TV on Tap: A "Nashville" Exit, "SYTYCD" Returns With A Twist And Lifetime Dramatizes How Reality TV Is "Un-Real"
News
So far, Wayward Pines has been pretty watchable, despite being promoted with M. Night Shaymalan's name attached. Now Shaymalan hopes an Unbreakable TV series will also go well.
io9 argues that the success of The Flash demonstrates that a superhero show doesn't have to be more grounded or realistic, but revel in the ridiculous tropes and villains. Instead of dressing characters in dark colors, The Flash put its hero in a brightly-colored (but well-designed) costume while having him fight villains like the Reverse Flash and Grodd who embraced their comic book silliness.
At long last, Nashville has set Eric Close free from the horrible storylines he kept getting. I don't know why Nashville had the sense to drop most of its political storylines but kept Teddy in the mayor's office, it seemed obvious to make him an executive at Edgehill, let him have some boardroom fights with Jeff and Rayna, but the show never went there.
How did Lisa Kudrow feel about reality TV when she was making The Comeback, which ended up predicting out current glut fo reality TV dramas? "there were no housewives — they had The Osbournes and Anna Nicole Smith and I thought, This can’t end well. And unfortunately, it’s true for some of those people. I really was thinking, 'Some people actually won’t survive this'... I just remember that it was really hard on Friends for the six of us to go through that." I guess once The Anna Nicole Show arrived, the format's darkness was pretty clear.
Bryan Fuller tells EW he's banned rape storylines on Hannibal, even though the book it's currently adapting, Red Dragon includes plenty of sexual violonce. "There are frequent examples of exploiting rape as low-hanging fruit to have a canvas of upset for the audience. The reason the rape well is so frequently used is because it’s a horrible thing that is real and that it happens. But because it’s so overexploited, it becomes callous. That’s something I can’t derive entertainment from as an audience member – and I’m the first person in the audience for Hannibal."
The recently-concluded season of Louie was shorter than usual. It turns out that was because of a night Louis C.K. got high. He felt inspired, took notes for his ideas and called FX boss John Landgraf to try to get to filming the season earlier than planned. However, with money already set aside for other shows, the channel could only afford to produce half a season... and those amazing ideas Louis had for the season turned out to be incomprehensible once he was sober.
Brian Williams might not return as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, but CNN reports that there are still people at NBC fighting to find some new role to keep Williams at NBC.
Listings
The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Jane Lynch is on today to talk up the new season of Hollywood Game Night — which includes challenging Rachael to one of the Game Night games.
Great, looks like they're playing that creepy photo morph game.
Days of Our Lives (NBC) Check local listings
We've got more of Will and Sonny today, I'm expecting things to start peacefully until Will overreacts to something without stopping to get the full context. Then the fighting begins.
American Ninja Warrior (NBC) 8:00 PM ET
This week, the qualifying rounds heads to Kansas City. Judging from past years, that probably means we're going to see plenty of youth pastors establishing that they're cool.
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) 8:00 PM ET
Really, Fox, you're moving a show where lovely men demonstrate physical grace and strength against American Ninja Warrior? This will be an interesting exercise in DVR management. The eleventh season introduces a "Stage Dancers vs. Street Dancers" twists. Tonight's premiere includes an interview with First Lady Michelle Obama. I'm guessing this is the dance-chapter of FLOTUS' "Let's Move" campaign.
Devious Maids (Lifetime) 9:00 PM ET
Sure, Lifetime's soap is guilty of false advertising — these maids aren't devious at all (okay Opal was a devious maid last season but she's gone). Still, Devious Maids is a fun, thrilling way to have Ana Ortiz, Grant Show and Judy Reyes back on our TVs again. Last season ended with Rosie's wedding getting spoiled by blood stains on her wedding dress (also, gunfire). Where did that blood come from? We should find out tonight. And if you need more reason to get excited about the new season, there's the addition of Naya Rivera and a series regular role for Gilles Marini.
RuPaul's Drag Race (Logo) 9:00 PM ET
It's time to wrap things up and reveal RuVeal the winner and Miss Congeniality. Who gets the congratulations condragulations?
The Whispers (ABC) 10:00 PM ET
ABC hopes to deliver a chill down your spine in the heat of the summer with this thriller. The children in Washington D.C. all seem to have imaginary friends who have common goals and interests which... seems unusual for imaginary friends. The series stars American Horror Story's Lily Rabe as the FBI child specialist who investigates the children involves with Milo Ventimiglia and Barry Sloane. This one is based on a Ray Bradburry story, let's hope that means it won't spin its wheels the way Under the Dome did.
Cucumber (Logo) 10:00 PM ET
Last week may have felt like a finale, but tonight's episode closes Henry's story as he gets used to a new status quo. He's living in his old home again, he's working to get Daniel convicted for Lance's murder and he's got some new roommates.
The Island (NBC) 10:00 PM ET
The group is already down one man and they're no closer to finding a source of water. Huh, I feel like I should double-check and make sure this isn't a two-episode mini-series. This sounds pretty dire.
UnReal (Lifetime) 10:00 PM ET
There is no "Brokeback Bachelor" tonight, however Lifetime is debuting a new scripted drama about the unscrupulous lengths the producers of a dating-themed reality show will go to create a show full of drama. As someone more interested in the technical, moral and creative aspects of reality TV, this one sounds like it's right up my alley... and considering the gaybaiting from ABC, well-timed.
Banana (Logo) 11:00 PM ET
The anthology series closes with the tale of a "contract cleaner" who becomes aware of the existence of a hostel where female undocumented immigrants are being sexually abused and can't report their abuse for fear of deportation. The first time I read that episode description, I thought it was referring to the kind of cleaner who shows up in spy stories when things go really wrong. Now that would make an interesting way to close the series.
What will you be watching tonight? Please share in the comments!
Tomorrow's Preview
Live! with Kelly & Michael (syndicated) Check local listings
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is on tomorrow.
The View (ABC) Check local listings
Tomorrow's show has Jim Parsons talking Broadway.
The Wendy Williams Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Is tomorrow my birthday? Because Rachel Maddow will be discussing current events with Wendy.
Days of Our Lives (NBC) Check local listings
They fight. They fight. They fight and fight and fight. Yep, Will and Sonny's no-good horrible rut continues tomorrow.