Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2, 2019 i TV Guide Magazine

@TVGMMattRoush We really enjoyed Elementary—Jonny Lee Miller is the best Sherlock Holmes ever! We’re sorry to see that it’s over, but we liked the way the last episode ended, and it seems like it may have left the series open for more episodes should another station or cable channel opt to pick it up. Any chance that may happen? Maybe some two-hour movie specials? —Rich MATT ROUSH: Sometimes we should just be thankful for a happy ending. When Sherlock and Watson (Lucy Liu) headed back to the NYPD to offer their services, with Sherlock noting, “As long as we’re together, what does it matter?” the implication is that, while the show may be over, their exploits continue. There are no plans to continue the series, and Liu has already booked…

3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT DOG’S MOST WANTED DUANE “DOG” CHAPMAN, who spent four decades hunting bail jumpers—a perilous way to earn a living that was chronicled on A&E’s popular Dog the Bounty Hunter and CMT’s Dog and Beth: On the Hunt—is back on the trail! In WGN America’s Dog’s Most Wanted, he’s cuffing some of the country’s most dangerous fugitives, and he’s searching with more conviction than ever. Keep the following in mind. 1Higher stakes mean better equipment. Chapman’s targets include elusive names on any police blotter (“We’re going after people accused of sexually assaulting children or attempted murder,” he says), so the old dog is using new tricks. Drones and night-vision equipment come in handy in the premiere episode’s search for a criminal with 68 counts against him…

PREMIERES Thursday, Sept. 26, 8:30/7:30c, CBS LIFE AFTER LOSS is never easy. But as this warmhearted comedy hopes to show, with more than a little help from your family and friends, it’s possible to laugh—and maybe even love—again. Justified’s Walton Goggins (right) stars as Wade Felton, a widower so adored by his community that he and his daughters (Ruby Jay and Makenzie Moss) still have a freezer full of meals prepared by neighbors a year after his wife’s death. Wade’s closest pals, married couples Forrest and Delia (Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins) and Ben and Michelle (Omar Miller and Maya Lynne Robinson), encourage him to reengage with the world, starting with an attempt at online dating. Since Wade is such a rare catch (aka the unicorn), we asked Goggins to…

PREMIERES Friday, Sept. 27, Netflix TEEN PAYTON HOBART (Ben Platt) has but a simple dream: to one day occupy the Oval Office. And he sincerely believes the first step to getting there is winning the student body presidential election at California’s posh Saint Sebastian High School. This drama with dark comedic elements—created by Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) and collaborators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan—lays out Payton’s desperate measures to stay on track. Let’s meet the aspirational teen and the friends (and enemies) in his orbit. PAYTON HOBART (BEN PLATT) According to Platt, the “headstrong and somewhat egomaniacal” Payton begins to show cracks in his shiny veneer when he suspects he may not clinch the majority of votes. And though The Politician is no musical à la Glee, the…

PREMIERES Wednesday, Oct. 23, 11/10c, SundanceTV Victoria’s Jenna Coleman delivers a tour de force as young mother Joanna, whose life and mental state are shattered when her infant son disappears during a trip Down Under with her husband, Alistair (Ewan Leslie, below, with Coleman). The story, adapted from Helen FitzGerald’s novel, “is imbued with unbearable tension,” exec producer Claire Mundell says. Over four twisty episodes, suspicion shifts from Alistair’s Australia-based ex-wife, Alexandra (Asher Keddie), to Joanna herself, and it becomes clear she and Alistair know more than they’re telling police. Hints Mundell, “Joanna’s character arc is among the most extreme I’ve ever read.”…

PREMIERES Sunday, Sept. 29, 10/9c, Epix (timeslot premiere: Sunday, Oct. 6, 9/8c) It’s 1963. “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas is a hit. The Civil Rights Movement is exploding. And notorious Harlem crime boss and community hero Bumpy Johnson (Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, above left, with Rony Clanton)—a real-life figure—is released after 10 years in Alcatraz. In Epix’s impeccably cast 10-episode drama Godfather of Harlem, Bumpy gets straight back to business, leaving a welcome-home party thrown by savvy wife Mayme (Ilfenesh Hadera, Billions) in their glamorous penthouse to begin reclaiming his crime territory from the Genovese mob family. “Bumpy’s bodyguard told me he was a unique type of gangster, somebody willing to get his hands dirty. He would get out of his car and engage in an actual gun…

PREMIERES Sunday, Oct. 20, 9/8c, HBO IMAGINE IT’S THE first half of the 20th century. People with combat skills, inspired by comic book heroes, don capes and step into the public eye, changing America forever. By the 1980s, these vigilantes are outlawed and forced into retirement or government gigs. And then someone starts murdering them. That’s the premise for the original Watchmen comics, an alt-history deconstruction of the crime-fighter genre that debuted in September 1986, printing 12 issues over 13 months. Damon Lindelof, the producer behind mind-boggling shows like Lost and The Leftovers, marks his TV return by bringing Watchmen into 2019 with a cast that includes Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson and many more. Set in Tulsa, the series picks up more than 30 years after the…

PREMIERES Thursday, Sept. 26, Shudder Strange, eerie, terrifying…check, check and check! Executive producer Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead) brings Creepshow’s bite-size horror tales back with this reboot. The six-episode anthology (new hours stream weekly) is based on the 1982 cult film written by Stephen King and directed by Night of the Living Dead’s George Romero. (Fun fact: Nicotero served as makeup effects artist for 1987’s Creepshow 2.) Each episode contains two dark tales (an upcoming one is written by King’s son, Joe Hill), and the cast includes (clockwise from top left) David Arquette, Tricia Helfer, Adrienne Barbeau and Bruce Davison. “Some stories are funny, some scary, some suspenseful,” Nicotero teases. “You get a different experience with each.” The opener’s stories are a haunted dollhouse yarn from Bird Box writer Josh…

PREMIERES Tuesday, Nov. 12, Disney+ A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Yep, The Mandalorian—dropping each of its eight episodes weekly on the new streaming service Disney+—takes place in the same universe as Star Wars. Just don’t expect Luke Skywalker to come whizzing onto the screen piloting an X-wing starfighter. “The Mandalorian deals with people who exist much more on the fringe of the galaxy,” explains executive producer Dave Filoni. The protagonist: an adventurous bounty hunter known simply as the Mandalorian (hey, it’s better than Boba Fett!), played by Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal (above). Continues Filoni: “My generation has been fascinated with Star Wars bounty hunters since [1980’s] The Empire Strikes Back, and now we’re getting to see one in action, using his skills and tools…

THE ACT Nominated for two awards, including outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie Patricia Arquette plays a sick mom who forces her daughter (Joey King) to pretend she’s afflicted with a host of illnesses. FOSSE/VERDON Nominated for 18 awards, including outstanding limited series An FX bio of director Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and his muse, Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams, right). THIS IS US Nominated for nine awards, including outstanding drama NBC’s family tearjerker starring Sterling K. Brown and Mandy Moore had us experiencing all the feels in Season 3.…

Newly Available Cloverfield (2008) Horror movie from J.J. Abrams featuring Lizzy Caplan and Odette Annable as New Yorkers fleeing a monster. Inglorious Basterds (2009) Before director Quentin Tarantino teamed up with Brad Pitt on Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, the two made this fine WWII film about an Allied officer (Pitt) who terrorizes Nazis. Little Monsters (1989) Fred Savage stars in this family film about a kid who befriends the creatures under his bed. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continue their quest to destroy the One Ring in the second installment in J.R.R. Tolkein’s epic series. The conclusion, The Return of the King, is also available. Mean Dreams (2016) A teen (Josh Wiggins) steals cash and runs away with…

COVER LOVE I am a huge fan of PBS’s Poldark and have written to TV GUIDE MAGAZINE in the past questioning why it receives so little attention. Thank you for making up for that by putting the fabulous Aidan Turner on your most recent cover [August 19]! I am sad that Poldark is ending, and I hope that we will see more from Aidan Turner in the future. —Robin HAPPY CUSTOMER We have been subscribers for a long, long time, and I decided to write and tell you how happy we are with your magazine. Your articles are always interesting and informative about the entertainment industry, and your detailed listings are so helpful. Worth every penny of the subscription cost! —Susanne Email us: letters@tvgm.com COMING NEXT ISSUE RETURNING FAVORITES Our…

BH9021-Oh, No! Fox’s reunion/revival, featuring the original Beverly Hills, 90210 cast (including Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling, above) playing scripted versions of themselves as they try to reboot the old soap, is losing luster after a promising start. Here’s how total viewers stacked up after three episodes: August 7 3.9 million August 14 2.5 August 21 2.2 Remembering Patrick Swayze Two million viewers had the time of their lives on August 18 watching Paramount Network’s I Am Patrick Swayze (viewership includes an encore showing on Paramount and a simulcast on sister network TV Land). The documentary celebrates the life of the Dirty Dancing and Ghost star (above, in 1989’s Road House), who died of pancreatic cancer in 2009. It was the most watched personality-themed doc of 2019 in total viewers, besting…

PREMIERES Tuesday, Sept. 24, 9/8c, ABC The ish universe expands again (ABC’s black-ish has already spawned Freeform’s grown-ish) with this prequel following biracial black-ish mom Rainbow as a 12-year-old. Young Bow, as she’s nicknamed, and siblings Santamonica and Johan (Arica Himmel, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Ethan William Childress, above) move with their free-spirit parents Alicia and Paul (The Haves and the Have Nots’ Tika Sumpter and Mark-Paul Gosselaar) from a hippie commune to the suburbs, where the kids quickly find they don’t fit in with either their black or their white schoolmates. “Even on blackish, we haven’t completely explored [being mixed],” says exec producer (and narrator) Tracee Ellis Ross, aka adult Bow on the original. “This is an opportunity to unpack that in a much larger way.” Mid-’80s headlines—“things like the…

PREMIERES Thursday, Sept. 26, 9:30/8:30c, NBC WATCH MY SHOW After a (very funny) scandal torpedoes his political career, former New York City councilman Garrett Modi (Kal Penn) makes ends meet by tutoring a diverse group of Queens residents prepping for their U.S. citizenship tests. Here, Penn, who also serves as an executive producer, sells us on his new ensemble comedy about what it takes to achieve the American Dream. I HAVE TIME TO WATCH ONE MORE SHOW. WHY SHOULD IT BE YOURS? We are funny and fresh, and when you turn off the TV at the end of each episode, you feel good about the world. WHO SHOULD BE WATCHING THIS SHOW? Everybody! No matter who you are or where you live, you can relate. We are going to make…

PREMIERES Monday, Sept. 23, 9/8c, CBS Viewing the justice system through a different, hopeful lens is the MO of this L.A.-set courtroom drama starring poised Simone Missick (above) as newly appointed Judge Lola Carmichael. “Lola sees the person first, not the crime,” executive producer Greg Spottiswood says. In the pilot, she forces a trial even though the defendant—who she believes is innocent—has accepted a plea deal. “We’re always looking for the ‘Lola coaster’ moment,” he explains, “[when] she decides to turn left instead of right. If she inadvertently breaks something, she has to adjust because somebody’s freedom is at stake.” The ensemble cast includes CSI favorite Marg Helgenberger as supervising judge Lisa Benner, a once-progressive trailblazer who initially tries to rein Lola in, and Hart of Dixie alum Wilson Bethel…

PREMIERES Wednesday, Sept. 25, 10/9c, ABC Stumptown may be a comic book adaptation, but there’s nary a superhero or demon in sight. The detective drama’s hero, Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders, above), is a Portland, Oregon, private eye and former military intelligence officer suffering from PTSD and a gambling addiction. “She’s scrappy, funny and fallible,” says showrunner Jason Richman, who adds that she’s also a magnet for danger: “Trouble seems to find her, and she seems to find trouble.” Parios juggles caring for her brother Ansel (Cole Sibus), who has Down syndrome, while taking on cases that often put her at odds with local law enforcement. “The police may think someone is guilty,” says Richman, “and that person may hire Dex to prove they’re innocent.”…

PREMIERES Wednesday, Oct. 9, 9/8c, The CW The folks behind Gossip Girl give the classic teen mysteries a makeover with a macabre twist: Here, Nancy (Kennedy McMann, above), an 18-year-old sleuth struggling with the death of her mother and her own fading interest in any gumshoe action, becomes a key suspect in a murder. “When I was a kid, getting a Nancy Drew book was like Christmas,” says Stephanie Savage, who executive produces along with Josh Schwartz, “so being able to figure out the modern version was exciting.” Nods to the 175-title series (written by multiple authors) include Nancy’s address (she lives on a street called River Heights, which was her town in the books) and a mention of The Hidden Staircase as one of her first forays into crime…

PREMIERES Monday, Oct. 21, 10/9c, HBO Helen Mirren, whose portrayals of Elizabeth I and II won her an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony, returns to TV in royal style. This sumptuous four-part miniseries showcases the actress as intelligent, lusty and much-gossiped-about Prussian-born empress Catherine the Great, who successfully ruled an expanding Russian empire from 1762 to 1796. The series covers her later years and her affair with military leader Grigory Potemkin (Jason Clarke). Ever the strategist, Catherine understood the value of an impressive wardrobe. For Mirren’s intricate ensembles, costume designer Maja Meschede used a palette of Russian golds and blues. “I wanted her to resemble an iconic Russian painting,” says Meschede, who for inspiration visited St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum to view the many paintings of Catherine and her court.…

PREMIERES Thursday, Sept. 26, 10/9c, CBS A disagreement between The Good Fight creators Robert and Michelle King about why people do wicked things—she points to psychology, he suspects a supernatural element—birthed their latest CBS drama, the dark thriller Evil. “The show is very much about the tension between trying to explain evil religiously versus scientifically,” she says. Evil’s leading characters exemplify the profound split. According to Robert, psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers, Westworld) “believes there is a [diagnosable] reason for any murderous intent,” while David Acosta (Luke Cage’s Mike Colter, below, with Herbers), an adventurer training to become a priest, argues for “something beyond that.” In a nutshell, he’s Mulder, she’s Scully. A cash-strapped Kristen agrees to work with him and eager debunker Ben Shakir (Blue Bloods’ Aasif Mandvi) to…

PREMIERES Fall, Netflix “WHEN IN DOUBT, go back to the lyrics.” That was the motto for the makers of this eight-episode anthology series inspired by the songs of Dolly Parton (right, in 1984). The country legend, who introduces each hour and acts in several stories, approved each plot-line and, according to executive producer and longtime Parton collaborator Sam Haskell, was tickled pink with the results: “When we first screened episodes for her, to see her reduced to tears of joy told us everything.” Here’s a sneak peek at four songs on the series’ setlist. “JOLENE” KEY LYRIC “Your smile is like a breath of spring/Your voice is soft like summer rain/And I cannot compete with you, Jolene” MADE FOR TV Fans of the 1973 megahit may think of Jolene as…

PREMIERES Friday, Oct. 4, Netflix Widowed single mom Nicole Reese (Alisha Wainwright) has a lot on her plate: working to support her 7-year-old son, Dion (Ja’Siah Young, above), making sure he gets a good education… and trying to understand the boy’s ability to move objects with his mind. “Dion can’t control them,” Wainwright says of his superhuman powers. “And as he gets stressed out, [the results get] way worse.” That’s a huge problem considering Nicole, who “just wants her kid to be normal,” Wainwright explains, aims to keep Dion’s powers a secret from the outside world. Over the course of the series—which is based on the Dennis Liu comic book and executive produced by Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan, who also appears as Dion’s late dad—both mother and son…

PREMIERES Tuesday, Sept. 24, 10/9c, ABC After a plane crashes in her small town, capable, coolheaded police chief Jo Evans (Fargo’s Allison Tolman) takes in Piper (Alexa Swinton, left, with Tolman), a girl with amnesia discovered hiding near the site. While sheltering Piper, she also stumbles onto a conspiracy that is way above her pay grade. ABC’s suspenseful Emergence is “a thriller combined with a family drama, influenced by [Steven] Spielberg movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” says Michele Fazekas, an executive producer along with Tara Butters. The genre-mashing vibe is apparent early on. Soon after Piper is released from the hospital (where she takes to a Skittles-esque candy like E.T. took to Reese’s Pieces), the dangerous folks pursuing the child threaten Jo’s family. To protect…

SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 4 Dog’s Most Wanted WGN America Wu-Tang: An American Saga Hulu SEPTEMBER 5 Campus Eats Cooking Channel SEPTEMBER 6 Couples Therapy Showtime Good Talk With Anthony Jeselnik Comedy Central The Spy Netflix SEPTEMBER 8 Dog: Impossible Nat Geo Wild SEPTEMBER 9 A Very Brady Renovation HGTV SEPTEMBER 11 NFL: The Grind Epix SEPTEMBER 12 First Wives Club BET+ SEPTEMBER 13 Murder in the Bayou Showtime Unbelievable Netflix Undone Prime Video SEPTEMBER 15 Country Music PBS SEPTEMBER 16 A Little Late With Lilly Singh NBC SEPTEMBER 17 The American Game ESPN SEPTEMBER 19 Five Day Biz Fix CNBC The Greatest ESPN SEPTEMBER 20 Criminal Netflix SEPTEMBER 22 Hunt for Eagle 56 Smithsonian Channel SEPTEMBER 23 All Rise CBS Bluff City Law NBC Bob ♥ Abishola CBS Halloween Cake-Off Food…

Your back-to-school assignment: Watching these series before the Emmy envelopes are opened on September 22. BODYGUARD Nominated for two awards, including outstanding drama The British psychological thriller stars Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden as a military vet with PTSD assigned to protect a hawkish politician whose views he despises. DEAD TO ME Nominated for outstanding lead actress in a comedy Christina Applegate is a bitter widow who befriends a sad sack (Linda Cardellini) in a grief support group. THE GOOD PLACE Nominated for five awards, including outstanding comedy The sharp afterlife series with Ted Danson introduces an alternate timeline in Season 3. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER Nominated for three awards, including outstanding lead actress in a drama ABC’s mystery has gone off the rails, but Viola Davis is…

FLEABAG Nominated for 11 awards, including outstanding comedy series Fleabag’s only drawback? It’s too damn short. The six-episode second (and, sadly, final) season is as perfect as TV gets as the nameless, aimless main character (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, below) falls for—gasp!—a priest. KING LEAR Nominated for outstanding television movie An all-star cast—Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, plus Emma Watson and Tobias Menzies—bring a modern take to the Shakespeare tragedy: It’s set in 21st-century London. THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL Nominated for 20 awards, including outstanding comedy Did you hear the one about the 1960s housewife who becomes a sensation on the stand-up comedy circuit? In Season 2, Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) comes clean to her disapproving family about her secret thriving career. A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL Nominated for four awards,…

ACROSS 1 Character’s storyline4 Wife ____8 Drago of Rocky IV12 Cheers setting13 First-class (hyph.)14 Dobrev of Fam15 Underground star Jurnee ____-Bell17 Result of a fender bender18 Slurpee cousins19 ____’s Playhouse (hyph.)21 ____ Possible22 Recede, like the tide23 ____ de Matteo25 Soldiers of fortune court-martialed “for a crime they didn’t commit” (2 wds., hyph.)30 Play a part onscreen31 Car company that won more J.D. Power Quality Awards across cars, trucks and SUVs than any other brand over the last four years32 Fresh Air airer (abbr.)33 NBC primetime news show35 Overabundance36 How the West ____ Won37 Feathery accessory38 Leah of The King of Queens41 Quite odd43 Thor’s father44 ____ Things47 Compete on The Voice48 Lyft rival49 Longoria of Grand Hotel50 Cartoon cries51 Beach blanket52 Astro or Mr. Peanutbutter DOWN 1 “Six-pack” muscles2 Mr. Robot star Malek3 Partner of…

@damianholbrook LOVE IT! Cheers to BH90210 for redefining revivals in the zippiest, wittiest way. Part soap, part spoof and all we wanted from a reunion, Fox’s hit featuring the original 90210-ers (above) as embellished versions of themselves is a sharp and smart love letter to the old show and their late pal Luke Perry. Megaburgers at the Peach Pit for everyone! Cheers to Will Ferrell’s talk takeover. To promote the new season of The Ron Burgundy Podcast, Ferrell’s Anchorman alter ego (right) visited late-night hosts Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and James Corden—all in one night. Granted, some of the spots, which aired August 8, were pretaped, but still a damn classy move. Cheers to Suits for finding a perfect fit for Patrick J. Adams’…

@TVGMMattRoush WADE. DEX. BUMPY. Miles 1 and Miles 2. You haven’t met them yet, but once you do, I’m betting these and a few select other characters might join your ever-expanding TV family. The fall season may now just be part of a never-ending continuum of shows premiering year-round on a ballooning and mystifying array of platforms. Yet there’s something about the tradition of settling in for a new batch of fall television—on familiar and newfangled networks alike—that piques our curiosity about who’s worth getting to know. A sampling of my early favorites: THE HEARTBREAKER Just try to resist Wade Felton, the hero of CBS’s charming comedy The Unicorn. Better known for playing TV villains in shows like The Shield and Justified, Walton Goggins reveals a disarmingly appealing warm side…

PREMIERES Sunday, Oct. 27, 10:30/9:30c, HBO Eve Fletcher (Bad Moms’ Kathryn Hahn, above) has one heck of a case of empty nest syndrome. When son Brendan (Jackson White) leaves for college, the middle-aged divorcée decides to shake up her life in the fictional town of Haddington, New York. She enrolls in a creative writing course—and begins surfing the seedier parts of the internet. “Basically, she [changes] her life through porn. It gives her a kind of inspiration to do things she never would’ve thought herself capable of,” says executive producer Tom Perrotta, who wrote the funny yet moving novel on which the show is based. Soon, Eve is exploring the sort of sexual fantasies she’s watching online. Meanwhile, Brendan discovers that college isn’t the party he’d anticipated. “Brendan is a…

PREMIERES Friday, Oct. 18, Hulu Quirky teen Miles Halter (Charlie Plummer)—who is obsessed with memorizing the final words of historic figures like JFK—enrolls at Alabama boarding school Culver Creek Academy and quickly befriends his roommate, Chip “The Colonel” Martin (Denny Love), social butterfly Takumi Hikohito (Jay Lee) and enigmatic Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth, left, with Plummer). “These kids are facing all sorts of firsts—first friendship, first love, but also first loss,” explains showrunner Josh Schwartz. Indeed, on this eight-episode series—which exec producer Stephanie Savage says “honors” the source material, John Green’s YA novel—a tragic event deeply affects all the main characters. Says Schwartz, “We didn’t shy away from any of the dark stuff.”…

PREMIERES Sunday, Sept. 15, 8/7c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org) KEEP THE KLEENEX handy. So says Emmy-winning documentarian Ken Burns, who has been making us cry ever since we heard that Union soldier’s haunting love letter to his wife in the 1990 phenomenon The Civil War. A slew of riveting projects, including Baseball (1994) and The Vietnam War (2017), followed. Burns’ latest—the eight-part, 16-hour Country Music—charts the evolution of a genre known for soul-baring songs of love and loss and for talented but tortured icons who died too young (“Hillbilly Shakespeare” Hank Williams) or lived long enough to find inspiring redemption (Johnny Cash, with the support of wife June Carter Cash). Perhaps you should grab those tissues now. This series took eight years to make, and 20 of the…

PREMIERES Sunday, Oct. 6, 8/7c, The CW She’s way more than just Batman’s cousin. In fact, Kate Kane/Batwoman (Orange Is the New Black’s Ruby Rose, below) takes the lead in this buzzy DC Comics–based series. Viewers first glimpsed the edgy lesbian hero in full supergarb during last year’s Arrowverse crossover event “Elseworlds,” but this journey begins precape. When prodigal daughter Kate returns to her beloved Gotham City after several years of survival training around the globe, she finds Batman mysteriously off the grid and the town in tatters. She soon realizes her business mogul father (Dougray Scott) has no intention of inviting her to join his security firm—not even after a Joker-esque madwoman named Alice (Rachel Skarsten, Reign) attacks the city and abducts Kate’s ex, Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Once…

PART 7 PREMIERE FRIDAY, SEPT. 13 The other shoe is dropping for Colt Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) as the family dramedy’s seventh chapter opens. “He’s alone in a lot of ways,” previews executive producer Jim Patterson, noting how Colt’s lies about selling his herd and ill-advised plan to save the family ranch have alienated him from wife Abby (Elisha Cuthbert), dad Beau (Sam Elliott, below) and cousin Luke (Dax Shepard). It’ll be those strained family ties—and last year’s offscreen death of brother Rooster (Danny Masterson)—that will lead Colt to do some soul-searching. “This season is about him trying to figure out who he is and what kind of man he wants to be,” offers Patterson, adding that Colt won’t be the only Bennett making changes. Now that Beau has asked girlfriend…

SEASONS 1–7 AVAILABLE NOW The Southern belles of Atlanta-based interior design firm Sugarbaker & Associates are now making themselves at home on Hulu. Designing Women, CBS’s unapologetically feminist and irrefutably funny 1986–93 comedy—starring (from left) Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Dixie Carter and Jean Smart—has so many classic episodes, you can’t go wrong. But these installments do it oh so right. MUST-SEE EPISODES “The Beauty Contest” (Season 1, Episode 2) The one with the infamous “the night the lights went out in Georgia” speech. Sophisticated, sharp-tongued Julia (Carter) overhears a reigning beauty queen trash-talking her sister, former titleholder Suzanne (Burke). In Suzanne’s defense, Julia delivers a monologue so fierce, it’s still ringing in our ears 33 years later. “Killing All the Right People” (Season 2, Episode 4) Single mom Mary Jo…