Worth Watching: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Returns, a ‘Terror’ Revealed, Lilly Singh in Late Night

Matt Roush
24 Comments
HANNAH BROWN, LAMAR ODOM, SEAN SPICER, MARY WILSON, ALLY BROOKE, RAY LEWIS, KARAMO, KATE FLANNERY, JAMES VAN DER BEEK, LAUREN ALAINA, KEL MITCHELL, CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
ABC/Justin Stephens

A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:

Dancing with the Stars (8/7c, ABC): Learn which celebrities will be dancing with which pros when the 28th season kicks off with teams performing the cha cha, foxtrot, salsa and tango. The diverse cast includes a supermodel (Christie Brinkley), athletes (Super Bowl MVP Ray Lewis, NBA champ Lamar Odom), a Supreme (Mary Wilson), a country crooner (Lauren Alaina) and a pop star (Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brooke), a Dawson (James Van Der Beek), a Queer Eye favorite (Karamo Brown), two comic actors (The Office lush Kate Flannery and All That alum Kel Mithchell), a polarizing figure from the world of politics (former White House press secretary Sean Spicer) and, inevitably, a Bachelorette (Hannah Brown). Viewers won’t be able to cast votes until next Monday, so sit back to see who falls flat on the dance floor and who shows promise.

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Dance fans can also check out which of the final four will be named America’s Favorite Dancers, as Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (8/7c) wraps its season with a two-hour live finale.

The Terror: Infamy (9/8c, AMC): Any self-respecting ghost has a reason for their haunting, so what’s the story with the yurei, or restless spirit, known as Yuko (Kiki Sukezane)? She’s so hauntingly beautiful except when she’s wreaking unholy havoc, revealing the ghoul beneath the geisha. Now that we’re halfway through the season of this period chiller about Japanese-Americans interned in camps during WWII and terrorized by supernatural forces from the old country, we finally learn why Yuko is so obsessed with possessing her victims, and what it has to do with Chester (Derek Mio). The young hero has has just returned from the Pacific war with a medical discharge, only to be greeted by sorrow and mystery. Yuko’s surreal history is one of abandonment and trauma, and the question remains whether she can be set free and truly exorcised.

A Little Late with Lilly Singh (1:35 am/12:35c, NBC): Even if you can’t stay up super late to catch the premiere of NBC’s latest late-night personality (taking over the late-late slot from Carson Daly), you can see the YouTube star on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers as the established hosts welcome their new neighbor, who’s bringing diversity to the format as a South Asian woman. Otherwise, A Little Late appears to be hitting the late-night sweet spot as a half-hour showcase for celebrity interviews and comedy sketches.

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Inside Monday TV: Joining the crowded daytime talk arena, The Mel Robbins Show (check local listings) brings the motivational speaker’s brand of self-improvement uplift into viewers’ homes, starting with a demonstration of her signature mantra “The 5 Second Rule.” … Streaming on Acorn TV: the topical six-part Irish crime drama Taken Down, starring Lynn Rafferty as a Dublin detective who, while investigating the murder of a Nigerian refugee, uncovers a sex-trafficking plot involving a center for asylum seekers. Finalists attempt to climb Mt. Midoriyama in 30 seconds or less to win a $1 million prize in the season finale of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior (8/7c)… As HBO’s The Deuce continues its final season, now set in the mid-1980s, Frankie (James Franco) clashes with gangster Rudy (Michael Rispoli) while trying to take his amateur porn business to the next level… For something more wholesome, HGTV’s A Very Brady Renovation (9/8c) moves on with its real-to-fake-home makeover by recreating Mike Brady’s den, as Barry Williams (Greg) relives old times when he teams with Jasmine Roth to fashion the room out of three spaces on the ground floor. Upstairs in the new addition, Susan Olsen (Cindy) and Mike Lookinland (Bobby) help Good Bones’ Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine with the kids’ bedrooms and the shared bathroom (which never had a toilet on the soundstage). The crowdsourcing search is on for Cindy’s Kitty Karry-All doll and the stuffed giraffe from the girls’ room.

A Little Late With Lilly SinghDancing With the StarsSo You Think You Can DanceThe Terror (2018)



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  1. G

    GoldSubmarine

    Any DWTS fans out there? Just read Christie Brinkley was injured and her equally gorgeous daughter will replace her.

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I haven't seen it in years. I wonder what she did to sustain such serious injuries!

    2. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Even younger contestants sustained injuries bad enough to drop out. I'll probably check out the first episode tonight just out of sheer curiosity.

  2. G

    GoldSubmarine

    ABC is rerunning Grand Hotel tonight. That probably increases the odds for a renewal. Why would they want to promote a canceled show. They could have easily scheduled a game show rerun or a Fall Sneak Preview again.

  3. R

    RedCupcake

    Funny how daytime TV keeps giving talk shows to people I've never heard of before. And cable networks keep giving reality TV shows to people who have no reason to be famous.

    Anyway, tonight I may watch repeats of one of the best sci-fi shows out there: the Stargate franchise.

    1. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Although I barely watch reality shows , there is a huge market for that genre and some of those "stars" become very famous.

    2. C

      CyanCoathanger

      There have always been people who were famous for being famous and nothing more! Look at the Gabor sisters (prior to Green Acres)!

    3. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes but in the last century it was much less common. Now days with Survivor, Bachelor , Housewives..... there are infinitely more celebrities that became famous from being on reality shows.

    4. R

      RedCupcake

      Yes, but as Don suggests, the people BECOME "famous" (notice air quotes) AFTER they have a reality show. After all, how many people were familiar with the Robertson family before they were featured on a show? (Duck Dynasty)

    5. C

      CyanCandy

      I agree with you about "Stargate", but my favorite Sci-fi show is "Babylon 5", have you seen it?

    6. C

      CyanCoathanger

      But reality shows as we now know them only really started in the 1980s or thereabouts. Before that people were more likely to be recognized from newspapers and magazines which just don't have the same impact.

    7. G

      GoldSubmarine

      The first reality show that springs to mind is MTV''s Real World (circa late 80s).

      I guess CBS's Big Brother was partially inspired by that show.

    8. R

      RedCupcake

      I know B-5 was popular, but I never watched it. During the period that show was on I watched very little TV.

      1

    9. C

      CyanCoathanger

      There were a couple of reality shows before Real World, but it was the first really popular one. It had to have some influence on Big Brother although it was completely unstructured at first.

    10. G

      GoldSubmarine

      PBS had one in the early 70's called An American Family back in the early 70's. This is considered the very first.

    11. C

      CyanCoathanger

      Yeah, I was thinking of that, but I didn't see it and couldn't remember its name. I don't think many people saw it because you seldom hear it mentioned.

  4. C

    CyanCoathanger

    The Terror and Lodge 49 should do it for me tonight!

    1. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Is The Terror really scary yet? I'm reading that CBS's The Evil is scary as hell (TV GUIDE). Also FOX's Prodigal Son.

      I'm definitely giving those a shot.

      Two Sentence Horror Stories doesn't scare me nearly enough.

    2. C

      CyanCandy

      I think it has scary moments and a much better story than the terrible first season. Being scared is very subjective. People said that "It" was a very scary movie, I thought it was meh.

      I miss "The Exorcist" TV series, that was scary.

    3. C

      CyanCandy

      I almost didn't watch this season of "Lodge 49", I thought the first season wasn't that good, but this season is much better, funnier and the quirkiness is somehow more engaging, besides it takes place in the city I was born, Long Beach, CA.

    4. C

      CyanCoathanger

      And Gerry feels exactly the opposite. A week or two ago, he posted that he wasn't enjoying this season as much as he did last season. I like them both.

      1

    5. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I'm finding it eerie and atmospheric but not outright scary...yet. It has very good acting and production values which make it worthwhile to me.

      1

    6. R

      RedQuill

      Yea...for me...I'm finding Season #2 of Lodge 49 to be somewhat mundane...fear it will get lost in the shuffle once the onslaught of Fall shows begins...

    7. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Agreed, I didn't enjoy the first season of The Terror . But the first two and only seasons of The Exorcist were very scary.

      1