What to Watch on Tuesday: Disney+ finally arrives with The Mandalorian and a whole lot more

EW Staff

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Facebook Watch, and others. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play).

The Mandalorian

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Disney+

Series Debut
The Mandalorian is the latest Star Wars title and the first-ever live-action drama series in the blockbuster sci-fi franchise, so perhaps what’s most surprising are the show’s retro vibes — the Disney+ series feels like 1977’s A New Hope, only instead of following Luke Skywalker as he kicks around Tatooine you’re watching a mysterious bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) after the fall of the Galactic Empire. “What happens after a revolution?” asks showrunner Jon Favreau (The Lion King). “After the celebrations are over, when there’s no structure? Typically, in human history, unless you’re very lucky, those are times of tremendous chaos. Like after the Roman Empire falls, or when you don’t have a centralized Shogun in Japan, and the Old West, when there wasn’t any government [on the frontier] — all those are the types of movies that inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars.” —James Hibberd

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Lady and the Tramp

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Disney+

The just-launched Disney+ is going to the dogs. Disney’s new streaming service includes the debut of its live-action Lady and the Tramp, based on the 1955 animated classic. Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux voice the star-crossed pooches, who are portrayed through a combination of computer animation and two real-life rescue dogs named Rose and Monte. “I met both of them right when they came into all of our lives, and they were not trained at all,” director Charlie Bean told EW when we visited the set last year. “[Now] they are incredible actors.” In other words, they’re very good dogs. —Devan Coggan

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High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Disney+

Series Debut
It’s time to get’cha head back in the game as the curtain rises on Disney+ because with the new streaming site comes the start of something new in the High School Musical franchise. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — yes, that’s the actual title — bops to the top along with the new streaming service. But the musical comedy may not be what fans of the original franchise are expecting — the 10-episode series doesn’t stick to the status quo or catch up with old fan-favorite characters after their big-screen graduation in 2008’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year. The TV show actually follows a new generation of characters in a completely different (and decidedly more meta) universe via a scripted mockumentary comedy set in the real world at the high school where all the movies were filmed. And when the drama teacher decides to pay homage to the films that put the high school on the map, students — some of which are huge fans of the movies while others couldn’t care less — audition for the roles of Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay, singing new versions of the now-iconic songs. “I was always thinking about the original fans whose childhood I promise I’m not trying to ruin,” showrunner Tim Federle tells EW with a laugh. “Every episode should contain Easter eggs and callbacks and references to the original whether it be with a wink to a prop that pops up onscreen or a cameo from an original cast member — which I can confirm happens, I just can’t say who or when! But it’s a fresh start and brand new cast and I want to tell stories that went totally outside the High School Musical universe and engage people in a new way.” —Sydney Bucksbaum

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This Is Us

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on NBC

Last week’s episode of This Is Us featured two uncomfortable dinners that delved into issues of race and class, while also taking you on Deja and Malik’s school-skipping first date. By the end of the hour, Randall and Beth moved toward cautious acceptance of this new couple, while laying down some ground rules, including supervised visits. Tonight’s installment of the NBC family comedy will contain some surprises for the emerging couple. “The emotional reveal for Deja in the episode of her past is something that’s going to play a lot [this] week and the following week,” This Is Us producer Kay Oyegun hints to EW. And what’s it like to date with Randall and Beth watching? “Ummm… very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very awkward,” says Asante Blackk (Malik). “And that’s all I’ll say about that.” —Dan Snierson

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What ELSE to Watch

8 p.m.
The Conners — ABC
The Voice (Top 20, eliminations) — NBC
NCIS — CBS
The Resident — Fox
Chopped Junior (season premiere) — Food Network

8:30 p.m.
Bless This Mess — ABC

9 p.m.
Arrow — The CW
FBI — CBS
mixed-ish — ABC
Empire — Fox
The Real Housewives of Orange County — Bravo
Very Ralph (Ralph Lauren documentary) — HBO

9:30 p.m.
black-ish — ABC

10 p.m.
Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again! — ABC
New Amsterdam — NBC
NCIS: New Orleans — CBS
Running Wild With Bear Grylls (with Joel McHale) — Nat Geo
Famously Afraid — Travel Channel

Streaming
Encore! (series debut) — Disney+
Forky Asks a Question (series debut) — Disney+
The Imagineering Story (docuseries debut) — Disney+
Noelle (Bill Hader, Anna Kendrick movie) — Disney+
Marvel’s Hero Project (docuseries debut) — Disney+
The World According to Jeff Goldblum (docuseries debut) — Disney+
Jeff Garlin: Our Man in Chicago — Netflix
Saving Atlantis (documentary) — VOD

*times are ET and subject to change