Angry, funny ‘Dietland’ on AMC
Can a show be subversive and funny too? “Dietland” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-14) is an adaptation of Sarai Walker’s 2015 novel, a strange, darkly comedic odyssey from self-loathing to rebellion and self-discovery.
Joy Nash (“The Mindy Project”) stars as lead Plum Kettle, an overweight and thoroughly miserable woman obsessed with eating, not eating, attending weight-focused group therapy and anticipating her gastric bypass surgery. Her life and the first 15 minutes of “Dietland” are rather dreary.
Curiously, Plum’s one true talent and only joy is baking, a gift she learned from her grandmother and now shares with her best friend, Steven, the proprietor of a coffee shop that’s one of the only places she goes when not working from home or fretting about food. To earn a meager living, Plum writes a column in a teen-centric glamour magazine for Kitty (Julianna Margulies), the vain publisher who’s too busy (or perhaps illiterate and thoughtless) to write for herself.
Not to give too much away, but Plum’s work with Kitty gets her drawn into a vague underground rebellion (that may or may not involve real witches) against a culture that oppresses women by making them feel inadequate in order to sell them pills, potions, cosmetics, diet books and aggressively banal magazines.
Another jump down the rabbit hole reveals an ongoing “war,” covered vaguely on television, that turns out to be a deliberate campaign of vigilante violence against male sexual predators.
“Dietland” gets stranger with every unexpected turn, grounded by Nash’s sympathetic deadpan performance. This is the latest series, after “Mr. Robot” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” to channel rage against a consumer culture that turns people into their own worst enemies. As such, “Dietland” is doubly timely, tapping into #MeToo sensibilities as well as the revolt against Facebook and other social-media outlets that sell their own users as mere product.
This series is “The Devil Wears Prada” turned on its head. “Prada” featured a pretty young thing (Anne Hathaway) who just couldn’t wait to imitate and emulate her tyrannical boss (Meryl Streep) and embrace the beauty racket she represented. In “Dietland,” Plum has no illusions about her boss and soon learns that she will never be free until she learns to turn the loathing that is literally eating her alive toward her real tormentors.
The darkness of this series reminded me a bit of “UnREAL,” Lifetime’s caustic send-up of reality dating shows. That’s because both shows are produced by Marti Noxon, best known for her work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
RUSSION INTRIGUE
A week following the finale of “The Americans,” A&E airs two documentaries about Russian espionage, “The Plot Against America” (8 p.m., TV-14) and “The Spy Who Raised Me” (10 p.m., TV-14).
‘FOSTERS’ FINALE
The Adamses reunite as “The Fosters” (8 p.m., Freeform, TV-14) begins a three-night miniseries event, concluding with the series finale Wednesday night.
RFK REMEMBERED
Kerry, Kathleen and Robert Kennedy Jr. recall their father on the 50th anniversary of his murder on “RFK: The Kennedy Family Remembers” (10:05 p.m., History, TV-PG).
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› The Washington Capitals host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final (8 p.m., NBC).
› Stephen “tWitch” Boss joins the judges as “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) enters its 15th season.
› Fred Willard offers color commentary as the bachelors show off their athletic prowess in a dodgeball tournament on “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› A roller coaster malfunctions on “9-1-1” (9 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14).
› A Japanese mob hit has atomic overtones on “Elementary” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
› A homeless woman shares insights on “The Crossing” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› Kara wants a change on “Supergirl” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
› Life is a chore on “Man With a Plan” (8:30 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-PG).
› Two new episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (9 and 9:30 p.m., CW, TV-14).
› Leslie balks at submission on “Living Biblically” (9:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin. tvguy@gmail.com.