What's On Tonight (Sunday): Life is a Work in Progress

Work in Progress

Survey says! Here's what's on television for tonight, Sunday, August 22!

Tonight's Top Pick is the return of the brilliant Work in Progress (Showtime, 11 p.m.). The dark auteur comedy follows the many trials and tribulations of OCD 40-something Abby, a "fat, queer dyke" who struggles to keep her life together. The first season was brutally honest as Abby navigated the world without an IRL therapist and began dating a young trans-man. Julia Sweeney plays herself and has been confronted about the harm that Pat did. (Weird Al played her husband.) Co-created by Lilly Wachowski, Work in Progress is often bleak, full of heart, and moves with grace and confidence with some solid one-liners thrown in, too.

Elsewhere, the Dead go to the subway, Wellington officers dead with teenage girls, Showtimes gives media Gossip docuseries treatment, Adrien Brody and Emily Hampshire are in the 1850s, the Legends are on high alert, Aurora Teagarden goes on her honeymoon, and Sitcoms escape our reality.

DAYSIDE ON THIS SITE

🎶 Totally Tunes (12:30 p.m.): Our weekly discussion about a particular type of music. This week: bad days.

STREAMING & EARLY PRIMETIME

🎥 Love Upstream (UPtv, 7 p.m.): A successful New York author falls for a handsome wilderness guide after moving to Oregon to write a new book.

Naked and Afraid of Love (Discovery+, 3 a.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. It happens.

The Walking Dead (AMC+, 3 a.m.): Maggie's mission takes the team through a subway tunnel, challenged by lurking walkers and a recalcitrant Negan, With Eugene's group, Yumiko seeks answers about her brother and demands expedited processing into the Commonwealth.

BRIEFLY: 90 Day Journey: Couples Updates (Discovery+, 3 a.m., special); Charmed to Death (Oxygen, 7 p.m.); Love in Paradise (Discovery+, 3 a.m.); Love Island: UK (Hulu, 3 a.m.); Snapped (Oxygen, 6 p.m.)

🕗 8 P.M. EASTERN / 🕖 7 P.M. CENTRAL

Chesapeake Shores (Hallmark Channel, 8 p.m.): Abby reflects on the past and contemplates a future on her own terms. She and Mick deal with the damage to the reputation of O'Brien Construction.

Gossip (Showtime, 8 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. "When Rupert Murdoch bought The New York Post a new kind of gossip column was created: Page Six. Its reputation led to more readers and gave its reporters the power. Cindy Adams' career starts to rise, leading to the start of a new era."✔️

Johnson (Bounce TV, 8 p.m.): Bianca spends the night at Keith's loft leading him to believe that they can be more than friends. Omar visits his son Caleb and his estranged wife Naomi. Greg and Jarvis get into a heated political debate.

Legends of Tomorrow (The CW, 8 p.m.): With the legends on high alert with their unwanted guest in their custody, Ava is tasked with the interrogation. Rory is struggling with the terrible baby(?) pain in his head. Zari enlists Astra and Spooner's help to figure what is going on with Constantine.

NYC Epicenters 9/11-> 2021½ (HBO, 8 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. Director Spike Lee explores an epic chronicle of life, loss, and survival in the city of New York over the 20 years since the September 11th attacks. The finale of this docuseries concludes on September 11.✔️

NOTICES:

Breaking the Band (Reelz): Whitesnake

💲 Celebrity Family Feud (ABC): Vivica A. Fox, Bill Bellamy, MLB alums, MLB wives

BRIEFLY: 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? (TLC); Big Brother (CBS); Naked & Afraid (Discovery Channel); The Real Housewives of Potomac (Bravo); Hitler's Secret Bomb (Science, 8 p.m., special)

🕘 9:00 EASTERN / 🕗 8:00 CENTRAL

Animal Kingdom (TNT, 9 p.m.): Pope confronts his demons with the help of a desert guru. Deran marks his territory as J handles business. Craig struggles with the demands of fatherhood.

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 8 p.m.): Aurora and Nick discover a body while on a pre-honeymoon getaway.

Dead Pixels (The CW, 9:30 p.m.): SEASON FINALE. Nicky prepares to meet his love interest Daisy in real life. Meg reboots an old version of Kingdom Scrolls that the three of them can play together.

Godfather of Harlem (Epix, 9:30 p.m.): Bumpy Johnson must protect the Italian mob when Joseph Bonanno decides to abolish the Commission. Captain Omar takes his campaign against Malcolm X to a new level.

Heels (Starz, 9 p.m.): As the wrestlers at the DWL worry about the fallout from the previous show, Jack struggles with what direction to take the narrative and the league, especially after an enticing offer from the FWD's Charlie Gully.

History of the Sitcom (CNN, 9 p.m.): SERIES FINALE. "What sitcoms offer an escape from and to reveals a lot about the state of the American mind -- and the state of sitcom form itself." Some lengthy sitcoms that haven't been sampled: Hogan's Heroes, Night Court, The Danny Thomas Show, The Simpsons, The Love Boat, Doogie Howser, M.D., Our Miss Brooks, and Family Affair.✔️

UFO (Showtime, 9 p.m.): As the world reels from revelations of U.S. government interest in UFOs, a few dissenting voices suggest that apparent interest might actually be a disinformation campaign.

The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.): Season premiere. Daryl leads a mission team to scavenge the military base he discovered. Maggie tells her story, prompting a new mission for survival that only Negan can lead. Eugene and his group go through assessment by the Commonwealth's paramilitary police.

Wellington Paranormal (The CW, 9 p.m.): Officers Minogue and O'Leary investigate a local girls' high school when three teen witches start threatening students.

NOTICES:

Breaking the Band (Reelz): Alice Cooper

Inside the Factory (Smithsonian Channel): Chocolate

Machines That Built America (History): Tesla and Marconi

BRIEFLY: Buddy vs. Duff (Food Network); 💲 The Chase (ABC); North Woods Law (Animal Planet); The Osbournes Want to Believe (Travel Channel , season premiere); Shahs of Sunset (Bravo); Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks (National Geographic)

History of the Sitcom, title sequence

🕙 10 P.M. EASTERN / 🕘 9 P.M. CENTRAL

Chapelwaite (Epix, 10 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. Based on the Stephen King short story Jerusalem’s Lot, in the 1850s, Captain Adrien Brody, who relocates his family of three children to his ancestral home in the small, seemingly sleepy town of Preacher's Corners, Maine after his wife dies at sea. However, he will have to confront his family's dark past. Jennifer Goines Stevie Budd Emily Hampshire is the family's governess.✔️

The L Word: Generation Q (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Bette's passion is ignited at work, while Shane and Tess's business venture doesn't go as planned. Alice resists facing the truth of her situation with Nat. Finley, Sophie, and Dani all struggle to adjust to their new normal.

The Machines That Built America: Snack Sized (History, 10 & 10:30 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. It's just like The Machines That Built America but they're mini episodes. The first episodes cover cars and motorcycles.

NOTICES:

💲 To Tell the Truth (ABC): Caroline Rhea, Deon Cole, Adam Pally

BRIEFLY: 100 Foot Wave (HBO, series finale); Bare Hands Rescue (Animal Planet, special); Forensic Files II (HLN, season finale); Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury (CNN, series finale); Talking Dead (AMC); You, Me & My Ex (TLC, season finale)

💤💤😴💤💤

📺 Mission: Impossible (MeTV, 3 a.m.): The East European Republic wants the location of a horde of Nazi gold from their prisoner Kruger Schtelman, who is due to be released in three days. Despite the efforts of interrogator Colonel Sardner, they haven't acquired the information.

⭐ Work in Progress (Showtime, 11 p.m.): SEASON PREMIERE. Abby settles into a routine with a new roommate as she embarks on a fraught quest for a therapist she doesn't hate. In the series premiere, her previous one died. It was dark and hilarious as Abby talked about starting a countdown to committing suicide.

BRIEFLY: 90 Day Pillow Talk: Happily Ever After (TLC, 11 p.m., season finale); Beach Hunters (HGTV); Beast Buddies (Animal Planet, 11 p.m.); Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, 11 p.m.)

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Note: All times are Eastern.
More TV Listings: The Futon Critic; Zap2it
Key Sources: The Futon Critic; IMDb; J-Archive; TV Passport; Zap2it
⭐: Top Pick
💲: Game show
🎥: Movie
📺: Throwback

✔️: Video/gif/photo included

Happy watching, everyone!