Everything but the kitchen sink
Neil Patrick Harris launches comedy-variety show with a twist
The TV universe is constantly expanding, and new channels and shows vie for attention just as much as old favourites. Here are the best bets on the box.
Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris
Now that he’s hosted virtually every major entertainment award show there is, the Emmy and Tony Award-winning How I Met Your Mother veteran launches a comedy-variety showcase on his own terms. The live program is based on a series in England by the duo Ant & Dec, but expect Harris to put his own stamp on it as he combines everything from skits and musical numbers to stunts and giveaways. (NBC)
The Bastard Executioner
In the long-running Sons of Anarchy, series creator Karl Sutter took Shakespeare’s Hamlet and transposed its basic story to contemporary America. In this new series, however, Sutter takes viewers back to 14th-century Wales for this original saga of Wilkin Brattle (newcomer Lee Jones), a former warrior knight struggling in vain to find some peace.
In the two-hour pilot, Brattle’s vicious past forces him to pick up the bloodiest sword of all. Other series regulars include Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and Darren Evans (Galavant). (FX Canada)
Geeks Who Drink
Harold Perrineau is something of a superstar with sci-fi and fantasy fans via his highprofile work in Lost and the shorter-lived Constantine, but how will he fare in a round of bar games and challenges designed to test his trivia knowledge? This new episode pits the actor and his team, Les Quizerables, against comedy star Zachary Knighton (Happy Endings), and his own crew, Smartinis. Zachary Levi hosts. (Space)
Movie: Agatha
Agatha Christie penned some of the most ingenious mysteries ever written, but this clever 1979 dramatic thriller from Michael Apted focuses on the author’s mysterious real-life 12-day disappearance in 1926. Her whereabouts during that time are still unknown, but screenwriters Kathleen Tynan and Arthur Hopcraft speculate Christie (played by Vanessa Redgrave), may have been plotting revenge against an unfaithful spouse (Timothy Dalton). Dustin Hoffman also stars. (TCM)
Face Off
As the field of competitors continues to shrink, the skills of the nine remaining artists are tested to their limits in a gruelling set of three increasingly difficult challenges that take place in a new episode called, fittingly enough, The Gauntlet.
The award-winning reality competition, which tests the skills of industry makeup artists, is just over halfway through its ninth season. (Space)
Zoo
Especially since this is the season finale, it’s make-or-break time for Jackson (James Wolk), and his comrades as they make one last stab at resolving the global uprising by the animal kingdom, in the new episode That Great Big Hill of Hope. Just when they think they might be making progress, they hit a hurdle that may keep them from achieving their objective — and could leave mankind in peril. Kristen Connolly, Billy Burke and Nonso Anozie also star. (CBS, CTV)