Riverdale returns for a seventh season on the CW, and a new animated comedy series comes to Adult Swim.
Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, March 27- April 2. Details and times are subject to change.
Monday
SWEET HOME ALABAMA (2002) 7:30 p.m. on Freeform. In this romantic comedy, Melanie Smooter (Reese Witherspoon) is a fashion designer in New York who lies her way into the perfect life. With a great career and a high-profile boyfriend (Patrick Dempsey), she finally feels like she belongs. That is until her boyfriend proposes and Melanie remembers the husband (Josh Lucas) she left behind seven years ago in their country town in Alabama. In order to keep her facade going, Melanie hatches a plan to sneak back home and get an official divorce. However, things don’t go as planned when her husband refuses to sign the papers. “The film did beautifully nail the warring affections so many of us transplanted Southerners feel in New York City,” Elizabeth Schatz wrote in a column for The New York Times.
Tuesday
RENOVATION 911 9 p.m. on HGTV. Set in Minneapolis, the series premiering this week follows two emergency restoration experts, the sisters Lindsey Uselding and Kirsten Meehan, over eight episodes, as they rescue homes that have been damaged by fires, floods, storms and other catastrophes.
Wednesday
RIVERDALE 9 p.m. on The CW. After the town was saved from disaster in Season 6, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is left reeling when he finds himself transported to the 1950s in the show’s seventh and final season. With his friends seeming to have no memory of their real lives, Jughead must find his way back to the present day to save them while navigating a repressive, conformist world.
Thursday
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES (2016) 7:35 p.m. on FXM. The Gaffneys live a predictable life until the Joneses move in next door. Intrigued by their new neighbors’ flawless looks and worldly personalities, Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) and his wife, Karen (Isla Fisher), befriend the couple. But the Gaffneys soon discover that Tim (Jon Hamm) and Natalie Jones (Gal Gadot) are government spies, after they find themselves entangled in one of their missions.
Friday
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016) 8 p.m. on AMC. After living mostly in the jungles of Congo, Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) has finally acclimated to life in London after moving there to be with his wife, Jane Porter (Margot Robbie). But their lives are disrupted when Tarzan is asked by King Leopold of Belgium to make a trip to Africa. Tarzan agrees only after a friend persuades him that King Leopold might be enslaving the people of Congo. After arriving, Tarzan and Jane are attacked by mercenaries paid off by Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). Rom had struck a deal with the leader of a Congo tribe (Djimon Hounsou), who agreed to give mineral rocks needed by the king in exchange for Tarzan. “There’s something touching about ‘The Legend of Tarzan,’” Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The Times, “which as it struggles to offer old Hollywood-style adventure without old Hollywood-style racism, suggests that perhaps other fantasies are possible — you just need some thought and Mr. Jackson.”
THE GREAT AMERICAN JOKE OFF 9:30 p.m. on The CW. This new comedy series, hosted by Dulcé Sloan, centers on the art of telling a good joke. Each episode goes through several rounds of telling as many quick gags as possible in accordance with specific categories. Each round will have a winner, decided by Sloan.
PSYCHO (1960) 10 p.m. TCM. Based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, this thriller follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary who steals a large sum of money from her employer and runs away to California to be with her lover, Sam (John Gavin). On the run and hiding from the police, Marion grows tired and finds herself at the Bates Motel. When she’s never heard from again, Marion’s sister, Lila (Vera Miles), and Sam team up to look for her.
Saturday
THE BLIND SIDE (2009) 8 p.m. on CMTV. Based on the true story of Michael Oher, a former offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, the film follows Oher’s (Quinton Aaron) life as a homeless teen drifting in and out of the school system before Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), take him into their home. Leigh Anne soon recognizes Michael’s football abilities and helps him hone his skills while also giving him love and comfort. “The film’s makers had created a deeply earnest picture aimed less at tastemakers than at people in the middle: sports fans, families, churchgoers and do-gooders,” Michael Cieply wrote in his review for The Times.
IMITATION OF LIFE (1959) 10 p.m. on TMC. Adapted from the 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst, this movie tells the story of Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), a white single mother and struggling actress who has Broadway aspirations; and Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a homeless, widowed Black mother. The two women are on Coney Island when they find their daughters playing together. Lora soon hires her new friend as a caretaker for her daughter while she pursues her dreams. The movie shows how the two women face difficulties with motherhood and confront race and identity. “This tale of two single mothers, one Black and the other white — and of maternal love, exploitation and crossing the color line — is a magnificent social symptom,” J. Hoberman wrote in his review for The Times.
Sunday
ROYAL CRACKERS 11 p.m. on ADULT SWIM. This animated comedy series follows two brothers: Stebe, the loving, responsible father and husband; and Theo Jr., a middle-aged bachelor trying to relive his glory days. Together they live in their comatose father’s house, counting down the days until he dies and they inherit his cracker company empire. Unbeknownst to either of them, the empire is crumbling, and the brothers, along with their family, must put their differences aside to try to save the company.
Source: Television - nytimes.com
