Originally posted Monday, January 14, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
This week features two new scripted takes on past events: HBO’s “Brexit” and Showtime’s “Black Monday” featuring Seth Rogan and Don Cheadle.
Gretchen Carlson explores sexual harassment in a Lifetime special while on a far less serious scale, USA is resurrecting an early reality show concept “Temptation Island.”
Pop’s “Schitt’s Creek” returns, as does Comedy Central’s “Corporate,” CBS All Access’ “Star Trek Discovery,” Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie” and “Marvel’s The Punisher.”
And in classic crazy Lifetime movie fashion, Christina Ricci plays a journalist in the late 19th century trying to uncover mental health abuses at an institution, then getting tortured by a head nurse played by Judith LIght.
This covers Monday, January 14 through Sunday, January 20, 2019.
MONDAY
"America's Got Talent: The Champions" 8 p.m. NBC — Among the returnees competing: Piff the Magic Dragon, Darci Lynne and Light Balance.
"The Bachelor" 8 p.m. ABC — Colton's search for love starts with laughs, surprises and intense face-offs between the women.
"Dirty John: The Dirty Truth" 8 p.m. Oxygen — A look at the con man John Meehan.
"Gretchen Carlson: Breaking the Silence" 9 p.m. Lifetime — Carlson travels the country uncovering untold stories of sexual harassment and abuse.
"The Neighborhood" 8 p.m. CBS — Dave and Gemma's elaborate plans for Grover's 7th birthday party go awry, and Malcolm and Marty come to the rescue.
"The Resident" 8 p.m. Fox — Lane Hunter's victims and their families become outraged when she is released from prison.
"Magum P.I." 9 p.m. CBS — Magnum helps a woman find her missing cousin, Sergei, a Russian fugitive; and Higgins' and Kumu's lives are put in danger when they get too close to the case.
"The Good Doctor" 10 p.m. ABC — The hospital is still in quarantine as Dr. Shaun Murphy continues to be overwhelmed by the chaos and noise in the emergency room.
TUESDAY
"The Conners" 8 p.m. ABC — Ben offers Mark free piano lessons, and Darlene uses it to test his parenting skills.
"Ellen's Game of Games" 8 p.m. NBC — Contestants play "Mount St. Ellen" and "See You Later Alligator" along with "Aw Snap" and "You Bet Your Wife."
"NCIS" 8 p.m. CBS — An old family friend beseeches Gibbs to join him on a road trip to search for a missing military I.D. bracelet.
"Black-ish" 9 p.m. ABC — Dre and Bow are furious after Diane isn't lit properly in her class photo.
"FBI" 9 p.m. CBS — A judge and her daughter are murdered after she sentenced a man to life in prison.
"Roswell, New Mexico" 9 p.m. the CW (new series) — Liz Ortecho reluctantly returns to her tourist-trap hometown of Roswell, N.M., and reconnects with Max Evans, her teenage crush who is now a Roswell police officer.
"This is Us" 9 p.m. NBC — Randall's campaign comes to a close.
"The Rookie" 10 p.m. ABC — On Captain Andersen's orders, Officer Nolan and Sergeant Grey are paired up for the day on patrol.
"Temptation Island" 10 p.m. USA (fourth season debut) — Mark Wahlberg is back as host with four couples "tempted" by 24 singles. The show first aired on Fox from 2001 to 2003.
"New Amsterdam" 10:01 p.m. NBC— As Max begins his treatment, he realizes that it may slow him down faster than he thought.
"Corporate" 10:30 p.m. Comedy (second season debut) — Matt tries not to develop a crush on a new colleague, and Christian buys a news network.
WEDNESDAY
"Chicago Med" 8 p.m. NBC — Will adjusts to hospital life in the aftermath of his recent undercover activities.
"The Goldbergs" 8 p.m. ABC — Murray and Geoff team up to pull Beverly, Barry and Erica out of their shared misery that Lainey has left town.
"Chicago Fire" 9 p.m. NBC — Severide's side project of fixing the boat for a wealthy acquaintance turns complicated and personal.
"The Masked Singer" 9 p.m. Fox — Joel McHale is a guest guesser.
"Modern Family" 9 p.m. ABC — Phil and Claire decide to take a cycling tour through Italy before they become grandparents.
"In Pursuit With John Walsh" 10 p.m. ID (new series) — Walsh is basically doing his old "America's Most Wanted" show on a new network.
"Match Game" 10 p.m. ABC — Panelists: Joel McHale, Jane Krakowski, Finesse Mitchell, Caroline Rhea, Jason Biggs and La Toya Jackson.
"Schitt's Creek" 10 p.m. Pop (fifth season debut) — While Moira is in Bosnia filming the Crows movie that she hopes will revive her acting career, David attempts to take his relationship with Patrick to new heights.
THURSDAY
"The Big Bang Theory" 8 p.m. CBS — Sheldon and Amy's super asymmetry theory is proven by two physicists, Dr. Pemberton and Dr. Campbell from Chicago, who then try to kick Amy off the Nobel nomination.
"Grey's Anatomy" 8 p.m. ABC — The windstorm continues to blow through Seattle; and after the power goes out at Grey Sloan, the doctors are left scrambling to save their patients' lives.
"Top Chef" 8 p.m. Bravo — The chefs handle a steak tartare faceoff.
"Star Trek Discovery" 8:30 p.m. CBS All Access (second season debut) — The crew of the U.S.S. Discovery joins forces with Captain Christopher Pike on a new mission to investigate seven mysterious red signals and the appearance of an unknown being called the Red Angel.
"Young Sheldon" 8:31 p.m. CBS — Sheldon attempts to build a nuclear reactor.
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" 9 p.m. NBC — Jake and Charles investigate a case of Hitchcock and Scully's from the 1980s.
"Lip Sync Battle" 9 p.m. Paramount (fifth season debut) — The new Netflix crew from "Queer Eye" do various lip syncs.
"Mom" 9;01 p.m. CBS — Christy and Bonnie are suspicious when Adam's best friend, Mitch, returns, insisting he's a changed man.
"The Good Place" 9:30 p.m. NBC — Michael arranges an important meeting and Janet makes a reconnection.
"The Rap Game" 10 p.m. A&E — The artists rap classic children's books to preschoolers, then dive into their own pasts to write stories of their own to record.
"How to Get Away With Murder" 10 p.m. ABC — Now that Connor and Oliver have tied the knot, the crew must deal with the consequences of the wedding night's murder.
"Law & Order: SVU" 10 p.m. NBC — Stone takes up the unsolved cold case of a serial rapist that consumed his father's career.
FRIDAY
"Butterly" 3:01 a.m. Hulu (new series) — A heartfelt and sensitive drama about the complex relationship between separated parents, Vicky (Anna Friel) and Stephen (Emmett J. Scanlan), and their division in opinion over how to support their youngest child, Max (Callum Booth-Ford). From a young age, Max has identified as a girl but has tried to suppress these feelings in an attempt to earn Stephen's approval.
"Grace & Frankie" 3:01 a.m. Netflix (fifth season)— RuPaul is going to be one of the guest stars.
"Marvel's The Punisher" 3:01 a.m. Netflix (second season)— The second season of the American web television series The Punisher, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, revolves around Frank Castle saving a girl from being murdered, forcing him to decide if he should embrace his life as the Punisher.
"Blindspot" 8 p.m. NBC — Reade confronts Zapata, while the team follows a lead to a potential cure for Jane.
"Fresh Off the Boat" 8 p.m. ABC —Eddie finally gets his driver's license; but instead of freedom, he finds an endless list of errands to run for his mom.
"MacGyver" 8 p.m. CBS — MacGyver takes Riley and Bozer into the wilderness for a weekend of survival training, but things take a turn when they run into a violent group of criminals who are searching the rugged back country for a lost crate of money.
"The Blacklist" 9 p.m. NBC —Red acclimates to his new surroundings in federal prison, where he is challenged by an old rival.
"Hawaii Five-O" 9 p.m. CBS — Adam, Junior and Tani travel to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean when a murder takes place in a remote underwater lab, and the killer may still be on board.
WEEKEND
"Escaping the Madhouse: The Nelly Bly Story" 8 p.m. Saturday Lifetime — Christina Ricci and Judith Light star. On a mission to expose the deplorable conditions and mistreatment of patients at the notorious Women's Lunatic Asylum, investigative reporter Nellie Bly feigns mental illness in order to be institutionalized to report from the inside. The movie delivers an intense and fictionalized account of actual events surrounding Nellie's stay beginning after Nellie has undergone treatment, leaving her with no recollection of how she came to the asylum or her real identity.
"Brexit" 9 p.m. Saturdya HBO —A dramatization of the eight weeks surrounding Brexit, the 2016 referendum that would enable the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, follows the personalities, strategies and data-driven campaign tactics of the winning side.
"Saturday Night Live" 11:29 p.m. Saturday Lifetime — Rachel Brosnahan hosts.
"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" 8 p.m. Sunday Bravo — The ladies go to Toyko.
"Outlander" 8 p.m. Sunday Starz —Brianna confronts a violent figure from her past in an attempt to cope with her trauma.
"Victoria" 9 p.m. Sunday GPB — Victoria decides whether to fight the Chartists with force or allow them to present their petition.
"Shameless" 9 p.m. Sunday Showtime — Ingrid ropes Frank into fulfilling her lifelong dream.
"Shark Tank" 9 p.m. Sunday ABC — An entrepreneur from Willis, Texas, introduces her lay-flat cosmetic bag design that allows for easy access to materials.
"True Detective" 9 p.m. Sunday HBO — Hays recalls his early romance with Amelia, as well as cracks in their relationship that surfaced after they married and had children
"Black Monday" 10 p.m. Sunday Showtime (new series) — Wide-eyed Blair is thrust into the insane world of 1980s Wall Street.
"Magnum P.I." 10 p.m. Sunday CBS — Magnum has an emotional connection to a case when he and every other private investigator and bounty hunter on Oahu are tasked to track down a man accused of murder.
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