Grab your shades and head to Palm Springs

Grab your shades and head to Palm Springs
Cristin Milioti, Andy Samberg Photo: Jessica Perez/Hulu

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, July 10, and Saturday, July 11. All times are Eastern.


Top picks

Palm Springs (Hulu, 3:01 a.m., premiere): “It’s been almost 30 years since Bill Murray lived life on repeat for his sins and our enjoyment, but the Groundhog Days are still coming. It can leave a fan of that ’93 classic feeling a bit like Bill himself, forever waking to ‘I Got You Babe’: Wait, haven’t we done this before? Yet for every dozen inferior iterations of the Phil Connors self-improvement plan, along comes an inspired one. Palm Springs, which devises a romantic comedy of déjà vu routine for Andy Samberg (an SNL alum, just like Murray), won’t make anyone forget the wonders Harold Ramis worked with essentially the same premise. But like Edge Of Tomorrow before it, this latest variation does find ways to build on, rather than simply recycle, the pleasures of its inspiration. And it turns out to be something kind of special in its own right: a modern rom-com that’s funny and inventive and sweet and totally mainstream and a little deranged all at once.” Click here to read the rest of A.A. Dowd’s film review.

Regular coverage

RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m.)

For kids

The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants In Space! (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first/fourth season): The language around this one is a little confusing. You might call it the fourth season of The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants, while someone else might call it the first season of The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants In Space!, but there’s a pretty decent chance that your kids will call it a thing they’d like to watch with a quickness.

Can you binge it? Three seasons of The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants are alive and well on Netflix, as well as an interactive special and a Halloween episode.

Wild cards

Little Voice (Apple TV+, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): “While hosting the 2018 Tony Awards, Sara Bareilles self-deprecatingly joked that she makes music you might hear at a Starbucks or in a hotel elevator. Although that sort of ‘easy listening’ descriptor isn’t really a fair summation of Bareilles’ melodic Grammy- and Tony-nominated discography, it’s a more apt metaphor for the new Apple TV+ series she co-created and executive-produced. As a coming-of-age tale of twentysomething creative passion, Little Voice is watchable enough, especially since its episodes all hover around the 30-minute mark. But as Little Voice strives to introduce an earnest new voice to the TV landscape, it often struggles to rise above the level of amiable background music.” Click here to read the rest of Caroline Siede’s pre-air review.

Can you binge it? Obviously, as it says “complete first season” up at the top there, but this is really just an excuse to point out that Bareilles’ score for Waitress is an absolute marvel and if there’s a fancy Hamilton-style filmed version sitting in a vault somewhere, this might be a good time to share it with the world. Seriously, it is very good:

Greatness Code (Apple TV+, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): This short-form doc series looks at defining moments in the careers of some of the world’s greatest athletes, and does so with a lot of visual flair. You’ll see what we mean if you watch the trailer, and then take comfort in the fact that you can totally skip Tom Brady’s episode if you want.

 
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