What’s Worth Watching: ‘O.J.: Made in America’, ‘To Tell the Truth’, ‘Person of Interest’ and more for Tuesday, June 14
O.J.: Made in America (7/6c, ESPN): Ezra Edelman’s exhaustive and absolutely gripping account of O.J. Simpson’s rise and fall begins its run on ESPN, with a replay of the first segment (shown Saturday on ABC) followed by the second part (9/8c), which focuses on the phenomenon of “O.J. Inc.” After retiring from football, Simpson cashes in on his celebrity with prolific and profitable commercial endorsements as he becomes a Hollywood fixture, yearning to play Coalhouse Walker in the movie Ragtime, wedding Nicole Brown and settling into the ritzy enclave of Brentwood in his Rockingham estate, described as his Graceland, for what would become a violently turbulent marriage. His biography unfolds against an engrossing, enraging social history of a very different segment of Los Angeles, where unrest grows after a series of abuses by the Los Angeles Police Department.
To Tell the Truth (preview at 8/7c, time slot premiere at 10/9c, ABC): Anthony Anderson (black-ish) hosts this revival of the game-show classic, part of a new wave of prime-time game play on ABC, with the legendary Betty White—who appeared on the original version—joining a panel that includes Real Housewives personality NeNe Leakes and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose. The goal of the game is to decide which of three contestants is who he or she claims to be: Taylor Swift’s high-school sweetheart is one of the players. But which one? Anderson’s black-ish co-star Tracee Ellis Ross is the guest panelist in the premiere, and in the second episode, comedian Iliza Shlesinger plays along.
Person of Interest (10/9c, CBS): In the penultimate episode of this terrific series, Finch (Michael Emerson) has gone rogue in the wake of recent tragedy, embarking on a dangerous solo mission in which he infiltrates a high-security government facility, with Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Root (Sarah Shahi) hot on his trail.
Inside Tuesday TV: New on cable: TNT takes a big leap into rebranding as an edgier destination with the premiere of back-to-back episodes of Animal Kingdom (9/8c), a crime-family drama whose resemblance to Sons of Anarchy is anything but accidental. Ellen Barkin is sensational as the manipulative mama pulling her sons’ strings. … TBS spoofs Lost with the premiere of Wrecked (10/9c). … A very mixed bag of guests join NBC’s woefully uneven Maya & Marty (10/9c), as John Cena, Kevin Hart, Nick Jonas, Eva Longoria and Ben Stiller drop by for sketches and song.