What’s on this weekend
THURSDAY
The big question for ABC is whether a Shonda Rhimes “sandwich” with virtually no filling can keep viewers tuned in on Thursday nights. On the plus side, we have “Grey’s Anatomy ”at8and“How to Get Away With Murder” at 10. But as Ronald Reagan said, where’s the rest of me? “Scandal” has been pushed back to midseason to accommodate the fact that Kerry Washington is having another baby.
So the network is launching “Notorious” tonight, starring two very good actors, Piper Perabo and Daniel Sunjata ,inan unfortunate show about a high-powered lawyer (Sunjata) and his friendship with a high-powered TV producer (Perabo).
The show itself isn’t very good, but comes off even worse between two of Shondaland’s finest. It should do fine the first week, but will viewers stick with it? Having a lead-in like “Grey’s” doesn’t work as well as it used to when television had fewer options and the notion of “time-shifting” felt like something out of a science fiction show.
“Check Please” samples the grub at Whipper Snapper in San Rafael, Trabocco Kitchen and Cocktails in Alameda and Gaumenkitzel German Restaurant, Beer and Wine Bar in Berkeley at 7:30 p.m. on KQED.
FRIDAY
Woody Allen’s first TV project, “Crisis in Six
Scenes,” is available for streaming on Netflix today. Allen stars with
Elaine May and Miley Cyrus and, no, I never expected to be pairing those two names in the same sentence. It’s lightweight but enjoyable.
Marvel’s “Luke Cage ,”a spinoff of “Jessica Jones,” is also available on Netflix today. Mike Colter stars in the title role as an ex-con widower who has impenetrable skin and superhuman strength. It’s more an urban drama than a comic book show.
Also on Netflix: a special on “Amanda Knox.” Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear and Common have teamed up to produce a docuseries called “America Divided,” premiering on Epix at 9 p.m. Each episode will look at the impact of inequality in our lives. The fifth season fall premiere of “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse” airs on OWN at 9 p.m. The History Channel captures the mood of the times with the new series “Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End ”at10 p.m. The premiere episode imagines a “Killer Asteroid.” The Science Channel gets into the mood with the special “Death on a Comet: The Rosetta Mission” at 10 p.m. One of the very best episodes of the quirky new HBO show “High Maintenance” airs tonight at 11. It’s about a shaggy dog looking for love and affection in the big city. It’s a small masterpiece with charm and heart. SATURDAY Season 15 of “Ask This Old House” and season 37 of“This Old House” air today on KQED at 4:30 and 5 p.m. respectively. Also on KQED tonight, the all-star Stanley Kramer film “Judgment at Nuremberg,” written by Abby Mann, is showing at 8. The cast includes Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster,
Maximilian Schell, William Shatner and Montgomery Clift.
The most expensive TV series ever filmed in France will air tonight with a two-hour, two-episode on the Ovation channel.
George Blagden stars as Louis XIV, the Sun King, in
“Versailles,” which takes place early in his long reign, when he decided to turn an old hunting lodge in the Paris burbs into the grandest palace in the world. Lots of sex, beautiful clothes, more sex, intrigue and a talky script. Worth watching. Lorne Michaels is one smart Canadian. He planned the premiere of season 42 of “Saturday
Night Live,” airing at 11:29 on NBC, the same week as the first presidential debate. Newly minted Emmy winner Kate McKinnon must be picking up her
Hillary pantsuit from the cleaners as we speak. Margot Robbie hosts the
show and the Weeknd is the musical guest.
SUNDAY
Tonight’s best bet is the brilliant, complex and unsettling “Westworld,” based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film and starring Anthony Hopkins, Evan
Rachel Wood and Ed Harris. The show, airing at 9 p.m., is set in a very special theme park where “guests” can do anything and anyone they want. The “hosts” are all lifelike robots.
But something is going amiss at Westworld. The robots are beginning to act on their own, beyond the programs implanted in their mechanical brains. This is a show that will keep you guessing and make you think about the science and mythology of human nature.
Season 27 of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” kicks off at 7 p.m. on ABC, and the even funnier “Ash vs. Evil Dead” launches its second season on Starz at 8.
The second season of the Patrick Stewart vehicle “Blunt Talk” begins at 8:30 p.m. on Starz. Season three of “Madam Secretary” begins at 9 p.m. on CBS, while over on
KQED ,“Poldark” moves to its regular time slot of 9 as well. The fifth season of
“Elementary” kicks off at CBS.