Category Archives: What’s On TV

Jean Smart is turning in a pretty deft performance on “Mare of Easttown,” but has an even juicier role in the new series “Hacks” (HBO Max, streaming), playing a snarling Vegas comedian whose act is getting stale. Enter young comic (Hannah Einbinder), reluctantly hired as a joke writer. They’re at odds generationally and comedically in […]

Wanda Sykes and Michael Epps star in a new sitcom about a working-class family in Indianapolis. Kim Fields and Gabrielle Dennis also star in “The Upshaws” (Netflix, streaming). “The Hills: New Beginnings” (MTV, 9 p.m.) has another new beginnings, with much of the classic cast, including Audrina Patridge, Kristin Cavallari, Brody Jenner, Justin Bobby, Whitney […]

Credit card scams and the student loan crises are among the topics on the new series “Money, Explained” (Netflix, streaming), co-produced with Vox, with narration provided by people like Edie Falco, Tiffany Haddish, Bobby Cannavale, Marcia Gaye Hardin and Jane Lynch.  A new four-episode series “Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer” (PBS, 8 […]

Alex Gibney’s unblinking look at the opioid crisis, “The Crime of the Century” (HBO, 9 p.m.), covers some ground we’ve heard before — how pharmaceuticals were relentlessly pushed by their manufacturers, causing hundreds of thousands of heroin addicts and deaths. But he both steps back to examine the very notion that any pain is bad […]

A 50-year-old album that’s still a timely soundtrack for current struggles is examined by Don Lemon on a special, “What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye’s Anthem for the Ages” (CNN, 8 p.m.). The host of the new comedy show “Ziwe” (Showtime, 11 p.m.) is pretty happy with herself; she repeats her name about 20 times in […]

If science couldn’t do it, I’m not sure a concert will convince those hesitant to take the vaccine. But here’s “VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World” (ABC, CBS, YouTube, 8 p.m.; Fox, 9 p.m.). Selena Gomez hosts Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and H.E.R., performing from SoFi Stadium in Los […]

The funny ensemble comedy “Mythic Quest” (Apple TV+, streaming) returns for a second season with Charlotte Nicdao’s Poppy now promoted to co-creative director and trying to find a spot alongside Rob McElhenney’s boss Ian.  Aidy Bryant returns for the third and final season of “Shrill” (Hulu, streaming), as she finds her way through some bad […]

The writer of “Unbreakable Jimmy Schmidt” Meredith Scardino comes up with another fun, fast and bubbly series about a 90s girl groups that attempts a comeback in “Girls5Eva” (Peacock, streaming). It’s quite a cast, with songwriter turned Broadway star Sara Bareilles, the funny Busy Philipps, the even funnier Paula Pell and “Hamilton” star Renée Elise […]

In the new series “Human: The World Within” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) looks at biological stories from around the world to illustrate birth, in the first hour, and the heart and circulatory system in the second.  A journalist convinced that New York killer Son of Sam did not work alone in the late […]

“Frontline” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings) gets a glimpse into one of the world’s most repressive regimes with the undercover report “Escaping Eritrea,” the result of a five-year investigation.   Because of May the Fourth and all that, there’s a new “Star Wars” product, an animated spin-off of “The Clone Wars” called “Star Wars: […]