WNBA’S Diggins celebrates girls basketball
Nicktoons devotes the weekend to “Little Ballers Indiana” (9 p.m., TV-PG). This three-part documentary series airs tonight through Sunday and follows young players out to prove that they are the best basketball players in the country.
Produced by WNBA All Star Skylar Diggins, “Ballers” is set in Diggins’ hometown of South Bend and follows six 11and 12-year-old girls who meet as teammates and quickly form a sisterhood over the course of a season in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
The girls are coached by Moe Scott, who happens to be Diggins’ stepdad. He teaches them that the lessons on the court transcend the score and include getting an education, team building, conquering physical challenges, improving self-esteem and proving that girls are just as good at basketball as boys.
MEGA-MINISTRY
Beginning today, viewers can stream season one of “Greenleaf” on Netflix. The OWN series follows the multigenerational conflicts within a family that controls a sprawling megachurch empire in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sparks fly when estranged daughter and lapsed preacher Grace “Gigi” Greenleaf (Merle Dandridge, “The Night Shift”) returns to look into the death of her younger sister. Her renewed contacts with parents Bishop James Greenleaf (Keith David, “Community”) and Lady Mae Greenleaf (Emmy-winner Lynn Whitfield, “The Josephine Baker Story”) reveal the tensions within their Calvary Fellowship World Ministries and the sordid private lives behind the public piety.
“Greenleaf ” returns to OWN for a second season on March 15.
SPY HUMOR
Among the new series streaming on Amazon Prime, “Patriot” stars Michael Dorman as a different kind of spy in a whimsical take on the cloak-and-dagger genre. Like most Amazon series, the pilot for “Patriot” has been streaming for some time and the entire series debuted last week.
Dorman stars as John Tavner, an undercover agent assigned to keep Iran from developing a deliverable nuclear weapon by influencing the outcome of that nation’s election.
His father, Tom (Terry O’Quinn), also a secret agent, thinks he’s the right guy for the job, even though John has been showing signs of cracking and singing about his spy life in folk songs he performs on the street.
Michael Chernus stars as John’s brother, Ed. Beefy and goofy, he appears to be the less gifted of the two men. He’s also a United States congressman. “Patriot” may appeal to fans of “Homeland” who fear that the Showtime series is a tad lacking in humor. The notion of a killer spy as a sensitive singer-songwriter has probably not been given its due.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS
› A man insists his friend was turned into a tree on “Grimm” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14). › A vintage scheme on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› Dorothy confronts the Wizard on the season finale of “Emerald City” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› Teens (including a young Tom Cruise) on their way to Tijuana in search of hijinks, pick up an older woman (Shelley Long) seeking a quickie divorce in the poorly received 1982 comedy “Losin’ It” (8 p.m., This TV), released shortly before “Risky Business” turned Cruise into a major star.
› Cleve, Roma and Ken take their respective fights into the 21st century on part four of “When We Rise” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
› A kidnapping victim refuses to press charges on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› A corkscrew does the trick on “MacGyver” (8 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› A trip to New York on “Rosewood” (8 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14).
› A quickie ceremony for Damon on “The Vampire Diaries” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
› A British spy holds vital intelligence on “Hawaii Five-0” (9 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› A monster resembles a childhood fantasy on “Sleepy Hollow” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› Matters of trust on “Reign” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14). › “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC). Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com. Guy Pearce plays Cleve Jones in “When We Rise,” tonight at 9 on ABC.