What's On Tonight (Sunday): Objection, your honor! Tatiana Maslany is only playing one character in Perry Mason

Perry Mason

All rise, What's On Tonight #2867-309 is now in session, the occasionally honorable Amadeus3000 presiding. You'd think a reimagining of the beloved series/name that stretches a single story to an entire season would still have something that resembles the original series. That is not the case for tonight's Top Pick, HBO's 1930s period miniseries remake(?) of Perry Mason, starring Matthew Rhys as the down-and-out private investigator, not a brilliant defense attorney. Anti-hero! Della Street (Juliet Rylance) is a legal secretary but works for the aging and possibly past-his-prime E.B. Jonathan (John Lithgow), who takes an interest in Mason. Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) is a Black beat cop, not a P.I. And rounding out the cast is Pete Strickland (Shea Whigham), Mason's work partner, and the charismatic Sister Alice McKeegan (Tatiana Maslany), who we'll meet tonight. Sure, the show looks great, but in its start, it didn't offer much to whet my appetite. It was lots of brooding and these 1930s people are really, really shady. My proposal: John Lithgow as old Perry Mason, a once renowned and brilliant attorney who has become old school and is fading in relevance. In the [pick your preferred era... I'm partial to the 1950s], he gathers a team to search for the case(s) that will help him mount a comeback.

Elsewhere, the late Michelle McNamara's obsessive quest to track down the Golden State Killer gets full docuseries treatment, the Penny Dreadful follow-up hopefully answers in full what it takes to date Natalie Dormer, Black Monday is back at Showtime, Lucy Worsley dives into Queen Anne rumors, BET honors the best of Black America, Science studies the Aztec Empire, Snowpiercer is still a thing, Yellowstone is still a popular thing, and I continue to post old Perry Mason movie ratings. Get ready to match the stars, here's what's on television for tonight, Sunday, June 28!

STREAMING & EARLY PRIMETIME

60 Minutes (CBS, 7 p.m.): Tonight, the 60M team reports on election officials exploring ways to keep the public safe while voting during the COVID-19 pandemic and the distribution of flawed COVID-19 antibody tests.

Doctor Who 📺 (Retro TV, 6 p.m.): The powerful split-personality computer Xoanon attempts to create two super races from the descendants of a human expedition with eugenics — the savage Sevateem and the psychic Tesh. Also, welcome abroad the TARDIS, Leela!✔️

THE GUEST LIST:
Hollywood Game Night (NBC, 7 p.m.): Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley, and Savannah Chrisley vs. Kal Penn, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Nikki Glaser

FOR THE RECORD: 9 Months with Courteney Cox (Facebook, 5 p.m.); It's Okay to Not Be Okay (Netflix, 3 a.m.); Snapped (Oxygen, 6 p.m.)

Doctor Who, "The Face of Evil" (via Tumblr)

🕗 EASTERN / 🕖 CENTRAL

2020 BET Awards (BET / CBS, 8 p.m.): SPECIAL. Actress and comedian Amanda Seales hosts the ceremony honoring African-Americans and multicultural contributors in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. And now on CBS! The pre-show is BET-only

Black Monday (Showtime, 8 p.m.): At a Halloween party, Blair tries to make the trade of a lifetime, Mo and Dawn argue over an opportunity, Tiff and Corkie loosen up, and Keith phones a friend.

Bunk'd (Disney Channel, 8 p.m.): When Lou asks the campers to fill out counselor evaluations, Ava fears Destiny and Gwen's ratings and worries that her job may be in jeopardy.

Columbo 📺 (MeTV, 8 p.m.): Food critic Louis Jourdan, who has been extorting money from restaurant owners in exchange for good reviews, murders one when threatened with exposure.

Hightown (Starz, 8 p.m.): After a body washes ashore during a holiday weekend, a National Marine Fisheries officer is caught up in a web of drama as she tries to solve the case on her own.

Lucy Worsley's Royal Myths & Secrets (PBS, 8 p.m.): Queen Anne's role in the forging of Great Britain, a role often overshadowed by gossip over her love life. Gossip like...✔️

Lost Pyramids of the Aztecs (Science, 8 p.m.): SPECIAL. The long-lost secrets of the Aztec Empire are buried beneath Mexico City, and a cutting-edge archaeological investigation is bringing them to light. Experts make new discoveries that reveal the achievements of this once-great civilization.

THE TOPIC & GUEST LIST:
Behind Closed Doors (Reelz): Back to the Future
Celebrity Family Feud 💲 (ABC): Cedric the Entertainer vs. Wayne Brady and The Hills: New Beginnings vs. Jersey Shore: Family Vacation
Rock Legends (AXS TV, 8:30 p.m.,): Folk around the world

FOR THE RECORD: 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? (TLC); Disney Fam Jam (Disney Channel, 8:23 p.m.); Mystic Britain (Smithsonian Channel); Naked & Afraid XL (Discovery Channel); Renovation Island (HGTV); The Top Ten Revealed (AXS TV); Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks (National Geographic, 8:30 p.m., premiere); World's Deadliest Weather (The Weather Channel)

The Favourite is about Queen Anne (via Disqus)

🕘 EASTERN / 🕗 CENTRAL

The Chi (Showtime, 9 p.m.): Kevin rallies Papa and Jake for help, and Emmett finds a short-term solution to his food shortage problem. Meanwhile, Jada samples the dating scene and a local trap kitchen run by Dom; Trig devises a plan to get custody of his brother, Jake, from Douda.✔️

Collector's Call (MeTV, 9:30 p.m.): Jeff Bauspies has more than 1,700 board games in his collection, which is a Guinness World Record — and I'm a little jealous. His basement is packed floor-to-ceiling with games, including a 1941 edition of Monopoly, and nearly every game in the 3M Bookshelf series.

Good Witch (Hallmark Channel, 9 p.m.): Cassie invites her friends on a trip to Chicago to help them reconnect. Sam is called in to assist when the new surgeon's techniques fail.

Grantchester (PBS, 9 p.m.): Will and journalist Ellie go on their first date with a trip to the cinema. Remember cinemas, you guys?! A scream from the projection booth cuts the romance short as they discover a brutal murder has taken place within the cinema, and Geordie arrives to investigate. I've had movies not play at the theater but never because of a murder.

⭐ Perry Mason (HBO, 9 p.m.): Evangelical preacher Sister Alice (Tatiana Maslany!!!) offers the Dodsons the church's full moral and financial support, much to her mother Birdy's dismay. This series started when the Dodson's 1-year-old was killed in a kidnapping. And Sister Alice's church seems a little shady, much like the church in the 1930s-set Penny Dreadful: City of Angels! During a routine domestic intervention, Black beat cop Paul Drake is rerouted to a gruesome crime scene. I don't care for the show, but... Tatiana Maslany.

Snowpiercer (TNT, 9 p.m.): On a divided Snowpiercer, Melanie intensifies her search for Layton. Layton is weaponizing her secret, and Third Class faces a reckoning when he presents them with a choice.

World War II: Race to Victory (History, 9 p.m.): SERIES FINALE. More than 156,000 British, American and Canadian soldiers are transported across the English Channel in the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted. "The Big Three" come face to face for the second — and last — time in the seaside town of Yalta. But do the Allies win??! No spoilers!

Yellowstone (Paramount Network, 9 p.m.): I know, everyone is actually here to read this summary. Obviously, my listings are the reason the season premiere is doing so well. The Duttons open camp, which proves to be the best therapy for Tate. Jamie and Hendon agree to teach a lesson to two criminals, but it does not go as intended. Beth learns more about Roarke's business plans.

THE TOPIC & GUEST LIST:
An American Aristocrat's Guide to Great Estates (Smithsonian Channel): Newby Hall
Live from Daryl's House (AXS TV): Gavin DeGraw

FOR THE RECORD: American Monster (Investigation Discovery); Bahamas Life (HGTV); Barnyard Builders (DIY Network); Carnival Eats (Cooking Channel, finale); Married to Medicine Los Angeles (Bravo); Paranormal Caught on Camera (Travel Channel); Press Your Luck 💲 (ABC); Weird Earth (The Weather Channel); Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)

The Chi (via Giphy)

🕙 EASTERN / 🕘 CENTRAL

Beecham House (PBS, 10 p.m.): A murder throws John's plans of staying in Delhi into jeopardy. Margaret, a potential love interest, proves she is trustworthy when she helps John.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark (HBO, 10 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. An exploration of the case of the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 1980s, committing 50 sexual assaults and 10 murders, and true crime author Michelle McNamara's obsessive quest to find justice on behalf of his victims. The book was published two years after McNamara died. She didn't finish the book. Crime writer Paul Haynes, investigative journalist Billy Jensen, and McNamara's husband comedian Patton Oswalt helped complete the book. An arrest was made two months after publication.✔️

NOS4A2 (AMC / BBC America, 10 p.m.): Charlie Manx fights for his life while Millie Manx determines to never let the lights go out in Christmasland again. Bing (Are you always saying that name like the Microsoft Bing commercials? You are, right? I am.) receives a long awaited call. Wayne McQueen, attempting to understand his mother, walks headlong into danger.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Showtime, 10 p.m.): SEASON FINALE. And so ends this 1930s-set spinoff that still has an undetermined future. Tonight, sad news spreads through the Crimson Cat. Fly Rico tries to placate the volatile crowd while Rio argues for vengeance. Peter Craft, Elsa and the boys are trapped in their car during a riot as Tiago tries to help Mateo. I want a flashback to a few years ago where we learn one of the characters was helped by down-and-out Los Angeles P.I. Perry Mason, who is now a high-profile attorney fighting demons in 1939.

Trump & The Law: After Impeachment (CNN Special Report) (CNN, 10 p.m.): SPECIAL. Jake Tapper examines President Trump's experiences with the legal system, before and during his presidency, and he looks at the president's words and actions related to legal norms and the rule of law.

THE TOPIC & GUEST LIST:
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (National Geographic): Indonesia
The Johnny Cash Show 📺 (getTV): Waylon Jennings, Jackie DeShannon, and Michael Parks (25 Mar 1970)
Match Game 💲 (ABC): Thomas Lennon, Mary McCormack, Rick Fox, Caroline Rhea, Bob Saget, and Padma Lakshmi
Tournament of Laughs (TBS): Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Fortune Feimster, and Natasha Leggero

FOR THE RECORD: Beat Bobby Flay (Food Network, 10:30 p.m.); Food Paradise (Cooking Channel); Lost Cities of the Amazon (Science); Mexico Life (HGTV); Naked & Afraid: Foreign Exchange (Discovery Channel); On the Case with Paula Zahn (Investigation Discovery); Smothered (TLC); Top 100 Weather Moments (The Weather Channel)

🕚 EASTERN / 🕙 CENTRAL

The Office 📺 (Cozi TV, 11:30 p.m.): In "Christmas Party," one of the show's crowning achievements, Michael breaks corporate policy to buy alcohol for the staff as the office holiday party heads for disastrous boredom.

The Wild Wild West 📺 (Decades, 11 p.m.): Jim infiltrates a prison to rescue a fellow agent from a vicious commandant.

THE GUEST LIST:
The Johnny Cash Show 📺 (getTV, 11 p.m.): Roy Orbison, Kenny Rogers, and Shel Silverstein (1 Apr 1970)

FOR THE RECORD: Lakefront Bargain Hunt (HGTV)

Ratings for the second Perry Mason movie, The Cast of the Notorious Nun

💤💤😴💤💤

Destroy All Monsters 🎥 (Comet, midnight): Before The Avengers teamed-up Marvels superheroes, the monsters that terrorize Japan teamed-up in this quite underwhelming movie.

Here's Lucy 📺 (Cozi TV, 3 a.m.): In this two-parter, Lucy is working her way to Hawaii as social director on an ocean liner, and ends up convincing Harry to pay for Kim and Craig to come along too. To her surprise, her old friend Vivian is also on board the ship. Reunion!

Mission: Impossible 📺 (MeTV, 3 a.m.): A hostile security chief captures an American agent, unaware he carries secret information on a hidden computer microcircuit.

Robot Chicken (Adult Swim, midnight): The episodes are titled "Max Caenen in: Why Would He Know If His Mother's a Size Queen" and "Petless M in: Cars are Couches of the Road."

Ratings of the third Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Shooting Star

LATE-NIGHT TALK & SATIRE

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, 11 p.m.)
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix, 3 a.m., finale)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo, 10 p.m.): Patti LaBelle

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Note: All times are Eastern.
Key Sources: The Futon Critic (outline); Zap2it (descriptions); TV Passport (throwbacks)
⭐: Top pick(s)
📺: Throwback
🎥: Movie
✔️: Video/gif/photo included

Happy watching, everyone!