What's On Tonight (Friday): It's Getting, It's Getting, It's Getting Kinda Hectic...

 

The Power

Remember last week when there wasn't much going on?  This week the going is getting on.  We got a new movie about how Tetris became a thing I used to play on my Gameboy in the back row of geometry class.  We've got Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston in Murder Mystery 2, a sequel to the hit (🤷‍♂️) 2019 Netflix film.  There's even a British rom-com film on Hulu that looks good.  And yet, all of these films will walk away empty-handed tonight as none of them have Toni Collette, John Leguizamo and teenage girls with mutant electricity powers.  God bless America.

⭐⚡ The Power (Amazon, 12:01 AM) SERIES PREMIERE. 'Suddenly, and without warning, teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people at will. The series features a cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers' collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world.  Based on British author Naomi Alderman's award-winning novel and starring Toni Collette and John Leguizamo.'

Elsewhere...

*The Murder Mystery 2 trailer also features Mark Strong.  I'm going to guess right now that Mark Strong is the murderer.

*Shudder has a new horror film about a deaf woman who gets her hearing back.  I assume the horror part is her realizing how no one ever shuts the fuck up.

I'm not sure what's going on with The Mandalorian this season.  We finally get an episode that is more of a throwback to the first season and yet it didn't really hit with me.  One of the big issues is it feels like the show is barely about Din and Grogu anymore.  The lack of a clear big bad isn't helping either.  The show just feels directionless.  I'll keep watching because I still enjoy it, but if you had told me a year ago that of Kenobi, Andor, and The Mandalorian that Andor would easily be the best of the three?  I would never have believed it.  

Oh, and the fan service on last week's episode of Picard was painful.  A space museum where all of the important starships throughout history are kept?  Why would anyone bother and who is this museum for?  There doesn't seem to be anyone living on the planet below.  Who the hell is visiting this museum?  And as much as I love the Defiant, would it really be there too?  I like a lot about this show but the stupid parts I don't like seem to be getting more and more prominent.  I don't think this season will shit the bed like the first one did (the second one shit the bed from the premiere and kept right on shitting through the closing credits of the last episode) but my expectations are low.

PREMIERES

Tetris

🎥 Tetris (Apple, 12:01 AM) 'Based on the true story of American video game salesman Henk Rogers and his discovery of Tetris in 1988.  When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Curtain.  Starring Taron Egerton.'

🦉 Eva the Owlet (Apple, 12:01 AM) SEASON ONE. 'Eva is a creative, cheeky owlet who lives next door to her best friend Lucy in the woodland world of Treetopington. With big ideas and an even bigger personality, Eva goes on high-flying adventures, expressing herself in her journal along the way!  Based on the book series "Owl Diaries" by award-winning author Rebecca Elliott.'

🎥 Monumental: Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens (Freevee, 12:01 AM) 'Monumental is a music performance special with a smart, narrative approach. Taking location and storytelling to their apexes, the program creates unforgettable concert experiences at the most iconic locations in the world. Each hour-long special dives deep into the design, creativity, and ambition of these important music events and venues, telling the unique story of each featured artist and highlighting their connection to the location.'

🎥 Rye Lane (Hulu, 12:01 AM) 'Yas and Dom, two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London -- helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.'

💀 Copycat Killer (Netflix, 3:01 AM) SEASON ONE. 'A serial killer taps into the media interest over his murders and ruthlessly manipulates their victims, the police and the media like a puppet master, turning the case into a national spectacle.'

🎥 Kill Boksoon (Netflix, 3:01 AM) 'At work, she's a renowned assassin. At home, she's a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That's easy. It's parenting that's the hard part.'

🎥 Murder Mystery 2 (Netflix, 3:01 AM) 'After starting their own detective agency, Nick and Audrey Spitz land a career-making case when their billionaire pal is kidnapped from his wedding.  Starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston.'

🎥 The Unheard (Shudder, 3:01 AM) 'Follows 20-year-old Chloe Grayden, who after undergoing an experimental procedure to restore her damaged hearing, begins to suffer from auditory hallucinations seemingly related to the mysterious disappearance of her mother.'

🔔 TMZ No BS: Cardi B (Tubi, 3:01 AM) SPECIAL PRESENTATION. 'Stripper. Reality Star. Rap Legend. Cardi B became an undeniably talented and entertaining celebrity, but with her rise came headlines, cheating scandals, court cases, and beefs.'

🎥 The Baby Swindler (Lifetime, 8:00 PM) 'When the woman who's carrying her unborn baby disappears, a widow does all she can to save the life of her child.'

🎭 Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (PBS, 9:00 PM) 'Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell receives the 2023 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.'

😂 The Great American Joke Off (CW, 9:30 PM) SERIES PREMIERE. 'Hosted by Dulcé Sloan, the show features several riotous rounds in each episode that involve telling as many quick gags as possible on given categories, mashing different subjects together to create delicious puns, coming up with hilarious set-ups to different punchlines, or even using the texts on an audience member's phone as a springboard for jokes. Dulcé decides which team has won each round based on who she thinks has been the funniest.'

🔔 Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Inside the Series (Paramount, 10:30 PM) 'A behind the scenes look at the new Paramount series.'

The Unheard

RETURNING SHOWS

🎵 Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple, 12:01 AM) SPECIAL PRESENTATION.

👨‍⚕️ Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. (Disney+, 3:01 AM) SEASON TWO PREMIERE.

🔔 Die Hart (Roku, 3:01 AM) SEASON TWO.

🔔 The Unexplained (History, 9:00 PM) SEASON FIVE PREMIERE.

😂 Whose Line is it Anyway? (CW, 9:00 PM) SEASON 20 PREMIERE.

STREAMING

🔔 Extrapolations (Apple, 12:01 AM) "2059 Part II: Nightbirds" 

🔔 Hello Tomorrow! (Apple, 12:01 AM) "Certain Forces Once Unleashed" 

🔔 Liaison (Apple, 12:01 AM) SEASON FINALE. "An Eye for an Eye" 

🔔 The Problem with Jon Stweart (Apple, 12:01 AM) "Searching for Allies" 

⚖ Judy Justice (Freevee, 12:01 AM) 

🏠 Beach Cottage Chronicles (Discovery+ & HBO Max, 3:01 AM) 

🚗 Engine Masters (Motortrend, 3:01 AM) 

💖 Love is Blind (Netflix, 3:01 AM) Episodes 406-408

👮‍♂️ Cops (Fox Nation, 6:00 PM) 

Rye Lane

SPORTSBALL TODAY/TONIGHT

🏌️‍♂️ PGA Tour Golf: Valero Texas Open, Second Round (Golf, 4:00 PM)

🏀 College Basketball: NABC All-Star game (CBSSN, 4:30 PM)

🏀 Boy's High School Basketball: Geico Nationals, Second Semifinal: Westtown (PA) at Montverde (FL) (ESPN2, 4:30 PM)

🥍 Men's College Lacrosse: Duke at Virginia (ESPNU, 5:00 PM)

🏀 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: First Semifinal: LSU vs. Virginia Tech (ESPN, 7:00 PM)

🥍 NLL Lacrosse: New York Riptide at Georgia Swarm (ESPNews, 7:00 PM)

🏈 XFL Football: Seattle Sea Dragons at Arlington Renegades (FX, 7:00 PM)

🏌️‍♀️ LPGA Tour Golf: DIO Implant LA Open, Second Round (Golf, 7:00 PM)

🥍 Men's College Lacrosse: Boston University at Navy (CBSSN, 7:30 PM)

🏀 NBA Basketball: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA TV, 8:00 PM)

🏀 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: Second Semifinal: Iowa vs. South Carolina (ESPN, 9:30 PM)

🥊 Bellator MMA Live: 293: Golm vs. James (Showtime, 10:00 PM)

🏀 NBA Basketball: Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix, Suns (NBA TV, 10:30 PM)

Eva the Owlet

EARLY PRIMETIME

🧽 Spongebob Squarepants (Nickelodeon, 7:00 PM) 'The Krusty Krab enters a float in the annual Bikini Bottom Parade.'

🧛‍♀️ Monster High (Nickelodeon, 7:30 PM) 'Draculaura, Clawdeen and Frankie meet Twyla, a boogey monster, while having a sleepover in the library; Frankie, fascinated by Kuma's scaritage, does a ritual unsupervised causing trouble for all Monster High's undead students.'

🕗 8:00 EASTERN / 🕖 7:00 CENTRAL

🦈 Shark Tank (ABC, 8:00 PM) 'A portable product for those who enjoy camping without the dangers of creating a wildfire; a smoothie-making machine; an oral health product; a portable cooler accessory; an update on fashion business No Limbits; guest shark Daniel Lubetzky.'

👮‍♂️ S.W.A.T. (CBS, 8:00 PM) 'The team works with the FBI to hunt one of its most-wanted fugitives; Hondo and Nichelle are faced with an unexpected development in her pregnancy.'

👻 Secrets of Sulphur Springs (Disney Channel, 8:00 PM) 'The twins arrive in the past and find Savannah; Griffin and Harper realize they need to go back to 1947 just as Ben makes the bunker off limits.

🔔 Penn & Teller: Fool Us (CW, 8:00 PM) 
🔔 WWE's Friday Night Smackdown (Fox, 8:00 PM) 
🔔 Lopez vs. Lopez (NBC, 8:00 PM) 
💰 Gold Rush (Discovery, 8:00 PM) 
🎥 The Baby Swindler (Lifetime, 8:00 PM) 
🔨 First Time Fixer (Magnolia, 8:00 PM) 
🔔 RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV, 8:00 PM)
💖 Ready to Love (OWN, 8:00 PM)
👮‍♂️ On Patrol: First Shift (Reelz, 8:00 PM) 
👻 Power Book 2: Ghost (Starz, 8:02 PM) 
🔔 Grand Crew (NBC, 8:30 PM) 
🔔 Saturdays (Disney Channel, 8:30 PM) 

🕗 9:00 EASTERN / 🕖 8:00 CENTRAL

🔥 Fire Country (CBS, 9:00 PM) 'An internal investigator suspects Jake of being the serial arsonist setting recent fires, so Bode and the crew take it upon themselves to investigate.'

🔔 The Unexplained (History, 9:00 PM) 'Through records in historical texts, oral tradition and folklore, exploring how a once-thriving community becomes a lost city; what secrets found in the ruins reveal about human history.'

🔔 Party Down (Starz, 9:04 PM) SEASON FINALE. 'Henry and the Party Down crew scheme to keep their latest party going all night.'

😂 Whose Line is it Anyway? (CW, 9:00 PM) 
💀 Dateline NBC (NBC, 9:00 PM) 
🎭 Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (PBS, 9:00 PM) 
🔔 Saturdays (Disney Channel, 9:00 PM) 
🍴 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food, 9:00 PM) 
🏠 My Lottery Dream Home (HGTV, 9:00 PM) 
💖 Put a Ring on It (OWN, 9:00 PM) 
💀 The Real Murders of Atlanta (Oxygen, 9:00 PM) 
👮‍♂️ On Patrol: Live (Reelz, 9:00 PM) 
💖 Love After Lockup (WE, 9:00 PM) 
🔔 20/20 (ABC, 9:01 PM) 
😂 The Great American Joke Off (CW, 9:30 PM) 
🔔 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (MTV, 9:30 PM) 

Kill Boksoon

🕗 10:00 EASTERN / 🕖 9:00 CENTRAL

👮‍♂️ Blue Bloods (CBS, 10:00 PM) 'Jamie learns that Eddie's close friend Tracey may be using the restaurant she owns as a drug front; Erin is accused of causing the suicide of a former colleague; Danny and Baez are faced with various descriptions of the same suspect.'

🔔 Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10:00 PM) 
🎨 The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist (MTV, 10:00 PM) 
🤼‍♂️ All Elite Wrestling: Rampage (TNT, 10:00 PM) 
💰 Gold Rush: Parker's Trail (Discovery, 10:02 PM) 

LATE NIGHT

🔔 The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (NBC, 11:34 PM) 'Actor Chris Pratt; journalist Elizabeth Vargas; Maisie Peters performs.'

🔔 Late Night with Seth Myers (NBC, 12:37 PM) 'Actor Ike Barinholtz; actress Melissa Barrera; author Margaret Atwood; Urian Hackney sits in with the 8G Band.'

🔔 Game Theory with Bomani Jones (HBO, 11:00 PM) SEASON FINALE. 
💰 Gold Rush: The Dirt (Discovery, 11:02 PM) 
🔔 Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime (CNN. 11:30 PM) 
🔔 Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC, 11:35 PM) 
🔔 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS, 12:35 PM)
🔔 Nightline (ABC, 12:37 AM) 
🔔 Late Night with Seth Myers (NBC, 12:37 PM) 
🔔 The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS, 1:37 AM) 

Broadcast/Cable/Satellite - RETRO BINGE

The Andy Griffith Show (Sundance, 6:00 AM - 1:00 PM); Brooklyn 99 (Comedy Central, 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM); M*A*S*H* (TVLand, 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM); Roseanne (CMT, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM); Living Single (TVOne, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM); Hawaii Five-0 (Ion, 10:00 AM - 2:00 AM); ER (Pop, 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM); Gunsmoke (TVLand, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM); Law & Order (Sundance, 1:00 PM - 1:00 AM); Seinfeld (Comedy Central, 2:00 - 5:00 PM); Family Ties (Antenna, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM); The Office (Comedy Central, 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM); One Day at a Time (Antenna, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM); Three's Company (Antenna, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM); The Jeffersons (Antenna, 8:00 PM -9:00 PM); Everybody Loves Raymond (TV Land, 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM); Barney Miller (Antennae, 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM); King of Queens (TV Land, 11:05 PM - 2:00 AM); Designing Women (Antenna, 11:30 PM); Becker (Antenna, 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM); Wings (Antennae, 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM); Alice (Antenna, 2:00 AM - 3:00 AM); Benson (Antenna, 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM); Mom (TV Land, 3:10 AM - 4:50 AM)

📺 Johnny Carson (Antenna, 10:00 PM) 'Bruce Dern; Fernando Lamas; Mike Preminger; Dr. Samuel Dunkell.'

Murder Mystery 2

Key Sources: The Futon Critic; Zap2it; Netflix; Wikipedia; Horrornews.net; Sysfy.com; hollywoodreporter.com

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