Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Summer is season for competitions — not repeats
If you need any further proof that summer is here, just turn on the TV.
No fewer than eight competition programs will kick off or return today and Monday. These types of summer shows are relatively cheap to produce and replace the need to fill the schedule with reruns, which nobody watches anymore.
Here’s a rundown on what’s new in the next couple of days.
TODAY
■ Celebrity Family Feud, 7 p.m., ABC. This is the third season of the celebrity version of Family Feud. Ten episodes are on the schedule.
This season, the celebrity family teams that will be playing for charity include Amy Schumer, George Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Eva Longoria, Jennie Garth and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Bonus: For the first time, members of host Steve Harvey’s family will also take on the challenge that pits two teams against each other and a survey-type question posed to 100 people.
■ Steve Harvey’s Funderdome, 8 p.m., ABC. Proving that Harvey is fast on his way to becoming ubiquitous, Funderdome is a series where two budding entrepreneurs compete to win over a live studio audience to fund their ideas, products or companies.
There will be 13 episodes where the audience votes to determine the winner. However, before Harvey announces the winner, there will be an opportunity for one of the contestants to cash out and walk away for a lesser amount. This is supposed to add drama.
■ American Grit, 8 p.m., Fox. Season 2 finds pro wrestling star and host John Cena welcoming 17 competitors to Hampton Island, Ga., where they will come under the tutelage of a gaggle of gritty mentors known as The Cadre. They include an infantry drill sergeant, a Marine, an ammunition technician and a Green Beret.
Whipped into shape, the competitors will face team and individual challenges that test will, desire and mental toughness. In the end, one will win a cool $250,000.
■ $100,000 Pyramid, 9 p.m., ABC. Host Michael Strahan (What? Steve Harvey was unavailable for this one?) returns for a 10-episode Season 2 of the modern version of the show that began in 1973 as The $10,000 Pyramid with host Dick Clark.
What ABC is boasting as “an all-star cast of celebrities” will partner with regular folks to take a shot at the grand prize.
Celebrities during Season 1 included Jon Lovitz, Deion Sanders, Rosie O’Donnell, Robin Roberts, Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg and Anthony Anderson.
■ Claws, 8 p.m., TNT. This is the lone scripted series arriving today. The 10-episode half-hour comedy/drama starring Niecy Nash (Reno 911!, Scream Queens), was developed for HBO, so you can bet some of the adult language and situations have been toned down.
The series is set in a South Florida nail salon where five manicurists begin laundering money for a neighborhood pain clinic. TNT says the show “is a wickedly funny meditation on female badness” and is “the story of good women caught in bad places with worse men.”
MONDAY
■ American Ninja Warrior, 7 p.m., NBC. This is Season 9 overall and Season 6 for NBC of the challenging obstacle course competition. Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbajabiamila and Kristine Leahy co-host as the series makes stops in Los Angeles; San Antonio; Daytona Beach, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; Cleveland; and Denver, before heading to Las Vegas for the national finals.
■ So You Think You Can Dance, 7 p.m., Fox. Hard to believe, but this will be Season 14 for the series that showcases dancers between ages 18 and 30 in various styles, including contemporary, tap, hip-hop, ballroom, animation and break.
The lucky top 10 will be paired with all-stars who will prepare them for the live competition, where America gets to vote.
Cat Deeley returns as host, along with judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe.
■ Superhuman, 8 p.m., Fox. Kal Penn (Designated Survivor) returns as host for eight, one-hour episodes where five contestants with “superhuman” skills compete for a grand prize of $50,000. The skills include stuff such as hearing musical notes through colors, completing complicated mathematical equations without the help of a pen and paper, and remembering every turn in a maze from memory.
Panelists are Mike Tyson, Dr. Rahul Jandial and Christina Milian.
■ Spartan: Ultimate Team
Challenge, 9 p.m., NBC. From the American Ninja Warrior producers, this one features teams of five friends, family members and co-workers working together to complete an obstacle course.
Co-hosts are Apolo Ohno and Kelvin Washington; sideline reporters are MJ Acosta and Nick Swisher.