Our Staff Picks: TV Shows to Watch the Week of July 31, 2017
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV.
Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. This week, Discovery debuts its Unabomber drama, and Rob Lowe investigates the paranormal with his sons.
“People of Earth,” TBS, Monday, 10:30 p.m. (CRITICS’ PICK)
[This] year, “People of Earth” smartly expands on the histories of all of the alien “experiencers,” and Jeff and his lovelorn co-worker Don (Bjorn Gustafsson) face new challenges from their superiors as well. There may be one or two too many storylines in Season 2 (Nunez and Tracee Chimo’s romantic storyline feels a little thin, for example), but the cast has gelled extremely well. Ana Gasteyer is consistently razor-sharp as the leader of the support group, and Gustafsson and Michael Cassidy, who plays a rogue alien with lizard skin under his regular-bro exterior, never fail to deftly make the most of their scenes. As an FBI agent who begins to investigate a key character, Nasim Pedrad fits right in to the show’s array of slightly obsessive characters. Like everyone else in Beacon, she has messed up in the past and becomes certain that solving a mystery there will allow her to move forward with her life. (Read the full review here)
“Casual,” Hulu, Tuesday
Season 3 of the Hulu original debuts this week. The comedy series follows a bachelor brother and his newly divorced sister living under one roof again. Together, they coach each other through the crazy world of dating while raising her teenage daughter. Created by Zander Lehmann, it is executive-produced by Jason Reitman, Zander Lehmann, Helen Estabrook, and Liz Tigelaar.
“Manhunt: Unabomber,” Discovery, Tuesday, 9 p.m.
The first installment of this anthology series tells the true story of the FBI’s hunt for Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, the deadliest serial bomber in history. The story focuses on FBI agent and criminal profiler Jim Fitzgerald, who along with the Unabomb Task Force, ultimately captured the notorious criminal in his remote cabin in Montana. The cast includes Paul Bettany, Chris Noth, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Jane Lynch, Mark Duplass, and Brian d’Arcy James.
“The Lowe Files,” A&E, Wednesday, 10 p.m.
This reality series stars Rob Lowe and his sons Matthew, 23, and John Owen, 21 . The trio treks around the country to investigate spooky legends and mysteries, like Bigfoot, ghosts, and more. They aim to bring some scientific rigor to the process by consulting with experts and academics in fields related to the ghost stories they pursue.
“Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later,” Netflix, Friday
The followup to “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” takes place in 1991, ten years after the conclusion of the original film. The former counselors of Camp Firewood meet up for a reunion none of them will ever forget. Returning cast includes A.D. Miles, Amy Poehler, Beth Dover, Chris Meloni, Chris Pine, David Hyde Pierce, David Wain, Elizabeth Banks, Eric Nenninger, H. Jon Benjamin, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Schwartzman, Joe Lo Truglio, John Early, Josh Charles, Ken Marino, Kristen Wiig, Lake Bell, Marguerite Moreau, Marisa Ryan, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Molly Shannon, Nina Hellman, Paul Rudd, Rich Sommer, Sarah Burns and Zak Orth.
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