TVWW Update 10/08/16 — Well, TVWW readers, this last week saw a mighty blowhard force threaten the U.S., stressing out millions that lay in its erratic, unpredictable path. Hurricane Matthew was also in the news, absorbing a lot of the TV news coverage, flooding, and making life miserable for many more in the southeast.
This fall continues to be quite busy, with quality viewing choices readily available. David is still off, with his return pending — the abbreviated rundown for the upcoming week is below. (All listings are Eastern Standard and are subject to schedule changes.)
Saturday, October 8 — Since South Florida escaped the worst of the storm, the annual college football rivalry between Florida State at the University of Miami is on ABC, 8 p.m. TVWW fave The Graham Norton Show returns for its season premiere on BBC America at 10 p.m. with Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Radcliffe, and Robbie Williams scheduled as guests. Crossing Delancey, the charming 1988 feature about immigrant matchmaking in old New York starring Amy Irving and Peter Regent, is on Turner Classic Movies at 10 p.m.
Sunday, October 9 — On the busiest night of the week, the second Presidential Debate airs intergalactically on all networks and cable news channels at 9 p.m. If you’re interested in other similarly shocking conflict, the second season series adaptation of the comedy/gore thriller Ash vs. Evil Dead is on Starz at 8 p.m. Another combat alternative is NBC’s Sunday Night Football with the New York Giants at the Green Bay Packers kicking off at 8:20 p.m. HBO also looks to be making another run at Sunday night domination this fall with Westworld at 9 p.m., the premiere of the new Sarah Jessica Parker series Divorce at 10:00 p.m., and the premiere of Insecure at 10:34 p.m., an adaptation of Issa Rae’s web series exploring the socially awkward life. And if HBO isn’t satisfied with all that, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which has become a must-see, starts at 11:03 p.m., presumably with more of Oliver’s razor-sharp observations of the 2016 election.
Monday, October 10 — Gotham airs on Fox, 8 p.m., and the documentary series POV runs “From This Day Forward,” filmmaker Sharon Shattuck’s film about her parents, whose marriage survived even though her father came out as transgender decades ago. That’s on PBS at 10 p.m. (check local listings)
Tuesday, October 11 — TVWW family fave The Middle returns for its season premiere on ABC at 8 p.m. Katy Mixon stars in the premiere of American Housewife, also on ABC at 8:30 p.m. TVWW fave The Voice airs on NBC at 8 p.m. and Frontline runs “Confronting Isis,” a look at the status of the current U.S.-led fight against Isis, with reports from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Turkey on PBS at 9 p.m. Outsider favorite Atlanta continues on FX at 10 p.m.
Wednesday, October 12 — Phone Booth the 2003 feature starring Colin Farrell as a guy who answers a ringing pay phone and must spend the entire film in, you guessed it — a phone booth — or else he dies by the hand of a sniper, is written by Larry Cohen (The Invaders, I,The Jury and many, many more) and runs at 8:35 p.m. on Cinemax. Designated Survivor continues on ABC at 10 p.m. with the prospect of war hanging over Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland). American Horror Story: Roanoke runs on FX at 10 p.m. and Documentary Now! premieres another one of its well-made faux documentaries on IFC at 10 p.m. This one, “Globesman,” tells the tale, in black and white, of mid-century traveling salesmen peddling tabletop globes.
Thursday, October 13 — Thursday Night Football has the Denver Broncos perhaps starting their rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch at the San Diego Chargers on CBS at 8:25 p.m. The Good Place, one of our favorite network sitcoms of the season continues on NBC at 8:30 p.m., and Pamela Adlon, continues her superior performance in Better Things on FX at 10 p.m. Better Things is oft-referred to as the female Louie, but honestly, taken as a pair, the shows are essentially gender neutral and are very hard, very funny dissections of modern family life. Falling Water, USA’s trippy premise that envisions three strangers who discover they are sharing the same dream, premieres at 10 p.m.
Friday, October 14 — Quarry continues its tale of a Vietnam vet returned home from the war on Cinemax at 10 p.m., and Bill Maher presumably continues his emotional meltdown over the 2016 election on Real Time at 10 p.m. on HBO. Also, two new streaming series drop on Friday — Billy Bob Thornton’s Goliath, a tale of a down-and-out lawyer with a chance at redemption, becomes available on Amazon, and Colleen Ballinger’s oddball tale of an aggressively untalented singer making it big, Haters Back Off, starts on Netflix.
As always, thanks for your patience and much more for continuing to follow TVWW while David is away. —TVWW