What's On Tonight & Pop Culture: What's On Tonight (Wednesday): Melissa Monsters unite!

The Standups

It's not a wig. I was born this way! Here's what's on television for tonight, Wednesday, December 29!

Tonight's Top Pick is the comedian compilation series The Standups (Netflix, 3 a.m.), which returns after a three-year hiatus with a new batch of comedians, including the beloved Melissa Villaseñor. She and the other five comedians do a standup act/episode that is about 30 minutes. (The specials were filmed this fall.) For Melissa, I expect to see some great impressions and evaluations of her Mexican heritage, which will be a focus again in February for her episode of Finding Your Roots.

Elsewhere, Boba Fett has a post-Sarlacc life, PBS has an Earth Emergency, Investigation Discovery seizes Calls from the Inside, Mariana Van Zeller checks in on meth, and Science profiles the James Webb Space Telescope.

(All times are Eastern. All listings are new unless otherwise stated. For more listings, visit The Futon Critic or Zap2it.)

STREAMING & EARLY PRIMETIME

The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+, 3 a.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. On the sands of Tatoonie, bounty hunter Boba Fett (Temeura Morrison) and mercenary Fennec Shand (Fennec Shand) navigate the Galaxy's underworld and fight for Jabba the Hutt's old territory. This is a spinoff of The Mandalorian. Only the premiere episode is released today for this seven-episode series/season.✔️

💲 Jeopardy! (Syndicated, check local listings): I wish Ken would stop over-obsessing with Amy's DD wagering.

🍽️ Occasional Cooks (What's On Tonight & Pop Culture, 7 p.m.): What have you been making in your kitchen lately? Want some inspiration? Check out our weekly food thread!

Restaurant Hustle 2021: Back in Business (Food Network, 7 p.m.): SPECIAL. "In a follow-up to Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on the Line, chefs Maneet Chauhan, Antonia Lofaso, Christian Petroni, and Marcus Samuelsson turn the cameras back on to document the new highs and lows of navigating the re-emerging restaurant industry."

⭐ The Standups (Netflix, 3 a.m.): SEASON THREE. Season three of this standup performance show is comprised of: Melissa Villaseñor, Mark Normand, Janelle James, Naomi Ekperigin, Dusty Slay, and Brian Simpson. Each comedian has roughly 30 minutes of material for your comedy enjoyment. Previous Standups-ers include Nikki Glaser, Aparna Nancherla, Fortune Feimster, Deon Cole, and Brent Morin.

INTERNATIONAL & DOCUSERIES NOTICES:

Anxious People (Netflix, 3 a.m.): Season 1, Sweden

Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer (Netflix, 3 a.m.): Season 1

BRIEFLY: Black Stories Presents: Your Attention Please (Hulu, 1 p.m.); 💲 People Puzzler (GSN, 6 p.m.); The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles (Paramount+, 3 a.m.)

🕗 8 P.M. EASTERN / 🕖 7 P.M. CENTRAL

Earth Emergency (PBS, 8 p.m.): SPECIAL. "This revealing film examines how human activity is setting off dangerous warming loops that are pushing the climate to a point of no return — and what we need to do to stop them." Happy new year!

BRIEFLY: Married at First Sight (Lifetime, special); Moonshiners (Discovery Channel)✔️; My 600-Ib Life (TLC); Property Brothers: Forever Home (HGTV); Ridiculousness (MTV)

🕘 9 P.M. EASTERN / 🕗 8 P.M. CENTRAL

Calls from the Inside (Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. No, this isn't a documentary or spinoff on Scream. It's another crime docuseries, this time about people in prison still doing bad things.

NOTICES:

Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (National Geographic): Meth

Where Chefs Eat (Cooking Channel): Philadelphia

BRIEFLY: The Bradshaw Bunch (E!); Engineering Catastrophes (Science); Forged in Fire (History); Messyness (MTV)

Moonshiners (via Gfycat)

🕙 10 P.M. EASTERN / 🕘 9 P.M. CENTRAL

Beyond Hubble: Launching the Telescope of Tomorrow (Science, 10 p.m.): SPECIAL. "Engineers and scientists build, test and launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful observatory ever constructed, and the astonishing cosmological mysteries it will investigate."

BRIEFLY: Food Paradise (Cooking Channel, season premiere); House Hunters (HGTV); See No Evil (Investigation Discovery); Too Large (TLC)

💤💤😴💤💤

LINEAR PREMIERES:

The Drowning (Sundance TV, midnight): "Episode 4"

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Key Sources: The Futon Critic; IMDb; J! Archive; TV Passport; Zap2it

⭐: Top Pick
💲: Game show
🎥: Movie
📺: Throwback
✔️: Video/gif/photo included

Happy watching, everyone!