Who would have guessed that a year-old British import plucked by CW to fill pandemic-caused holes in its schedule would suddenly emerge as best broadcast prime time comedy? “Dead Pixels” (CW, 8 p.m.) sounds like it’s just another youth-oriented series tied somehow to gaming. But it’s created and written by Joe Brown of “Succession” and “Veep” and is full of sharp jokes and snipes among a trio of gamers who communicate largely through computer screens (though the pandemic hasn’t hit yet).
Alexa Davies is funny as the wise-cracking lead; her team includes Will Merrick and Sargon Yelda, as a token American and terrible father. One thing we learn quite quickly is how much more saucy UK dialog is (so much so that whole sentences sometime seem to be bleeped). As funny as the first episode is, drawing in an inexperienced gamer, the second is even better as they decry the injustice of Vince Vaughn cast in the movie version of their beloved game.
Dr. Jill Biden will have her work cut out for her to equal Monday’s keynote by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention (PBS, 8 p.m.; CNN, MSNBC, CSPAN, 9 p.m.; ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, 10 p.m.). Tonight’s program also includes appearances by Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, Sally Yates and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as a coterie of rising Democratic stars. What we learned from the fist night was that only CSPAN showed ever moment without interruption; CNN and MSNBC runs most of the proceedings uninterrupted but of the networks CBS for one was happy to cut into it for more bland commentary.
Elsewhere, the psychological appeal of cults, hate groups and secret societies is explored on “America’s Book of Secrets: Special Edition” (History, 9 p.m.).
The four-part Canadian true crime documentary “The Suspect” (Sundance Now, streaming) chronicles the brutal 2011 death of a Moosehead brewing exec in New Brunswick whose biggest suspect was his son.
On the special “Undercover Billionaire: Return to Erie” (Discovery, 9 p.m.), Glenn Sterns returns to a town where he built a BBQ restaurant as part of the original series “Undercover Billionaire” to see how it’s doing.
A whole new set of entrepreneurs leave their businesses for new ventures on the series that debuts after, “I Quit” (Discovery, 10 p.m.).