Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!
Jenny’s Choice #1
My first pick tonight is the new single-camera comedy on ABC, Single Parents. Looking at the premise, I assumed that it would be one of those shows that I liked but that critics didn’t, but from almost everything I’ve read so far on TV sites/blogs, critics are really enjoying it. And I have to say that I’ve seen the pilot as well and I loved it too.
The show focuses on a group of single parents all raising their kids (mainly 7-year-olds) as…well…single parents. They’re sarcastic, funny, and don’t hesitate to say out loud what so many of us parents want to say but don’t. Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond among others) especially has a dry sense of humor and seems to have few boundaries – such as saying kids are the perfect size to wash cars as his twin daughters are outside washing his car. When the small group of single parents meets a new father/daughter (Will & Sophie) at school, they quickly learn he’s a single father as well, but there’s one big difference: Will has fully immersed himself into single parenthood. His life revolves around his daughter and nothing else, including who he himself is as a man. The group decides it’s up to them to bring him out of the parenting vortex and remind him he’s allowed to have a life while still being a loving and attentive father to his daughter.
The cast is great. Besides Brad Garrett, who is always exceptionally funny in everything he does, it includes “parents†Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live), Kimrie Lewis, & Jake Choi, as well as kids Marlow Barkley, Tyler Wladis, Devin Trey Campbell, & twins Mia and Ella Allan. (And a baby who plays Jake Choi’s character’s infant son. Choi is brilliant as a new dad. So funny.)
I urge you to give this one a chance. It’s really quite amusing!
On tonight’s episode, “Pilot,†Will Cooper has been so focused on raising his daughter, Sophie, he’s lost sight of who he is as a man and has headed deep into the parental vortex. When the other single parents – Angie, Douglas, Poppy, and Jake – at his daughter’s school see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.
Check out the new fun tonight on ABC at 9:31/8:31c.
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch.
Kyle’s Choice
Tonight I’m looking forward to the return of ABC’s Wednesday night comedies, which lead into the premieres of two new shows being added to the lineup. It’s difficult to pick a favorite among the returning comedies – while each has its own unique tone and style, they all center around family. The Goldbergs always provides a really fun blend of 80s nostalgia and heartwarming family comedy, following the adventures of a neurotic, film-obsessed teenage son, his obnoxious dim-witted older brother, his smothering mother, his loud father, and his college drop-out/aspiring singer sister. American Housewife always finds the frantic Katie stuck in some crazy situation as she tries to prove to the other parents and neighbors that she and her family aren’t out of place in their wealthy Connecticut neighborhood. And, heading into its tenth season, Modern Family still manages to provide lots of laughs, creatively interweaving the misadventures of members of an unconventional extended family. I look forward to checking out these returning favorites and checking out the two new shows at the end of tonight’s ABC lineup.
On tonight’s 6th season premiere of The Goldbergs, “Sixteen Candles,†when Beverly and Murray are too distracted by Barry’s engagement and Erica’s ambitions to remember Adam’s 16th birthday, Adam takes the opportunity to ask Erica for help with his social life; Beverly thinks she can scare Barry and Lainey straight.
Then, in the 3rd season premiere of American Housewife, “Mom Guilt,†Katie must balance her home life and work life when she goes back to work as a party planner.
And in the 10th season premiere of Modern Family, “I Love a Parade,†the family gets together for the annual Fourth of July parade, where Jay acts as the grand marshal; Haley’s farewell to Arvin doesn’t go as well as expected, and she is distracted by the return of an old flame.
Don’t miss the start of the new season for all three comedies tonight on ABC starting at 8/7c.
I’ll also be watching/recording Single Parents, A Million Little Things, Survivor, Big Brother, and American Horror Story: Apocalypse.
Phoebe’s Choice
When South Park first came out in 1997, I was a sophomore in college and the ripe target audience for their vulgar alien probing, fart jokes, and other assorted antics. As the show grew to tackle more moral issues and politics, I marveled at how it managed to balance the crude with the astute. If you can’t get past the juvenile humor, you won’t get through to the brilliant social commentary. The last two seasons they toyed with episode-to-episode continuity, a thing that was mostly absent the first nineteen years – I mean FFS they killed Kenny every single episode the first five seasons.
That continuity saw Cartman start a relationship with a cute, funny girl named Heidi who he slowly gaslit into a monster with similar lack of hygiene or care for physical self that Cartman embodies. Last season’s finale brought that horrible relationship to a conclusion with Cartman threatening to kill himself if she broke up with him. She broke up with him anyway in front of the whole school.
The creepy side of the episode was Mr. Garrison’s “orange-faced president†satire driven to act like Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s It. He sneaked around and found isolated children to ask them, “Have you seen my approval ratings?†It was a whole lot of #NotOK but didn’t go anywhere too interesting. The last thread was the discovery of PC Principle’s love affair with new Vice Principle Strong Woman. Sometimes they just go ham on deadpan blunt names. There was a ridiculous revulsion by the townspeople who discovered “two co-workers are attracted to each other? How could that be?!?!â€
Allegedly they will be falling back off the constant continuity and are actually leading the season off with a #CancelSouthPark stunt on Twitter right now. But since Matt & Trey have a contract with Comedy Central that runs through next season 23 in 2019, I know that’s a big old joke. Hope it’s funny this time. The show has turned to a bit of a hit or miss gamble the last two years.
On tonight’s episode, “Dead Kids,†Sharon is overreacting to everything these days and Randy can’t cope. Randy is desperate to help Sharon get her emotions under control and Cartman unexpectedly fails his math test. [Note from Jenny: This episode deals with school shootings, so if that’s a…gah, bad wording, but don’t know how else to phrase it, sorry…trigger warning, please avoid.]
See how the season premiere is for you tonight on Comedy Central at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching Lethal Weapon (because Seann William Scott!!), Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and American Horror Story.
Megan’s Choice
It has been a wonderful week for television so far, and I am loving every moment of it. Great new shows and old favorites have been bringing me joy, and I hope you’re having as much fun.
Tonight is the series premiere of A Million Little Things, a new drama that focuses on a group of friends who have been simply going through life, not truly living. It takes a tragedy to help them all start living better lives and becoming the people they were meant to be. It’s got a great cast: David Giuntoli (Grimm), James Roday (Psych), Grace Park (Hawaii Five-0), Romany Malco (Keep It Together, No Ordinary Family), Ron Livingston (Defying Gravity, Standoff), Allison Miller (Incorporated, Kings, Terra Nova), Christina Moses (Condor, Containment), Christina Ochoa (Valor, Blood Drive), Lizzy Greene, & Stephanie Szostake (Satisfaction). If you tune in for anything, tune in for them!
On tonight’s episode, “Pilot,” they say friendship isn’t one big thing, it’s a million little things, and that’s true for a group of friends from Boston who bond under unexpected circumstances. Some have achieved success, others are struggling in their careers and relationships, but all of them feel stuck in life. After one of them dies by suicide, it’s just the wake-up call the others need to finally start living.
To see if this new drama is everything it seems like it is going to be, tune in to ABC at 10/9c.
I’ll also be watching Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Single Parents, and Guy’s Grocery Games.
Jenny’s Choice #2
It’s a big night for #OneChicago fans because all three Chicago shows are back tonight. Last season ended with some huge cliffhangers on all three shows, setting up for some exciting premieres. On Chicago Med, Will was waiting and waiting for the perfect opportunity to propose to Natalie, but she stormed away when she found out who he’d slept with (even though it was supposedly forgiven/forgotten). He raced after her out into the parking lot, where he got down on one knee and proposed. Really, Will? What horrible timing! Elsewhere in the show, April basically broke up with Ethan when he didn’t believe her about his sister Emily, who was using/selling drugs and even stole some from the hospital to sell. April felt like Ethan was enabling Emily, so when he wanted to let her move back in with them, April said goodbye. After performing a big save during an operation, Connor was offered a position with the Mayo Clinic, and when Ava didn’t ask him to stay, he decided to take the job. And finally, Dr. Charles confronted Sarah’s father about his suspicions that he was a serial killer, and the man who was still in the hospital recovering from a heart transplant had a heart attack! Dr. Charles started to do CPR…but then stopped and looked down into his eyes…and that’s when Sarah walked in. So lots to answer for tonight! What will Natalie say to the proposal? Will April and Ethan still be apart? Will Connor already be gone? Did Sarah’s father die?
Skip to the Chicago Fire finale. Boden was up for a promotion, and it looked good that he would get it. Unfortunately, he was going up against Grissom. And even though Otis had put together a huge binder of proof that Grissom had been cheating on his numbers for years, Grissom was given the job as the new fire commissioner before they had a chance to reach the mayor and show him the proof. Because Severide backed Boden instead of Grissom, he and Boden will both need to watch their backs! Grissom is going to have it out for both of them! And finally, Gabby and Casey found out that it would be very, very dangerous to her health if she got pregnant. Casey assumed they’d be on the same page about adoption instead of Gabby carrying their baby, but she was adamant that she wanted to have a baby. Casey went behind her back and made a trip to an adoption agency for more information, and it was just another huge log on the fire demolishing their relationship. Earlier in the episode, Gabby had been asked if she was interested in going to Puerto Rico to help with the relief efforts there. At the time, she turned him down, but in the end, she called the man who made the offer and asked for more information. So will Gabby head off to Puerto Rico? I’m guessing so, since the actress quit the show! What does that mean for her and Casey?
And finally, we get to Chicago PD. Al was stabbed in prison at the end of the previous episode. Voight was negotiating with Denny Woods about letting Al go if he confesses to the murder when he got the call about Al, and he left without finishing it (thank goodness. LOL). It isn’t long before we learned that Al was dead. The team quickly figured out who bribed the prison guard and the guy who stabbed Al, and Voight was alone on the roof of the building they found him at (preparing to flee), when he shot the man twice and killed him. He claimed the man was reaching for a gun, but two construction workers witnessed the shooting and immediately started claiming he was unarmed. Antonio, who Voight had sent a different direction than the one he himself went to find the perp, did indeed find a gun, but he was skeptical about it being a drop gun of Voight’s and not the bad guy’s. Unfortunately, he didn’t actually see the shooting, and when called in for questioning, that’s what he said. That caused a huge fight between him and Ruzek, who thinks it doesn’t matter, since the guy who killed Al is dead and that’s all that does matter. Meanwhile, Denny Woods thought he was getting the goods on Voight when Judge Osha, who was working with Voight, brought Woods a witness that said she saw Voight with the murder victim on the night he was killed. Woods “convinces her†to alter her statement a little in order to implicate Voight more, in exchange for a payment…only it turns out it was a setup, and now Internal Affairs was there to arrest Woods. The most moving part of the episode to me was the last couple of minutes, when Voight went up on the roof with a bottle of alcohol and broke down about Al’s death. His pain and anger were almost palpable even through the TV screen. So now that Al’s dead and Denny Woods was arrested, does that mean Voight’s in the clear? Will Antonio and Ruzek be able to put aside their differences and work together? How will the team be handling things now? I can’t wait to find out!
On tonight’s episode of Chicago Med, “Be My Better Half,†Goodwin finds herself quickly clashing with the new hospital COO Gwen Garrett (guest star Heather Headley) while April questions whether or not Ethan’s sister, Emily, is using again. Dr. Charles deals with his past actions.
Then on tonight’s episode of Chicago Fire, “A Closer Eye,†Casey tries to deal with his unsettled personal life and the firehouse welcomes a new member. Boden clashes with new Assistant Deputy Commissioner Jerry Gorsch (guest star Steven Boyer).
And finally, on tonight’s episode of Chicago PD, “New Normal,†bad heroin is causing overdoses in Chicago, and Intelligence is a man down with Voight suspended. Antonio takes charge, but Ruzek undermines his authority.
Check out three hours of great #OneChicago shows on NBC starting at 8/7c.
I’ll also be watching/DVRing The Goldbergs, American Housewife, Guy’s Grocery Games, Modern Family, & Property Brothers.
