The streaming premiere of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is joined by an animated LEGO distillation of the Disney+ series. A timely documentary examines the generation that grew up in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks. The Lady Greyhounds face their toughest match to date on Ted Lasso. The penultimate episode of Ryan Murphy‘s The Shards imagines its tormented teen protagonists as Shakespearean archetypes (we’re not joking).
Lego Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Special
The franchise that helped launch the Disney+ streaming platform comes full circle when the big-screen Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu makes its streaming debut. To mark the occasion, the streamer offers a behind-the-scenes “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Podcast” (9 pm/ET), featuring the film’s creators and stars Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver. As an added bonus, a tongue-in-cheek — or maybe that should be tongue-in-helmet — animated LEGO special retells the three seasons of the Disney+ adventure in a brisk 45-minute escapade, depicting how the adorable Grogu, aka “Baby Yoda,” helped transform the no-nonsense Mandalorian into a “warm and fuzzy stone-cold bounty hunter.” Among the voices reprising their live-action roles: Amy Sedaris (Peli Motto), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand), Nick Nolte (Kuiil), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Taika Waititi (IG-11 and IG-12), and Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett).
Turning Point: Generation 9/11
Documentary Premiere
A provocative documentary, the fourth in the Turning Point franchise and the second to use the 9/11 terrorist attacks as its starting point, explores the long-reaching impact of that terrible day, especially on the generation that grew up in its dark shadow. Children who lost their parents and are now young adults reflect on how life changed for them 25 years ago, while others were motivated to serve their country in the War on Terror that reached an unsatisfying conclusion with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan two decades later. Our national sense of security has never entirely recovered, and as one observer notes: “The generation that is just coming of age now just knows a different America.”
Ted Lasso
The clashing coaching styles of upbeat Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and his scowling assistant Alice (Tanya Reynolds) come to a head when the Lady Greyhounds take on their toughest rival yet from Chelsea. While the team can’t help speculating about Coach Ted’s private life, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) is drawn back into his ex, Jane’s (Phoebe Walsh) orbit while team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is rocked by news from her hot pilot beau, Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn).
The Shards
Shakespeare once wrote, “What a piece of work is a man.” But he could never have conceived of the preposterous pieces of work that populate the privileged Buckley prep school of Bret Easton Ellis‘s imagination, where Shakespeare’s classic plays provide a symbolic backdrop in the series’ penultimate episode. Bret (Igby Rigney), naturally, fancies himself as a 1980s Hamlet, sensing something rotten in his L.A. kingdom, where tarnished golden couple Susan (Kaia Gerber) and Thom (Graham Campbell) are playing out a twisted variation on Romeo and Juliet. And yet it all feels like so much ado about nothing.
Reacher
Gotta admit, I laughed when the indomitable hulk known as Reacher (Alan Ritchson), whose “Most Wanted” face is now plastered on Philadelphia’s electronic billboards, dons a ball cap for a disguise. “You think a hat’s gonna make you blend in?” scoffs his detective partner Tamara (Sydelle Noel) as they hit the road in search of the mystery chemist caught up in the latest mayhem. Back in Philly, small-town Jersey cop Jacob (Christopher Marquette) turns to a trusted source for help — but can anyone really be trusted?
- America’s Got Talent (8/7c, NBC): Find out which acts made the cut to advance to the semifinals.
- Jeopardy! Masters (8/7c, ABC): It’s the last night of quarterfinals, and only four of the masters will make it to the semifinals on Thursday and Friday.
- MasterChef (8/7c, Fox): It’s down to the wire for the top five cooks, with only three moving on to the finals after this week’s challenge, as they try to keep up with Master Chefs Gordon Ramsay and Tiffany Derry when they make their signature dishes in real time. Followed by a new episode of Nation’s Dumbest (9/8c).
- The Lindsay Clancy Trial (9/8c, The CW): NewsNation national correspondent Brian Entin provides the latest news from the sensational murder trial. He interviews Rusty Yates, the ex-husband of Andrea Yates, who confessed to killing her children in 2001 in another high-profile trial, and Dr. Catherine Birndorf, a reproductive psychiatrist who co-founded the postpartum depression treatment center The Motherhood Center.
- The Runner (streaming on Prime Video): The thriller stars Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot, back in action-hero mode as a lawyer led on a hectic chase through London by a mystery caller (Damian Lewis) who kidnapped her son.
Lego Star Wars: The MandalorianTed LassoThe ShardsTurning Point: Generation 9/11
