Also: a Garry Shandling documentary from Judd Apatow, a new AMC horror series, and new show from Bill Hader.
This week’s TV offers a balanced mix of comedy and drama. A beloved ’90s family sitcom gets a reboot, an acclaimed nerd comedy finally delivers its fifth season, and Bill Hader fuses action with dark humor in his latest project. On the other hand, AMC debuts a period series with a supernatural twist, while Danny Boyle premieres his take on the John Paul Getty III kidnapping. Finally, a varied selection of documentaries on standup comedy legends, Latino civil rights activists, and pioneering radio stations.
To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for March 25th – 31st (all times Eastern):
Silicon Valley (HBO, Sunday, 10pm)
Even though the circumstances under which T.J. Miller abruptly abandoned Silicon Valley after the fourth season were contentious, the HBO comedy actually sent off his character in a fashion that fitted the blowhard entrepreneur nicely: last time we saw him, Erlich Bachman was at an opium den in Tibet where he decided to stay indefinitely (which, honestly is the kind of thing he would do). However, the gap left by the bombastic tech incubator host is not a void, but space for fellow protagonists Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, Martin Starr, and new bona fide movie star Kumail Nanjiani to develop. Season 5 will find Pied Piper growing as a company, moving into a new office space, and hiring a new team of coders, as they try to build a new, decentralized internet. Naturally, self-sabotage and juvenile shenanigans will ensue. Josh Brener, Amanda Crew, Matt Ross, Suzanne Cryer, and Jimmy O. Yang will also return for this fifth season run.
Trust (FX, Sunday 10pm)
The story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III is one of those tales that is so astonishing, it can only be true; so it’s easy to see why it has inspired two prominent directors to offer their own takes of the event recently. While Ridley Scott delivered a high-stakes thriller with remarkable performances with All the Money in the World, future James Bond helmer Danny Boyle digs deeper into the family drama with his trademark style in FX’s new anthology series Trust. Starting in 1973, the show follows the trials and triumphs of the Getty dynasty with Donald Sutherland, Michael Esper, Harris Dickinson, and Hilary Swank playing the troubled clan. Boyle directs the first three episodes of the first season, scripted by his Slumdog Millionaire collaborator Simon Beaufoy. The cherry on top? Brendan Fraser is making a comeback as the family’s private investigator.
Barry (HBO, Sunday 10:30pm)
Midlife crisis hits people in many different ways. Some buy a sports car, others date younger folks, and some make radical changes in their professional careers. Like Barry Berkman, a contract killer who finds his true calling at an acting class during an assignment in L.A. Created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg (Seinfeld) and starring Hader in the title role, this new HBO comedy follows the hitman as he tries to juggle both gigs. The Saturday Night Live alumni will also direct several of the eight episodes of the first season, while Stephen Root, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, and Glenn Fleshler will join him in the cast. If you’ve got a taste for dark comedy, Barry is right up your alley.
The Terror (AMC, Monday 9pm)
Among the horror series tied led by American Horror Story, Channel Zero, and AMC’s own The Walking Dead, The Terror stands out in TV scary programming as a bold bet for period suspense. Based on the novel by Dan Simmons, which in turned is inspired by the true story of Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition, The Terror follows the HSM Erebus and the HSM Terror in an Arctic exploration voyage that is doomed from the start, as it quickly gets trapped in the ice. The hostile environment and the limited resources push the crew towards mutiny and cannibalism, but the real menace is a supernatural predator lurking in the snow. Ridley Scott figures as executive producer of this 10-episode adaptation starring Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, Tobias Menzies, and Paul Ready. A history-infused nightmare that will chill your blood.
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO, Monday 9pm)
If a movie about your life lasts four and a half hours and features testimonies from more than 40 of your friends, family, and collaborators, you must have done something right with your time. Such is the legacy of standup comedian Garry Shandling. His personal journals, kept from age 25 to his death at 66, laid the foundation for this two-part documentary directed and produced by his friend and apprentice Judd Apatow. Chronicling Shandling’s childhood, personal life, and professional career — from his start in standup to guest hosting The Tonight Show and starring in his own series — The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling combines video footage and interviews with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, James L. Brooks, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and Jon Favreau to look back at the comedian’s life and philosophy and explore how comedy is made.
Dolores (PBS, Tuesday)
Some may know who César Chávez was — he was the labor leader who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association — but it’s very likely that few are familiar with fellow civil rights activist Dolores Huerta. PBS’s latest Independent Lens installment makes an effort to correct that and shine the spotlight on Huerta for the first time. Directed by Peter Bratt and scored by guitarist Carlos Santana, Dolores pieces together footage and interviews with Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, and Huerta herself to offer a comprehensive look of her life and work as an activist and leader, from her early years with the United Farm Workers to her involvement with the Delano grape strike in 1965 to her role in the feminist movement of the ’70s and her continued work in her late ’80s. In the words of our own Christopher Campbell reviewing over at Nonfics it’s “a timely lesson in Mexican-American studies”.
Roseanne (ABC, Tuesday 8pm)
Reboots oftentimes don’t feel quite justified or necessary, but Roseanne is one of those rare exceptions where a revival is actually in order. After all — spoiler alert — that “it was all a fantasy” finale was unsatisfying, to say the least. The hit sitcom’s 10th season catches up with the Conner clan after 20 years, not only to make amends for that last episode, but also to find the family in the middle of the recent political conundrum. Whether we like it or not, the proudly blue-collar couple voted Republican in the past election and the new episodes will deal with that fact, as well as their classic family dynamics. Luckily, Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Johnny Galecki, Estelle Parsons, Sandra Bernhard, and original Becky Lecy Goranson will all reprise their original roles, while substitute Becky Sarah Chalke will join them as a new character.
New Wave: Dare to Be Different (Showtime, Friday 8pm)
Even though nowadays it could be dismissed by younger ears as just another FM station that plays everything from the ’70s to today’s new music, WLIR holds a proud and long tradition of innovation in music history. What began in the early ’60s as a small New York radio station dedicated to Broadway tunes and classical music would become the forefront of New Wave in the ’80s. Directed by Ellen Goldfarb, New Wave: Dare to Be Different traces the story about how WLIR became the first commercial station in the country to play bands like U2, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode and its influence over the MTV generation. Featuring interviews with WLIR’s crew and artists like Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Depeche Mode, Erasure’s Vincent Clarke and the B-52’s Fred Schneider, alongside music by The Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, Thompson Twins, and Simple Minds — just to name a few — New Wave: Dare to Be Different is definitely a blast from the past.
SUNDAY
Bob’s Burgers S8E11 “Sleeping with the Frenemy” (FOX, 7:30pm)
Instinct S1E2 “Wild Game” (CBS, 8pm)
Our Cartoon President S1E8 “Government Shutdown” (Showtime, 8pm)
The Simpsons S29E13 “3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage” (FOX, 8pm)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine S5E13 “The Negotiation” (Fox, 8:30pm)
Ash vs. Evil Dead S3E5 “Baby Proof” (Starz, 9pm)
Family Guy S16E13 “V is for Mystery” (FOX, 9pm)
The Walking Dead S8E13 “Do Not Send Us Astray” (AMC, 9pm)
The Last Man on Earth S4E12 “Señor Clean” (FOX, 9:30pm)
Billions S3E1 “Tie Goes to the Runner” (Showtime, 10pm) – season premiere
Deception S1E3 “Escapology” (ABC, 10pm)
Silicon Valley S5E1 “Grow Fast or Die Slow” (HBO, 10pm) – season premiere
Trust S1E1 “The House of Getty” (FX, 10pm) – series premiere
Barry S1E1 “Chapter One: Make Your Mark” (HBO, 10:30pm) – series premiere
MONDAY
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow S3E16 “I, Ava” (The CW, 8pm)
Lucifer S3E19 “Orange Is the New Maze” (FOX, 8pm)
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO, 8pm) – documentary premiere
One Strange Rock S1E1 (Nat Geo, 9pm) – documentary series premiere
The Alienist S1E10 “Castle in the Sky” (TNT, 9pm) – series finale
The Terror S1E1 “Go for Broke” (AMC, 9pm) – series premiere
Living Biblically S1E5 “Honor Thy Father” (CBS, 9:30pm)
Good Girls S1E5 “Taking Care of Business” (NBC, 10pm)
Scorpion S4E20 “Foul Balls” (CBS, 10pm)
The Good Doctor S1E18 “More” (ABC, 10pm) – season finale
TUESDAY
James Acaster: Repertoire (Netflix) – standup comedy special
NCIS S15E18 “Death from Above” (CBS, 8pm)
Roseanne S10E1 “Twenty Years to Life” (ABC, 8pm) – series reboot
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO, 8pm) – documentary finale
Black Lightning S1E10 “Sins of the Father: The Book of Redemption” (The CW, 9pm)
LA to Vegas S1E10 “Bernard’s Birthday” (Fox, 9pm)
Splitting Up Together S1E1 (ABC, 9:30pm) – series premiere
For the People S1E3 “18 Miles Outside of Roanoke” (ABC, 10pm)
Rise S1E3 “What Flowers May Bloom” (NBC, 10pm)
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. S1E5 “The Art of War” (USA, 10pm)
WEDNESDAY
The Looming Tower S1E7 “The General” (Hulu)
Empire S4E10 “Birds in the Cage” (Fox, 8pm)
Riverdale S2E17 “Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens” (The CW, 8pm)
Alex, Inc. S1E1 “The Unfair Advantage” (ABC, 8:30pm) – series premiere
Modern Family S9E17 “Royal Visit” (ABC, 9pm)
Suits S7E11 “Hard Truths” (USA, 9pm)
Criminal Minds S13E18 “The Dance of Love” (CBS, 10pm)
Designated Survivor S2E15 “Summit” (ABC, 10pm)
Hap and Leonard S3E4 “Senorita Mambo” (Sundance, 10pm)
Krypton S1E2 “House of El” (Syfy, 10pm)
The Americans S6E1 “Dead Hand” (FX, 10pm) – final season premiere
Back S1E4 (Sundance, 11pm)
THURSDAY
Gotham S4E16 “One of My Three Soups” (FOX, 8pm)
Grey’s Anatomy S14E17 “One Day Like This” (ABC, 8pm)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S10E2 (VH1, 8pm)
Siren S1E1&E2 (Freeform, 8pm) – series premiere
Supernatural S13E16 “Scoobynatural” (The CW, 8pm)
Superstore S3E17 “District Manager” (NBC, 8pm)
Arrow S6E16 “The Thanatos Guild” (The CW, 9pm)
Station 19 S1E3 “Contain the Flame” (ABC, 9pm)
Will & Grace S9E15 “One Job” (NBC, 9pm)
Atlanta S2E5 “Barbershop” (FX, 10pm)
Nobodies S2E1&E2 “Open Dorf Policy” & “Swimmin Pools, TV Stars” (Paramount, 10pm) – season premiere
S.W.A.T S1E15 “Crews” (CBS, 10pm)
Scandal S7E15 “The Noise” (ABC, 10pm)
FRIDAY
A Series of Unfortunate Events S2 (Netflix) – season premiere
First Match (Netflix) – movie premiere
Rapture S1 (Netflix) – documentary miniseries premiere
The Titan (Netflix) – movie premiere
New Wave: Dare to Be Different (Showtime, 8pm) – documentary premiere
Once Upon a Time S7E15 “Sisterhood” (ABC, 8pm)
SATURDAY
Girls Trip (HBO, 10pm) – movie cable premiere
