Visit hell and Sin City with a crime-solving devil and some Drag Race favorites
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, August 21, and Saturday, August 22.
Top picks
Lucifer (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., first half of season five): Crime-solving devil! It makes sense! Don’t overthink it!
We here at What’s On Tonight have not watched the trailer above, because reviewer LaToya Ferguson specifically told us not to, and we trust LaToya’s opinion on all things Lucifer. (On all things, really.) But that doesn’t diminish our excitement for the return of the DevilCop team—whenever Lucifer stops being Da New King Of Hell, that is. Here’s an excerpt from LaToya’s review of the season-four finale, just to refresh your memory:
Lucifer and Chloe say “I love you”—in one final scene for Tom Ellis and Lauren German to act their hearts out—but Lucifer knows he has to go back to Hell. (Oh, and Chloe was always his prophetic “first love,” not Eve.) Eve and Maze don’t end up together, but Eve’s saying there’s a chance. Ella finally makes good with God, while Dan finally got help. Amenadiel and Linda are new parents, and Amenadiel didn’t kidnap his child. The season ends the opposite of how it began, as Lucifer is the one who leaves L.A., this time with acceptance (and love) from the Detective. Lucifer also accepts who and what he is, as proven by the return of his angel wings in his final scene with Chloe. Lucifer has embraced both his light and his dark sides, in a way where he’s not trying to be something he’s not. Not a bad way to wrap this all up.
Binge coverage begins today, with reviews from LaToya running daily. Press pause on Hot Tub High School, put on your favorite orgy pants, and dive right in.
Can you binge it? Indeed, all four previous seasons of Lucifer await you on Netflix.
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m., series premiere): What, did you think Drag Race was done for the year? Never.
Expect a Real Housewives sort of vibe from this behind-the-scenes look at the opening of a new Drag Race revue in Las Vegas, starring Asia O’Hara, Derrick Barry, Kameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls, Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo, and season 11 winner Yvie Oddly. On the off chance that the many, many queens of this show have started to blur together a bit, that’s the one with the dead butterflies, the Britney one, the bodybuilder, the one with amazingly long legs, the one that says “Vanjie” and walks backwards, and season 11 winner Yvie Oddly. Kate Kulzick will recap.
Can you binge it? No, this one is brand new, but you can catch the first six seasons of Drag Race proper, as well as several of Untucked and All Stars, on Hulu.
Regular coverage
For kids
Clifford The Big Red Dog (Amazon, Friday, 3:01 a.m., second half of season two): Return to Birdwell Island for fun with a kaiju very large canine. And please—be safe.
Wild cards
Time for another wild card lightning round.
Hoops (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): “To mix sport metaphors, Hoops is like a racehorse with blinders on. It’s got one goal: trying hard to make audiences laugh with jarring comedy that it turns into a predictable mess, squandering its potential for multi-dimensional storytelling.” Read the rest of Saloni Gajjar’s pre-air review.
Chemical Hearts (Amazon, Friday, 3:01 a.m., premiere): Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams star in a YA romantic drama based on Krystal Sutherland’s novel Our Chemical Hearts.
The One And Only Ivan (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m, premiere): This adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s Newbery-winning book, originally slated for release last week, counts among its cast Helen Mirren, Danny DeVito, Brooklynn Prince, Chaka Khan, Phillipa Soo, Ron Funches, and Bryan Cranston.
The Sleepover (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m, premiere): Trish Sie’s action comedy stars Malin Åkerman, Ken Marino, Joe Manganiello, and some cute kids.
Love In The Time Of Corona (Freeform, Saturday, 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.): This remotely produced series stars L. Scott Caldwell, Leslie Odom Jr., Nicolette Robinson, Tommy Dorfman, Rainey Qualley, Gil Bellows, and Rya Kihlstedt, among others. The first two episodes air Saturday, with the final two arriving on Sunday; the whole shebang debuts on Hulu on Monday.