘Shadows’ Goes Clubbing, PBS ‘Breakthroughs’
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
The Amazing Race (9/8c, CBS): Back earlier than expected — thanks to the fast fade of Million Dollar Mile — and thankfully airing during the regular season, not marginalized on the schedule for a welcome change, the Emmy-winning around-the-world reality competition returns with a twist for its 31st running. In a season described as a “reality showdown,” the 11 teams are likely to be familiar to fans of CBS’s long-running reality franchises. Five are from past seasons of The Amazing Race, three teams are alums of Survivor (including the ever-popular Rupert Boneham with wife Laura) and three from various iterations of Big Brother. So chances are you’ll already have a rooting interest (or bone to pick) with some of these players even before Phil Keoghan sends them off to their first global destination.
Homecoming (streaming on Netflix): Beyoncé once again rocked the world last year at the Coachella festival with a performance paying homage to historically black colleges and universities. With the festival in full swing again, Netflix presents an intimate behind-the-scenes documentary look at how the superstar prepared for her latest cultural milestone.
What We Do in the Shadows (10/9c, FX): Nick Kroll guests on the uproarious supernatural spoof as Simon the Devious, the snarky king of the Manhattan vampires. He’s none too accommodating when the provincial visitors from Staten Island come clubbing, in their easy-to-mock capes, in hopes of forging a power alliance to crush humanity. But first, they’ll have to learn to get along — easier cursed than done.
Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World (10/9c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): A new six-part science series takes a deep dive into the backstories of technological innovation, focusing on iconic objects that helped change humanity and its relation to the world at large. First up: the telescope, and how visionaries from Galileo to Edwin Hubble have used these far-seeking contraptions to further our understanding of the universe, billions of light years away. Subjects in weeks to come include the airplane, robot, car, rocket and smartphone.
Inside Wednesday TV: If you thought Patricia Arquette‘s Dee Dee was a monstrously awful momma in Hulu’s The Act, this week’s episode shows how she got that way. In flashbacks to the early 1990s, and the birth of little Gypsy, we meet Dee Dee’s own controlling mother, a nightmare granny played to the Southern Gothic hilt by the great Margo Martindale… Things are heating up on CBS’s Survivor (8/7c), with two tribal councils in one hour… In a hilarious episode of IFC’s Brockmire (10/9c), the newly sober sportscaster (Hank Azaria) is challenged by a case of “the yips,” a mental block that keeps him from remembering the count, resulting in what nemesis Matt Hardesty (J.K. Simmons) calls “the Flint, Michigan of broadcasts.” Don’t miss the Ken Burns-style parody opening with an elegiac history of the origin of “the yips.”
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R
Just SEAL Team for me tonight.
BTW, has anyone seen promos for two upcoming CBS shows? One is The Red Line (I think that's the name), and I'm not sure exactly, but it sounds like it deals with multiple people/families who are involved in or touched by a single tragic incident. Noah Wylie is in it, which is what got my attention. (Loved him in The Librarian movies and TV show.) Also, for those of us who like a good summer popcorn adventure series, there's a show called Blood and Treasure that will be starting--in May, I think.
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G
Yes, I saw the promos last night during the very riveting FBI.
Blood and Treasure seems like fun, not so sure The Red Line is my type.
Jubal was finally rewarded with some juicy scenes and good lines.
He is more than just a guy yelling orders.
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R
Blood & Treasure sounds like a distant cousin of Hooten & the Lady, which, horrible title aside, was a fun show.
As for FBI, yeah, it was good to see Jubal do something more than his usual calling out orders. And it was kind of nice not to have the focus be on the female agent for a change. Although I think it was pretty bad of OA (Omar) to not notice that his old war buddy was scamming him for money. Apparently not for the first time, either. I mean, seriously, the guy works for the FBI... he couldn't spend five minutes to determine if the guy really does have a mother who's ill? I realize that guys who've seen combat together grow close bonds and learn to trust each other, but still. When you work for the FBI cynicism has to become second nature.
If you like the "fun adventure" shows, you might like The Librarian. The movies are a lot of fun (one even features Stana Katic, before she became Beckett on Castle. After the three Librarian movies, there was a regular TV series which was even more silly, but still a lot of fun to watch.
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G
Yes, I really enjoyed Hooten & the Lady, despite the awful title. The lead female on that show is on Whiskey and Cavalier (another super fun show to watch).
I agree with your assessment of FBI last night.
Thanks for the Librarian recommendation : )
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C
The ABC comedies are all repeats tonight, so it gives me a bit of a break! However, Riverdale is back, and a new Amazing Race begins! I'll also want to see Whiskey Cavalier, Gone, Happy!, and In the Shadows!
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G
I'll probably watch the ABC comedies because I likely missed them the first time around. The always fun to watch Whiskey Cavalier also.
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C
It depends on how much you like the show. I liked it well enough to watch to the end knowing it was unlikely to be renewed.
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C
Then...don't watch it.
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C
Poor baby! 😉
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