Powers brings cops and superheroes to television ... well, something television-adjacent, anyway
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, March 10. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Powers (PlayStation Network): Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s acclaimed comic book series about cops in a world of superheroes has been stuck in development for what feels like decades, with FX taking at least two serious swings at adapting Powers before it finally washed ashore on the PlayStation Network, where it’s set to become the streaming service’s first original series. We’re not at all sure that PSN is quite ready to jump into the fray with the Netflixes and the Amazons of the world—especially if this trailer is any indication of the show’s quality—but there’s at least an intriguing cast to work with here, including the likes of District 9’s Sharlto Copley, Eddie Izzard, and genre stalwart Michelle Forbes.
The people’s top pick, now and forever
Person Of Interest (CBS, 10 p.m.): Finch and Reese are on the trail of an unusual psychiatrist, all while flashbacks show us how Finch coped in the aftermath of Ingram’s death. Alexa Planje is disappointed the show is unlikely to follow in Arrow’s footsteps by using flashbacks as an excuse to bust out the most ludicrous wigs it can find, but hope springs eternal.
Also noted
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 9 p.m.): Jaimie Alexander makes her second appearance on the show as the Asgardian warrior Lady Sif. Her character will be suffering from amnesia, because apparently that’s just Jaimie Alexander’s thing now. Oliver Sava is pretty sure he has a strongly held opinion about gratuitous memory loss plots, but for some unknown reason he suddenly can’t remember what it is, so he’ll be spending the rest of the season piecing that back together. Should be riveting!
The Mindy Project (Fox, 9:30 p.m.): New Girl is a repeat tonight, leaving The Mindy Project to hold down the fort with an episode in which the sudden death of Danny’s priest mid-confessional leaves him scrambling for a replacement, all as Jeremy tries to get his friends to attend his one-man show. Gwen Ihnat keeps insisting the best way to understand her reviews is really to come see her one-woman show, but, you know, we’d love to, it’s the darnedest thing, we’re just always busy on those nights, isn’t that just crazy?
Kroll Show (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.): Among other story threads this week, “Rich guys open a restaurant called Dunch.” If that’s the long-awaited, post-lunch, pre-dinner meal we’ve been clamoring for, then we are ready to invest in that right now. With Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya’s money, admittedly, but these are details.
Regular coverage
Steven Universe (Cartoon Network, 5 p.m.)
Fresh Off The Boat (ABC, 8 p.m.)
Justified (FX, 10 p.m.)
What else is on?
What On Earth? (Science, 9 p.m.): “A possible smoke screen over North Korea; and satellite imagery that indicates two forgotten pyramids in Egypt.” Hmm, well, that all sounds like they at least could be science. Which seems unlikely, given it’s a solid hour of UFO stuff directly after, but it wouldn’t be fair to expect the Science Channel to do only science. That started out as sarcastic, but then we immediately remembered whatever the hell the History Channel turned into, and we would like to amend our response to “Sure, some is better than nothing, we guess!”
Planet Earth: Frozen Planet (BBC America, 9 p.m.): This Planet Earth spin-off begins by living up to its title as literally as it possible can, as the show treks straight to the North and South Poles. Have to admire the directness of that approach.
Wild Alaska (BBC America, 10 p.m.): And for those who like high latitudes but in slightly warmer conditions, BBC America’s second new nature show of the night offers up a view of spring in the Last Frontier, with the promise of summer and winter in subsequent episodes. But forget about autumn. Autumn in Alaska is boring, we guess.
Newlyweds: The First Year (Bravo, 10 p.m.): Season two of this reality show—which doesn’t even force couples to get married on the same day they meet, so what’s even the point?—looks at a new set of four couples in their first year of marriage, kicking off with such mishaps as wedding plans driving a prospective groom crazy and a the mother of the bride getting sick the day before the wedding. Which we guess are problems, but seriously, if the future husband and wife have already been allowed to spend more than a single day interacting with each other, how bad can their problems even be?
Captain America: The First Avenger/Captain America: The Winter Soldier (FX, 7:30 p.m./Starz, 6:40 p.m.): With some clever DVR juggling, you can watch both Chris Evans superhero movies in one night. (We instantly realized that “Chris Evans superhero movie” also includes a pair of Fantastic Four movies, The Avengers, that cameo he had in Thor: The Dark World, and, hell, Scott Pilgrim too, we guess, so that’s kind of a terrible way to describe these things. But whatever, Chris Evans is a major selling point of these things.) Alternatively, if you’re pressed for time, you can just choose to watch one. You’re all going to choose Winter Soldier, aren’t you? No, no, it’s fine, The First Avengers understands. It’ll just wait patiently until you’re done.
License To Kill (Encore, 8 p.m.): To a certain kind of James Bond fan, Timothy Dalton is all kinds of perfect as 007, let down by a pre-Daniel Craig audience that wasn’t quite ready for his stripped-down approach to the role, plus maybe by a couple scripts that weren’t quite the ideal showcase for his take on the character. Of the two Dalton Bond movies, this is the more memorable, as it’s basically “James Bond does revenge-soaked Miami Vice with Wayne Newton and young Benicio del Toro along for the ride for some reason,” which isn’t bad as pitches go. Definitely not a flawless movie, but a whole lot of fun.
Northeast Conference Basketball Championship (ESPN2, 7 p.m.): This won’t be the biggest-ticket conference championship game on tonight—that honor has to go to ESPN’s 8 p.m. West Coast Conference tilt, which as of press time figures to see heavyweight Gonzaga go for revenge against Brigham Young—but those who enjoy seeing upstarts make the tournament may want to pay attention to this one, as the host St. Francis Terriers can make their first ever March Madness appearance by knocking off Robert Morris.
In case you missed it:
Gravity Falls: Holy crap. Alasdair Wilkins’ review will be up soon. (And do look out for Erik Adams’ interview with creator Alex Hirsch sometime later on Tuesday.