Mrs. America arrives and Riverdale does Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Wednesday, April 15. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Mrs. America (FX On Hulu, 3:01 a.m., series premiere, first three episodes): Cate Blanchett is probably a nice person, but wow, does she ever have a knack for smiling in a way that turns blood into ice water. That gift comes in handy in Mrs. America, FX’s new miniseries centered on the fight to pass the E.R.A. This is one of those casts designed to make the jaw drop, but Blanchett is clearly the main attraction, and as Phyllis Schlafly, she’s freezing veins and arteries willy-nilly.
This truly is an ensemble cast, even if Blanchett gets the biggest font, and these first three episodes showcase the show’s deep bench: The first focuses on Schlafly, the second on Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), and the third on Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba). Sulagna Misra will recap.
Riverdale (The CW, 8 p.m.): It’s time for Riverdale’s annual musical episode, and the wig budget must have been astronomical.
Those crazy kids will take on Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig And The Angry Inch, and god help them if they screw up “Midnight Radio.” Charles Bramesco recaps.
Regular coverage
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu, 3:01 a.m)
What We Do In The Shadows (FX, 10:00 p.m., one-hour second-season premiere): Staten Island’s finest bloodsuckers return tonight with back-to-back episodes. In the first, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) butts heads with a new familiar in the house (a truly wonderful guest performance we won’t give away). In the second, the vampires have an unexpected reaction to the presence of ghosts in their home.
A delight. Katie Rife is also back to recap the new season.
Wild card
Outer Banks (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): “[This] new Netflix series about a bunch of teens hunting for long-lost treasure and finding lots of trouble along the way, is incredibly fun. In 10 episodes, it spreads its captivating—if often ludicrous—mystery map, always heightening the tension and packing in enough twists and cliffhangers to make it an easy ride. But the show’s biggest mistake is its tendency to prioritize the hunt over the hunters. Some characters are far more developed than others, and while the acting is solid across the board, weak stabs at transcending tropes and stock types never reach their full potential.” Read the rest of Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya’s pre-air review here.