Hulu, 3:00 a.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This new British import is a really unlikely, yet really delightful, comedy series, about a former boy band star trying to mount a comeback. One reason it’s so unlikely is that its creator is O-T Fagbenie of The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian drama that isn’t exactly loaded with laughs. Another unlikely element is that Law & Order: SVU veteran Christopher Meloni, playing a music-industry mogul (pictured), is so hilariously slithery, he would steal any other show. Except that Maxxx, whose six episodes were filmed over a three-year period, is flooded with funny characters and fine performers, starting with Fagbenie himself in the title role. His Maxxx is as delusional about his talent and future as he is about his past – and his dealings with his former girlfriends, band members and other associates are what make this comedy entertaining to the Maxxx.
ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
NEWS SPECIAL: Good for ABC. 20/20 is presenting a special hour devoted to Regis Phibin – who, as host of the network’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, completely reversed ABC’s fortunes at the start of this decade. And long before that, he established himself, on his live talk shows, as one of the premiere natural broadcasters and casual conversationalists in TV history. Despite this special’s title, Regis had a resume, and a legacy, that stretched far beyond morning television. Whatever its title, though, the TV icon who died last weekend deserves this prime-time salute from the network he revived almost single-handedly.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Carl Reiner received many tributes about his TV work when he died last month – but now comes TCM’s tribute, which focuses on Reiner’s movie career as a director. It starts at 8 p.m. ET with 1967’s Enter Laughing, whose stars include Elaine May, Jack Gilford, Don Rickles, Jose Ferrer, and Shelley Winters. Reiner directs, and wrote the original novel and collaborated on the screenplay. At 10 p.m. ET comes 1984’s All of Me, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin as people who find themselves sharing the same body. At midnight ET, there’s 1969’s The Comic, starring Dick Van Dyke as a silent film comic looking back on his career, with more than a little bitterness about his subsequent circumstances. Then – and this is one to record and relish – at 2 a.m. ET, TCM presents 1970’s Where’s Poppa? (pictured), the hilarious comedy starring George Segal, Ruth Gordon, and Trish Van Devere. And finally, at 3:30 a.m. ET, comes 1977’s Oh, God!, starring John Denver and George Burns. And this tribute doesn’t even include other Reiner-directed films, including The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, The Man with Two Brains, and Fatal Instinct…
CW, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: Actually, it’s only a premiere if you don’t subscribe to CBS All Access, which produced and streamed this series beginning in 2018. But as the old tongue-in-cheek slogan goes, “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!” Tell Me a Story is a drama transposing, updating and braiding together several fairy tales into one ongoing narrative. Season 1, for example, which is repeated beginning tonight on the CW, takes on The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood (pictured) and Hansel and Gretel.
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
Michael Kirk, one of the best
Frontline filmmakers, presents this very timely documentary about the spreading of conspiracy theories emanating from the current administration and its supporters and allies – a topic confirmed earlier this week by a retweet from President Trump himself.
Check local listings. For full reviews, see
Mike Hughes' Open Mic and
David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.