GLOW retakes the center ring, and Rocko’s Modern Life rides again
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
GLOW (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete third season): It’s Vegas, baby—at least, it is if you’re bingeing GLOW alongside LaToya Ferguson.
One of Netflix’s most reliable heavy hitters returns for a third season today, and Ferguson will be recapping all weekend long. Grab your bodysuit and a teasing comb, and look for a conversation with Gayle Rankin (a.k.a. Sheila The She-Wolf) in Sunday’s What’s On Tonight—we want to give you all a chance to watch her work this season first.
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): GLOW brings us back to the ’80s with its third season, but Rocko creator Joe Murray has his feet planted firmly in the present.
This beloved hand-drawn series is returning for the first time in over 20 years—and hey, what a coincidence, so is Rocko himself. Returning to Earth from space, where he’s been hanging out since 1996, Rocko (and Heffer and Filburt and the Bigheads, etc.) are forced to confront the 21st century head-on, and it looks like our hero-wallaby might have a bit of a hard time making the adjustment. Kevin Johnson will review.
Regular coverage
Wild card
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO, Friday, 11p.m.): Here’s Robin Thede on one of the most original elements of the already inventive A Black Lady Sketch Show:
I didn’t want to do regular interstitials and come out on a stage and be like, “Y’all ready for your next sketch?” I just didn’t want to do that. So we created this concept of a show within a show where the interstitials serve as a home base, as a palate cleanser, because the show bounces literally a hundred years one way or another, or from a thriller to a musical… So I wanted to do something, and honestly I don’t even think people are going to catch a breath because [the interstitials] are really funny, but I wanted the world to get to know these kind of larger-than-life versions of the cast and see us outside of our makeup. Because what I realized is, too, especially for me, I don’t look like myself in any sketches. I look insane all the time in the show.
Read the rest of her interview with Danette Chavez and/or Ali Barthwell’s insightful (and very positive) review before checking in on the second episode of this terrific series.