Worth Watching: ‘Design at Your Door,’ Finales of ‘Man With a Plan’ and ‘Love Life,’ ABC Says ‘Don’t’
A selective critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:
Design at Your Door (9/8c, HGTV): In the latest sign of our stay-inside times, HGTV inaugurates a new series in which the channel’s high-profile stars help families sheltering in place improve their shelters — via video chat. (House calls aren’t possible right now.) Adding to the fun: The homeowners doing it themselves, and filming themselves along the way, will find deliveries on their doorstep providing them with the supplies they need to execute the experts’ vision: paint, wallpaper, up to headboards and sofas. In the opener, My Lottery Dream Home‘s David Bromstad (also remembered as the first winner of HGTV Design Star) remotely helps a couple from Austin make over a bedroom shared by their young sons. HGTV personalities in future episodes include Windy City Rehab‘s Alison Victoria, Bargain Mansions’ Tamara Day and from last year’s hit series, Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb of A Very Brady Renovation.
On a similar note, paranormal-obsessed Travel Channel presents Ghost Adventures: Quarantine (9/8c), a four-part series in which Zak Bagans and his team (minus crew) self-isolate in Zak’s Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, to see if the free-floating fear of these pandemic times will feed the lurking spirits. As a highlight of their quarantine period, Zak decides to open the Dybbuk Box for the first time, said to contain evil entities.
Man With a Plan (8:30/7:30c, CBS): The domestic sitcom is in a celebratory mood as its fourth season ends, belying the reality that it’s the end of the road for Man on CBS, which canceled the series this spring. In the finale, Adam (Matt LeBlanc) hopes to make his and Andi’s (Liza Snyder) 20th anniversary special with a gift that recreates their honeymoon. Things rarely go according to plan on this show, so expect complications. (While I’m aware of no movement on this front, a number of disappointed fans have suggested that Fox should pick this up to pair with Last Man Standing, another sitcom rescued after cancellation which would be a perfect fit. Fox, are you listening?)
Love Life (streaming on HBO Max): The new streaming service moved up the timetable on its first major scripted original, with the last four episodes of the Anna Kendrick rom-com now available for binge-watching. This final block of episodes follows Darby (Kendrick) as she returns to single life after her last toxic relationship, with the focus momentarily turning to her neurotic mother (Hope Davis), then her self-destructive BFF Sara (Zoë Chao), before a lost love from her past re-enters the scene. There will be a wedding before it’s all over, but don’t make any assumptions in a show where it’s all about the curveballs that fate and romance have in store for its plucky, charming heroine.
Don’t (9/8c, ABC): The latest addition to ABC’s “Fun and Games” lineup comes from executive producer Ryan Reynolds, with Parks and Recreation‘s Adam Scott hosting the physical-comedy shenanigans as contestants build their bank toward a $100,000 prize by taking on challenges like “Don’t Drink” while eating spicy foods. If they fail a task, silly consequences await. But they can also tempt the game-show gods by pushing a “Don’t Push” button or accepting a “Don’t You Dare, You” dare. ABC hopes viewers won’t decide they just don’t care.
Inside Thursday TV: Fore! The PGA Tour finally resumes, with the Charles Schwab Challenge (4 pm/3c, Golf Channel) drawing pros like Rory McIlroy, but no spectators, to the Fort Worth, Texas Colonial Country Club. Weekend play will be shown on CBS… NBC’s Council of Dads (8/7c) could be down one member should Anthony (Clive Standen) take a job offer that would move him to Las Vegas… Freeform’s The Bold Type (10/9c) picks up the remainder of its fourth season three months after Jane’s (Katie Stevens) surgery, when she returns to Scarlet with new editorial duties while Sutton (Meghann Fahy) tackles her first photo shoot as a stylist… History’s hit survival series Alone (10/9c) is back for a seventh season, with its biggest challenge yet: Make it through 100 days in the Arctic on your own to win $1 million. No one has ever lasted that long, but isn’t there a first time for everything?… If you missed it last summer, or even if you watched, the second season of FX’s Pose is now streaming on Netflix. The category is: dramatically over-the-top fabulousness.
