Acorn imports ‘The Nest’ from BBC
Acorn begins streaming “The Nest,” the Scottish psychological thriller that has become BBC One’s most popular drama of 2020. Martin Compston (“Line of Duty”) and Sophie Rundle (“Bodyguard”) star as a childless Glasgow couple desperate to start a family. Kaya (Mirren Mack, “Sex Education”) offers to be their surrogate, but her mysterious background and troubled look give them pause. Their collaboration gets off to a rocky start when a neighbor of Kaya’s is found dead.
Tales of surrogacy have long packed an emotional punch. There’s a reason they’ve fueled the plots of endless Lifetime movies. But their narrative hold is as old as history. If you don’t believe me, check out the Old Testament story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar.
Modern surrogacy tales often inject class distinctions into the mix. From the comedy “Juno” to the harrowing “Handmaid’s Tale” and now “The Nest,” they tend to accentuate the economic dependency of the surrogate and the culture clash the arrangement entails, adding more than a whiff of judgment about the couple’s wealthy, childless status.
Like many regional dramas imported from the U.K., this thriller, filled with full-throated Glaswegian accents, may inspire some American viewers to consult closed-captioning.
› A staple of the country music industry and Nashville tourism for decades now, the CMA Fest has become yet another victim of the COVID crisis. While the CMA website is counting down the hours to the 2021 festival, ABC presents “CMA Best of Fest” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG), a glance back at past events, reprising more than 25 performances from the previous 16 festivals. Look for archived performances from Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini and many others. Luke Bryan hosts.
› After meeting via an online app, two cultured 30-somethings embark on a gastronomic series of dates in the eight-episode series “Foodie Love,” available to stream via HBO’s on-demand GO service, as well as HBO Now and
Late night
› Norah O’Donnell and IDK are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS).
› Jimmy Fallon welcomes Charlize Theron and Little Big Town on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC).
› Andy Samberg and Jalen Rose visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
Cult choice
Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ann Miller star in the 1953 musical “Kiss Me Kate” (6 p.m., TCM, TV-G), an update of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” The film was originally released in Polarized 3-D, a short-lived fad intended to lure viewers back to the Bijou (and away from their TV sets). Critics cite this film as one of the better examples of the technique.
HBO Max.
Created for HBO Europe and shot in Spain, France, Italy and Japan, it stars Laia Costa and Argentinian actor and director Guillermo Pfening. Creator Isabel Coixet has directed 12 movies in her native Spain and is considered one of that country’s most prolific filmmakers.
› “Independent Lens” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) repeats the 2019 documentary “Cooked: Survival by ZIP Code.” Filmmaker Judith Helfand reflects on her own experience during Hurricane Sandy, an ordeal she could escape because her suburban
parents offered higher ground. This led her to examine the plight of poor people during natural disasters and how inequality impacts the death toll in economically depressed areas.
The film focuses on a heat wave that struck Chicago in 1995, a sweltering period that inconvenienced most people, but left more than 700 dead among the city’s most disadvantaged. Interest in the film has grown of late after studies revealing the death rates due to COVID19 show a remarkably similar pattern.