CRITIC’S CORNER
DESCENDANTS 2 ABC, FRIDAY, 8 ET/PT
The villains’ kids are back, and they are everywhere. The sequel to Disney’s 2015 smash TV movie, Descendants, which spawned songs parents couldn’t get out of their heads, is here, simulcast on ABC and five other Disney networks. In the sequel, Mal (Dove Cameron) returns to the Isle of the Lost and confronts her enemy Uma (China Anne McClain), daughter of The Little
Mermaid’s Ursula.
BALLERS/INSECURE HBO, SUNDAY, 10 ET/PT
You just can’t escape Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The world’s highest-paid movie star also does his fair share of TV, on the sportscentric Ballers, returning for its third season. Insecure also returns to HBO tonight, and despite being shut out of the Emmy nominations this year, Issa Rae’s series remains one of the funniest and most incisive comedies, especially for viewers trying to date in the modern era. At the start of the second season, Issa (Rae) deals with the aftermath of breaking up with her boyfriend Lawrence (Jay Ellis), although it’s not going very well.
PHELPS VS. SHARK: GREAT GOLD VS. GREAT WHITE DISCOVERY, SUNDAY, 8 (ET/PT)
If you’ve ever wondered whether man or beast would win in a race, Michael Phelps is about to find out. The five-time Olympic champion is strapping on a monofin (a wide fin with pockets for both feet) and racing a real shark, time-trial style, to kick off Shark Week.