Month: August 2019

1) “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” 8-9:32 p.m., ABC. Jimmy Kimmel was 4 when TV comedy was transformed by “All in the Family”; other Norman Lear shows followed, including “The Jeffersons.” This season, Kimmel had a live special, using two old scripts and new actors — Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as the Bunkers (shown here), Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes as the Jeffersons. It drew10 million viewers, reran … and now re-reruns, with a “20/20” follow-up at 9:32 and Kimmel at 10. Read more…

1) “Fresh Off the Boat,” 8:30 p.m., ABC. Here’s a rerun of an episode that put more focus on Constance Wu (shown here), who became a movie star in “Crazy Rich Asians” … then grumbled when “Boat” was renewed for next season. She plays the mom, now an author; as she looks forward to a book-store reading, her husband is excited about a book tour and buys a recreational vehicle. Read more…

1) “Baskets,” 10 p.m., FX. For four seasons, the life of Chip Baskets (Zach Galifianakis) has been a slow, downhill slide. Now comes a detour – a broadly funny trip to the state Capitol, to protest a bullet train that would buy the land his rodeo is on. Chip heads there with his twin Dale (also Galifianakis), and their mom. She’s played with subtle perfection by Louie Anderson (shown here), who’s already won an Emmy in the role. It’s a funny and warm episode; the descent resumes in next week’s series finale. Read more…

1) “David Makes Man” debut, 10 p.m., Oprah Winfrey Network. In books and movies, Winfrey leans toward complex people in depressing circumstances. So it’s logical that she linked with Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose play was the basis for the Oscar-winning “Moonlight.” With his own boyhood as an example, McCraney gives us a brainy 14-year-old (shown here), commuting from a tough housing project to a magnet school. One mentor (Phylicia Rashad) is a teacher, another is imaginary. It’s not an easy story. Read more…

1) “Family Pictures,” 8 and 9 p.m., PBS. This wraps up a two-night, three-hour series, taking a genial look at contrasting places. In Detroit, we range from a long-time hat store (shown here) to the daughter of a music-shop owner who recorded the sermons of C.L. Franklin and two spirituals by his teen daughter Aretha. Then Florida ranges from a cowboy to a former migrant kid who’s principal of a migrant school. Read more…

1) “The Terror: Infamy” debut, 9 p.m., AMC. Two horrors – one supernatural, the other real and historical — blend. The backdrop is the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. On an island and at the camp, the terror begins – ill winds, ominous predictions, sudden blindness or death. This clearly isn’t for everyone, but it’s well-crafted. Despite his surname and his past credits (“Narcos”), Josef Kubota Wladyka has family roots in Japan; he directed this beautifully. Read more…