Banderas becomes Picasso in ‘Genius’
Some words are so overused and misused, they set my teeth on edge. “Surreal” tops my list. It seems everything out of the ordinary is now likened to an early-20th-century art movement. Particularly in sports commentary. As in, “The Jets’ fourth-quarter comeback was ‘surreal!’” Sorry, unless the fullback ran through a field of melting clocks in a Dali painting, their comeback was merely unexpected.
Sadly, “hero” is so overemployed that its meaning has been diluted. I could go the rest of my life without hearing someone compared to an “angel,” whatever that means.
Add “genius” to the list. It’s so overused, it has become an adjective. As in, “That YouTube life hack is genius!” But what is a genius? And how do you demonstrate that quality in a person? Even a wellknown personality?
That is the promise and problem of “Genius” (9 p.m., National Geographic, TV-14), a 10-part miniseries profile of painter Pablo Picasso.
This is the second season of “Genius”; the first starred Geoffrey Rush as Alfred Einstein. Like that portrait, “Picasso” bounces back and forth in time. We meet the painter (Antonio Banderas) well into middle age, struggling to complete a mural that will capture his outrage at Fascist atrocities during the Spanish Civil War. We also encounter a young Pablo as a newborn, a child and a precocious student who masters and then transcends the parameters of traditional painting.
The writers assume that many are unfamiliar with European history from this era. Unfortunately, this means that dialogue must carry a rather heavy didactic load.
Listening to Picasso’s mistress (of the moment) hectoring him on the reasons he must finish “Guernica” (the mural mentioned above) may be necessary to the story, but it still sounds rather stilted.
At the same time, history and art buffs should pounce on this handsome, expensive, ambitious production.
My screener included the rather amusing (or pathetic) warning that “Genius” displayed artworks that may include nudes. There were no caveats about the scenes of children being machinegunned by Franco’s friends in the German Luftwaffe. Or about all those cigarettes!
Nobody said that meeting a “genius” would be painless.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› “Civilizations” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG) surveys the history of the human form in art.
› Clarke feels earthbound on the fifth-season premiere of “The 100” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14).
› Gwen steps out on “Rise” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› A sick boy’s parents are more trouble than the patient on “Chicago Med” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› Time to make a kidnapper disappear on “Deception” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
› “Frontline” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG) examines the exploitation and forced labor of Guatemalan teens in Ohio.
› David faces obstacles on “Legion” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
› On two helpings of “NCIS” (CBS, repeat, TV-PG), poisoned care packages (8 p.m.), vintage wheels (9 p.m.).
› “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
› A home invasion turns into homicide on “Lethal Weapon” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› On four episodes of “Roseanne” (ABC, repeat, TV-PG), Darlene returns (8 p.m.), guess who’s coming to dinner (8:30 p.m.), a puppy denied (9 p.m.), David returns (9:30 p.m.).
› A chill in the air on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
› Cashing in the chips on “LA to Vegas” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› Jess coaches Ruth on “New Girl” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).