Worth Watching: Remembering ‘Woodstock,’ High Drama on ‘Pose,’ ‘100’ Finale, ‘Intervention’
A selective critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation (9/8c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): The music was only half of the story. In a terrific and ultimately uplifting American Experience documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the fabled folk-rock festival, vivid first-person accounts from the more than 400,000 counterculture pilgrims in the muddy but jubilant throng recall the chaos but also the freedom and fun. As a symbol of community, a fleeting moment of harmony in a discordant time, Woodstock is still music to our ears.
Pose (10/9c, FX): “This house is scandalous,” observes a dinner guest at the House of Evangelista, when hurt feelings and raw nerves spoil a celebration dinner for dance-school grad Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain). It’s high drama as mother Blanca’s (Mj Rodriguez) “children” turn on each other, exposing secrets that could change the dynamic of this scrappy family forever. Some relationships could be wrecked, while new bonds form. As part-time dominatrix Elektra (Dominique Jackson) knows all too well, “Life is pain.” And yet oh so delicious.
The 100 (9/8c, The CW): The clock is ticking for the grueling sci-fi thriller, which just announced that next year’s seventh season will be its last. Maybe just as well, as the core cast continues its tradition of shedding major characters. Still reeling from last week’s loss, The 100 sets up a cliffhanger as Sanctum becomes a battleground between the believers and those with good reason to doubt.
Expect another cliffhanger in the first-season finale of CBS’s globetrotting adventure series Blood & Treasure (10/9c). Danny (Matt Barr) and Lexi (Sofia Pernas) are in more danger than usual when Farouk (Oded Fehr) activates his master plan. But fear not. There will be resolution, because CBS has already renewed the summer lark for a second year.
Intervention (9/8c, A&E): The Emmy-winning docuseries devotes an entire six-episode season to stories of opioid addiction in Philadelphia’s “Heroin Hub” and surrounding neighborhoods ravaged by the drug epidemic. In the opener, the interventionists meet with addicts including 22-year-old Janine, whose father died of an overdose. Can the cycle be broken?
Inside Tuesday TV: In the last episode before the quarterfinals, Jay Leno is a guest judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent (8/7c), wielding the Golden Buzzer to send an act straight to the live shows… Shawn Hatosy directs an episode of TNT’s Animal Kingdom (9/8c) in which his character of Pope grows wary of J (Finn Cole) after Angela (Emily Deschanel) explains her disappearance… The “Comedy Clash” begins on NBC’s Bring the Funny (10/9c), with acts that survived the “Open Mic” round going head to head. Whoever the judges deem a winner will advance to the semi-final showcase… Discovery’s reality series Undercover Billionaire (10/9c) follows self-made mogul Glenn Stearns as he goes incognito into Erie, Pa., bringing just $100 to try to launch a million-dollar business without using his clout, contacts or bank account… Travel Channel’s Code of the Wild (10/9c) features brothers and wilderness buffs Chris and Casey Keefer as they investigate mysteries in exotic locales, starting with the Amazon jungle, where they seek El Dorado, the fabled lost City of Gold… Among the many reality shows returning this week: TLC’s The Little Couple (9/8c), Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County (9/8c), USA’s wrestling-themed Miz & Mrs. (10/9c) and Fuse’s T-Pain’s School of Business (11/10c).