Worth Watching: A ‘black-ish’ Wedding, Mickey Mouse’s Birthday, ‘No Man’s Land,’ Double Dose of ‘Race,’ ‘For Life’ Returns
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
black-ish (9:30/8:30c, ABC): Look who’s coming to Pops’ (Laurence Fishburne) and Ruby’s (Jenifer Lewis) second wedding: Danny Glover! As Pops’ older brother Norman, he’s the first wave of an extended-family invasion that unsettles the host, Dre (Anthony Anderson), until he realizes how the ceremony could give him a taste of his history. Ruby, naturally, goes all bride-zilla on Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross), while the romance of it all begins to make Junior (Marcus Scribner) look at Olivia (Katlyn Nichol) in a new way. All things considered, a Very Special Episode.
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse (streaming on Disney+): On his birthday — looking pretty good for a 92-year-old cartoon character — the mouse that helped build a Magic Kingdom headlines a new series of animated shorts (episodes will premiere on Fridays starting next week), featuring many of his classic pals: Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto. In the premiere, “Supermarket Scramble” finds Mickey & Co. in a shopping frenzy as they prepare for a barbecue, then in “Cheesewranglers,” Mickey clashes with Peg-Leg Pete as he moves a prize herd across the Big Thunder Valley.
No Man’s Land (streaming on Hulu): This eight-part international thriller, perfect for binge-watching, is set against the Syrian civil war, into which a Parisian named Antoine (Felix Moati) plunges in search of his missing sister. Soon, he falls in with a fierce female militia of Kurdish fighters, who are intent on taking down the Islamic State. Filmed in Morocco and Belgium with actors from 16 countries, No Man’s Land is a harrowing landscape of spies, anarchists and terrorists.
The Amazing Race (8/7c, CBS): Armchair travelers get a double dose of the around-the-world competition in back-to-back episodes. Next stop: Berlin, where teams need to conquer any fear of heights when walking face-first down a 200-foot building. Then it’s on to the frigid region of Kazakhstan, where challenges include a choreographed fight scene and a yurt in need of decoration.
For Life (10/9c, ABC): After nine years of arguing for a retrial of his own case, self-taught jailhouse lawyer Aaron Wallace (Nicholas Pinnock) could finally be tasting freedom in the second season of the impassioned legal drama. But there are still hurdles ahead in Wallace’s clash with corrupt state attorney general Maskins (Boris McGiver) before he can start focusing his legal expertise to help others and expose the institutional failings of the penal and legal systems.
Inside Wednesday TV: From the world of virtual sports events: ESPN presents the 2020 NBA Draft (8/7c) from the network’s Connecticut campus, featuring remote interviews with top draftees, while NBCSN televises the 2020 NASCAR Awards (8/7c), including a tribute to seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson… ABC’s The Conners (9/8c) celebrates the first birthday of Beverly Rose, but her parents, Becky (Lecy Goranson) and Emilio (Rene Rosado), disagree on how to throw the party… Since we may never see a third season of Mindhunter on Netflix, the HBO documentary Crazy, Not Insane (9/8c) could help feed the public fascination into the minds of serial killers. Prolific director Alex Gibney profiles psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, who has spent much of her career studying the psyche of killers. The documentary includes excerpts from an audiotape of an interview Dr. Lewis conducted with Ted Bundy shortly before his execution… BET’s Smoke: Marijuana + Black America (10/9c), from executive producer Nasir “Nas” Jones, explores the impact of the weed, now legalized in 15 states, on Black society, including efforts to bring restorative justice to those who were jailed or sentenced with felony convictions for selling or using marijuana… To end on a festive note, Netflix spreads cheer in Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas, a four-episode blast of inventive decoration from interior designer Benjamin Bradley, who transforms homes and neighborhoods of deserving families and communities into seasonal winter wonderlands.
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