Worth Watching: ‘Elementary’ in London, ‘Red Nose Day,’ Remembering Farrah Fawcett
A selective critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:
Elementary (10/9c, CBS): Now it’s Joan Watson’s (Lucy Liu) turn to be the deductive fish out of water, as the seventh and final season of the contemporary Sherlock Holmes procedural kicks off with Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and his detective sidekick exiled to London. Back story: Sherlock confessed to a murder he didn’t commit and was extradited. He did it for his former boss, NYPD Capt. Gregson (Aidan Quinn), and both Gregson and Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) feel really bad about it. Joan’s not doing so great, either, as she acclimates to London and a snarky new boss at Scotland Yard (Episodes’s wonderful Tamsin Grieg as DCI Jones). But instead of tearing her hair out, Watson’s gone blonde. (Note: Don’t call her “Doc,” she doesn’t like it.) A case involving an acid attack on a newspaper-tabloid model brings the team back in touch with Sherlock’s former protégé Kitty (Ophelia Lovibond), but soon enough, circumstances in New York will make them yearn to go back across the pond.
Red Nose Day (8/7c, NBC): The annual all-star celebrity charity event blends comedy sketches with earnest appeals to raise money for children in need in the U.S. and abroad. Among the highlights: a mini-sequel to Four Weddings and a Funeral (to be adapted this summer into a Hulu series), featuring original stars Hugh Grant, Andie McDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rowan Atkinson, with Lily James, Alicia Vikander and Sam Smith joining in the fun. Saturday Night Live‘s Emmy-winning Kate McKinnon will perform in sketches, along with new late-night host Lilly Singh, and a parody video of Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams” will include new America’s Got Talent judge Julianne Hough, This Is Us star Chrissy Metz and the NFL’s Rob Gronkowski. Hit or miss, it’s all for a good cause.
The Red Nose Day theme continues with a new edition of Hollywood Game Night (10/9c), where host Jane Lynch welcomes A-listers including Kelly Clarkson, Kenan Thompson, Kristen Bell, Jennifer Garner, Sean Hayes, Jeff Goldblum, Leslie Mann and Thandie Newton.
This Is Farrah Fawcett (8/7c, ABC): The network that launched TV’s golden girl into stardom as one of the original Charlie’s Angels remembers Fawcett’s career, life as a celebrity and her public battle with cancer, ending in her death 10 years ago this June, in a two-hour ABC News special. (A&E’s Biography has a tribute planned for July.) Among those interviewed: Angels co-star Jaclyn Smith, close friend Alana Stewart, her doctors and the photographer who shot her fabled swimsuit poster. And from the archives, the special replays excerpts from Barbara Walters‘ interviews with Fawcett and her longtime partner, Ryan O’Neal.
Inside Thursday TV: Flip or Flop‘s Christina Anstead has a new husband and a new gig, starring in HGTV’s docu-series Christina on the Coast (9/8c), which follows her as she expands her design business in Southern California… Bravo’s Project Runway (9/8c) gets real when the designers visit mentor (and former winner) Christian Siriano‘s store, where city workers from the Post Office, Department of Sanitation, NYPD and FDNY become their latest clients… Highbrow literary intrigue of the Masterpiece variety awaits viewers of SundanceTV’s eight-part adaptation of Umberto Eco’s best-seller The Name of the Rose (10/9c). John Turturro stars as a 14th-century Franciscan monk investigating a series of gruesome murders at a monastery in the Alps. Co-stars include Person of Interest‘s Michael Emerson and Rupert Everett as a ruthless inquisitor.
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Alright Elementary's back! And the tribute to Farah Fawcett looks interesting.
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Enjoyed the reenactments of "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" last night especially Marisa Tomei's version of Edith and Marla Gibbs' return as Florence Johnston. But glad that's over now. I saw the finale of "TBBT" and "Young Sheldon" on Demand (only my second time of using that service) last Monday. The "Penny pregnant" storyline was fine though I admit having not seen the eps when she was adamant in not having kids. Favorite part was the end when the cast were back on their couches and an acoustic version of the show's theme song was being played. "It all started with a big bang..." ETA:...and nice showing of Sheldon's future friends as kids on "YS" during the scene of the title character being alone during the radio broadcast of the Nobel prize winners...
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I thought Marisa was probably the best of the new actors too, but Marla's surprise appearance was the high point of !he whole evening!
Hard to believe you've only used On Demand once before! I use it all the time to catch shows I've missed!
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I enjoyed the live All in the Family / The Jeffersons staging much more than I'd expected to. New stuff tonight seems to be just Cloak & Dagger for me, although we enjoy Hollywood Game Night in moderation (very dependent on the guests). Fell so behind on Elementary long ago I'm not even sure I knew it was still on.
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Once I just relaxed and realized that it was just a tribute to the shows and not to expect it to be the shows I found myself feeling better about the live shows. And as long as it stays one time only i'll be happy. At the end of the day these things are only amusing once lol
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Yay for the return of Elementary!! Looking forward to it.
That "Name of the Rose" thing sounds pretty good. Wonder if I my On Demand will have it available.
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Looks like iZombie and In the Dark are all for me tonight!
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Did you watch CBS's Blood & Treasure? If so, what are your thoughts?
I really enjoyed the series finale of Whiskey Cavalier last night. The ending was not believable though. HOW???
The live All in the Family and Jeffersons revival was lots of fun to watch live last night.
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Can't say why, but I got really bored about halfway through Blood & Treasure. I liked the stars and the premise, so maybe I was just tired.
What was not believable about Whiskey? Did I miss something?
The Norman Lear Live shows were an interesting experiment. However, I didn't laugh once. What may have been hilarious 40 years ago was just mildly amusing today.
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I feel exactly the way you do about Blood & Treasure. I was dozing off despite the action/adventure and big budget action set pieces.
I'll probably continue watching because pilots are usually too stuffed and overdone.
How did the bad guy on Whiskey survive the fall from the skyscraper?
I didn't laugh out loud with those comedies, but they were very amusing to watch. Wow, times have changed. Later episodes of The Jeffersons were funnier because by then Flo the maid had more funny lines about not wanting to clean and fighting with George. That All in the Family episode was a classic and led right into the spinoff pilot of The Jeffersons.
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I figured the guy had a parachute, but they just didn't show it.
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I have to admit it wasn't nearly as cringy as I thought it would be. The problem wasn't the material it's just that those actors from the seventies were perfect for those roles and its their performances that made these shows classics. The cast of the live shows did pretty decent but because they're not THOSE people it's not gonna have the same magic. But it was a nice tribute nonetheless and I have to say Jamie Foxx and Marla Gibbs carried the thing. Marla Gibbs still got that amazing hilarious delivery even at 90. But yeah, once is enough, ABC lol LEAVE IT ALONE
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I always laugh out loud with The Jeffersons and All in the family and that's rare for me because I don't laugh out loud with many comedies I enjoy. The most a lot of comedies will get is a mild chuckle or a hard chuckle but the shows that crack me up are All in the family, The Jeffersons, Frasier, Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, Amen, Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, The Wayans Bros, The Jamie Foxx Show, Martin, Living Single, Everybody Hates Chris and Good Times. Sometimes AITF has me dying of laughter maybe more then anyone else! lol
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I've never seen most of those shows. The only ones I saw during their original runs were Jeffersons, Golden Girls, and Chris. My favorite older comedy was Married With Children. I like raunchy humor! LOL
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Oh yeah, Married With Children cracks me up too LOL now there's a show that would be cancelled in minutes today
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I didn't see too much of The Jeffersons version, but the parts of AITF that I saw, I found Woody Harrelson's rendition of Archie's way of speaking kind of off-putting. "Little goil," "Hoibert Hoover," etc. Yes, that's how Carroll O'connor said those words, but coming from Harrelson I just found it too distracting.
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I thought Blood & Treasure was pretty good. Not perfect--had a few inconsistencies,--but entertaining. I assumed it was going to be like the horribly-titled Hooten & the Lady, with a new adventure every episode, but I guess it's an ongoing story arc in trying to catch the bad guy.
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