TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
8PM _ The Masked Singer Four familiar (and unmasked) faces — Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy and Robin Thicke — return to the panel as this hit reality competition series launches Season 5. For now, though, there’s a new host for the show: Niecy Nash stands in as a guest host for an undetermined number of episodes, filling in for Nick Cannon, who tested positive for COVID-19 just before production on Season 5 started. He’ll be back if and when his health permits.
8PM G Riverdale Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Archie
(KJ Apa) starts a recruiting drive for the town’s new volunteer fire department in the new episode “Chapter Eighty-Three: Fire in the Sky.” Meanwhile, when Toni (Vanessa Morgan) tries to lure Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) out of Thornhill and back into daily life, her efforts only raise the tension between the two women. Elsewhere, Hiram (Mark Consuelos) clashes with Betty, Alice and Kevin (Lili Reinhart, Madchen Amick, Casey Cott) over the direction of their latest investigation.
9PM G Nancy Drew Several young girls approach Nancy (Kennedy McMann) seeking her help to find a volleyball teammate who they claim was kidnapped by a specter in the new episode “The Legend of the Murder Hotel.” Meanwhile, Ace (Alex Saxon) and Amanda (guest star Aadila Dosani) share a meaningful moment. Scott Wolf, Leah Lewis, Maddison Jaizani, Tunji Kasim and Riley Smith also star.
9:02 PM _ Game of Talents Adapted from a successful South Korean TV format, Fox’s latest game show venture arrives with a somewhat inscrutable title, but it starts to make sense once the premise is revealed. Wayne Brady plays host to two teams of contestants who compete to see which is more successful at guessing the hidden talents of an array of mystery performers. And on this show, the “talents” can be anything from singing to spider-wrangling or firedancing. Coincidentally, Brady previously was the Season 2 winner of his show’s time slot neighbor, “The Masked Singer.”
10 PM (FREE) Good Trouble The Fosters and the Hunters get together for a Dutch-themed goingaway party for Brandon and Eliza (David Lambert, Monica Nickel) in the new episode “Klompendansen.” Meanwhile, Callie (Maia Mitchell) has an awkward encounter with Jamie (Beau Mirchoff).
Just over a year ago, Chile’s billionaire president, Sebastián Piñera, had an approval rating of 6%, the lowest in Latin America. His nation was exploding over inequality and he was dismissed as a hard-hearted plutocrat. The demand running wild on social media was: “Piñera, resign.”
Today, Chile is vaccinating its population against COVID-19 at a rate that outstrips most of the world due partly to Piñera’s shrewd dealmaking with drug companies. The result: his approval rating has leaped to between 14% and 20%, with the nation slowly becoming more grateful to the executive at the top.
“This time, his past as a businessman played to his favor,” said Gonzalo Muller, director of the center of public policy at the Universidad del Desarrollo. “He showed his business capacity and his abilities to mobilize resources, manage and negotiate.”
About 21% of Chileans have received a vaccine shot, more than in the U.S. at roughly 18% and way ahead of Peru at 1% and Argentina’s 2.6%, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker. Chile, with 18 million inhabitants, expects to inoculate its entire target population by June, giving Piñera a chance to recraft a legacy tainted by social unrest. He has even announced plans to donate some vaccines to neighbors Ecuador and Paraguay.
The government’s COVID response has earned a 52% approval, and 80% consider mass vaccinations either “good” or “very good,” according to a Cadem poll published on March 8.
Piñera is grappling with lingering mistrust from the 2019-2020 mass protests, when he called in the military, as well as the threat of fresh unrest as the country starts to draft a new constitution this year.
Put together, he is running out of time to boost his approval and give the ruling coalition a better shot at staying in power ahead of November’s presidential elections.
Still, his stronger standing contrasts with the fortunes of other Latin American leaders who have been weakened by the pandemic. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro is grappling with falling approval amid nationwide vaccine shortages and record virus deaths, while leaders in Peru and Argentina are contending with scandals over VIP access to shots.
Piñera’s future remains unclear although Muller of the Universidad del Desarrollo believes the president’s approval rating will continue to grow.
“After a year stuck in a black cloud, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Muller said. The vaccination process is helping change sentiment “from a view that everything is bad to one of hope for the future.”