What’s on this weekend
TODAY
Netflix has a new show available for streaming today called “Easy,” an eight-episode comedy anthology featuring Orlando Bloom, Marc Maron, Aya Cash, Dave Franco,
Elizabeth Reaser and others. I haven’t seen it. I was going to, but Netflix doesn’t just make shows available to critics. You have to email them and request them. It’s nuts, of course. I go through the motions most of the time, but with so many new shows hitting this week and next, getting “Easy” was too hard. Michael Ian Black moderates “The Debate
Wars,” available for streaming on Seeso today. It’s a comedy competition show in which two teams square off on such earthshaking topics as “cat versus dogs.” Participants include Janeane Garofalo, Judah Friedlander, Gilbert Gottfried, Eugene Mirman, Aparna Nancherla, Todd Barry, Jo Firestone, Andy Dick, Connor Ratliff, Guy Branum, Phoebe Robinson
and Dave Hill. “Pitch ,”a Fox Sports infomercial disguised as a drama about the first woman to pitch for an MLB team, premieres on
Fox at 8 p.m. Really, the product placement is ridiculous. I don’t mind the constant flashes of the Fox Sports logo, but no one in the Bay Area needs
Joe Buck playing himself. The show actually has a professional relationship with MLB, but the saturation with Fox Sports imagery really hurts an otherwise decent show. Kylie Bunbury plays Ginny Baker, who is signed by the Padres. Also premiering tonight, “Notorious,” which insults the talent and appeal of Daniel Sunjata and Piper Perabo, at 9 p.m. Sunjata plays a lawyer-fixer based on Mark Geragos. It could have been a contender if only it weren’t junked up with typical ABC sex and improbability. Let’s run through returning shows tonight: “Grey’s Anatomy ”at 8on ABC, “Rosewood ”at 8on Fox, “Superstore ”at 8on NBC, “Chicago Med ”at 9on NBC ,“Beat Bobby Flay”
at 10 on the Food Network ,“The Blacklist ”at10
on NBC ,“How to Get Away With Murder ”at10 on ABC. “The Good Place” moves to its regular slot of 8:30 p.m. on NBC.
The 100th episode of “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ’n Out ”ison MTV at 10 p.m.
FRIDAY
The complete fifth season of “Longmire ”is available today for streaming on Netflix. Based on the novels of
Craig Johnson, the series began on A&E before getting picked up by Netflix.
Also on Netflix is the documentary “Audrie &
Daisy,” which details three cases of high school sexual assault.
Comic Iliza Shlesinger stars in the special “Confirmed Skills ”on Netflix. The complete third season of “Transparent,” starring repeat Emmy winner Jeffrey Tambor ,is available today on Amazon Prime.
Fire up the oven because season 16 of “Hell’s Kitchen” kicks off on Fox at 8 p.m. Season six of “Last Man Standing” premieres on ABC at 8, and the fourth season of “Liv and Maddie” premieres on the Disney Channel at 8 as well.
Someone had the idea to remake the Richard
Dean Anderson show “MacGyver.” The retread premieres on CBS at 8. The new version stars
Lucas Till and it’s sort of OK, but the show doesn’t quite capture the awesome use of science to get the bad guys and save Mac’s behind that made the show cool back in the ’80s. CBS has parked it on a Friday night, which seems odd, and freighted the show with an annoying voice-over narration by Till.
Season two of “Dr. Ken” kicks off at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. “Dateline” returns with its 26th season premiere at 9 on NBC .“Hawaii Five-0” launches season seven at 9 on CBS, followed by season seven of “Blue Bloods” at 10. Season eight of “Shark Tank” launches on ABC at 9 p.m. Tonight’s best bet is the premiere of “The Exorcist” at 9on Fox. It pays homage to the 1973 William
Friedkin film and moves the story forward into the present with a gripping story and flashy direction.
The SyFy channel premieres the series “Van
Helsing” with episodes at 10 and 11 p.m.
SATURDAY
The third season of “Star Wars Rebels” launches at 8:30 p.m. on Disney XD with a onehour episode. Tonight’s best bet is the documentary “Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John
McAfee,” on Showtime at 9. It’s the story about the man who invented antivirus software and went off to Belize but then went into hiding after his neighbor was murdered. McAfee has disavowed the film, directed by Nanette Burstein. The 29th season of “48 Hours” begins on CBS at 10 p.m.
SUNDAY
In this case, it’s “Twice Upon a Time” on ABC. The network beats the drum for the sixth season premiere of “Once Upon a
Time” at 8 with a special on the show at 7.
One to go before the half-century mark: Season 49 of “Sixty Minutes” ticks off an hour on CBS at 7:30 p.m. The official premiere of
“Son of Zorn” airs on Fox at 8:30 p.m. Jason Sudeikis stars but as an animated figure among live action cast members. It’s entertaining enough, but I’m not sure it has anywhere to go. Once you get over the gimmick of Sudeikis being animated, it’s just an adequately scripted and acted comedy.
Returning shows tonight: “Bob’s Burgers ”at 7:30 p.m. on Fox ,“The
Simpsons ”at 8 on Fox, the second season of
“Poldark” with a two-hour show at a special time of 8 p.m. on KQED ,“NCIS Los
Angeles” at 8:30 on CBS, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown ”at 9 on CNN, “Family Guy ”at 9 on Fox, “Secrets and Lies ”at 9 on ABC ,“Last Man on Earth”
at 9:30 on Fox ,“Quantico ”at 10 on ABC.
Frank Darabont and Jon Favreau are in “The Director’s Chair ”on El Rey with fellow director and El Rey founder Robert Rodriguez at 8 p.m.