TV HIGHLIGHTS
MasterChef, 8 PM on Ch. 19: The top 18 all-stars travel to the U.S. Coast Guard base in Los Angeles for their first team challenge in the new episode “Back to Win: Feeding the U.S. Coast Guard.” Upon arrival, the chefs are tasked with collaborating with their teammates to create a hearty and delicious meal for more than 100 Coast Guard members. Judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez and Joe Bastianich decide which chef goes home at the end of the episode.
Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution, 9 PM on A&E; 1:03 AM on A&E: Comic Kevin Hart is an executive producer on this new two-part, fourhour documentary (which concludes Thursday night) that charts the progression of Black comedy, starting with the pioneers of that scene who used sharply pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule social injustices. These performers also used laughter to articulate their experience of being Black in the United States. Among the comics featured, in addition to
Hart, are Tiffany Haddish, David Alan Grier, DL Hughley, Kenan Thompson and Michael Che, along with producer Norman Lear and Richard Pryor’s daughter, Rain.
Planet California, 10 PM on Ch. 16 and Ch. 48; 2 AM on Ch. 16 and Ch. 48: This beautifully filmed two-part documentary that celebrates California’s diversity in wildlife and wild places concludes with a new episode called “Close Encounters.” For many people, mention this state and they immediately think of Hollywood, the movie capital. As this episode clearly demonstrates, though, it’s California’s critters that are truly ready for their closeup, whether they’re the magnificent blue whales that roam California waters or the quirky burrowing owls on dry land.