‘Lost Resort’ reveals extreme behavior
TBS launches its newest reality series, or “social experiment,” tonight. “Lost Resort” (10 p.m., TBS, TV-14) follows nine strangers as they enroll in an extreme wellness center in Costa Rica. As you might expect, there’s a lot of extreme behavior as well. Don’t take my word for it; this is from the makers of “Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
So, expect a gaggle of relatively good-looking types who fill out bathing suits quite nicely. The heat and the quasi-religious blend of sadism, inspiration and “orgasmic” stimulation push many to their breaking point. And of course, there will be mutual attractions and plenty of spats.
One attendee wonders why she thought it was a good idea to enroll at the spa along with her mother. And we have to wonder as well. One angry participant sums up things quite nicely when she shouts, “Y’alls just dumb and young, and you don’t get it.” Indeed.
While it would be easy to blame the excesses of
“spiritual healing” and “extreme wellness” on the hucksterism of Gwyneth Paltrow and her GOOP franchise, Americans have been falling for similar charlatans for centuries. Humorist T.C. Boyle set his brilliant 1993 novel “The Road to Wellville” in a Battle Creek, Michigan, turnof-the-20th-century health retreat. The film was badly adapted for the screen in 1994, starring Matthew Broderick and Anthony Hopkins.
› If the human behavior on display on “Lost Resort” is not to your liking, then you might enjoy “The Dog House: UK,” an eight-episode feel-good series streaming on HBO Max. Set in the bucolic British countryside, “House” follows the staff of a rescue clinic famed for matching canines in need of a “forever home” with people who have emotional backstories of their own. So, every installment includes rather sad tales of animal abandonment, human loss and a third act replete with hugs and licked faces. Formulaic? Sure. But you’d have to be a beast not to shed a tear or two.
Also streaming today on HBO Max, the cartoon “Tig n’ Seek” follows a wideeyed hyperactive youth and his independent cat, “Seek.”
› “Tacoma FD” (10:30
p.m., TruTV, TV-MA) resumes its second season after being on hiatus since April.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› “Celebrity Watch Party” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) wraps up its summer season.
› The short game looms large on “Holey Moley” (8 p.m., ABC, repeat, TV-PG).
› Time in the mud pit on “Killer Camp” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).