Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, February 16th. All times are Eastern.
The best choices
Young Rock (NBC, 8 p.m.) and Kenan (NBC, 8:30 p.m.): NBC adds a few laughs to its range on Tuesday, pairing the debut of two sitcoms with the reliable tear drama of This is us.
First is Young Rock, which was created by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson together with Nahnatchka Khan. The comedy “will follow The Rock from pebble to fighter to presidential candidate. (The last one is just in the show business, for now.) Johnson and Khan brought together a whole team of nice actors to play The Rock at the ages of 10, 15 and 20: Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu, respectively. This old sitcom is a little more involved than most; the framing device sees Randall Park (like himself, now a journalist) interviewing the presidential hopeful, which will trigger all sorts of flashbacks to his mustache-filled adolescence. But with Khan, fresh Fresh Off The Boat, helping to open the way, Young Rock it should provide more than more humor based on 80’s fashion. ”(See here the rest of the TV preview from February.)
How about Kenan, this sitcom follows Saturday night live veteran Kenan Thompson, who, as Sam Barsanti describes it, “plays the role of a widowed father who hosts a morning talk show, with the stress of his life forcing him to bitterly accept help from his saxophone-loving father-in-law (Don Johnson) desperate to spend time with his nieces. SNLChris Redd also passes as Thompson’s brother, probably offering some of the same kind of chaotic energy that Thompson played so well in his Nickelodeon days. It’s hard to get much of the show out of this short clip, but come on, Kenan Thompson is finally making a sitcom again – and it’s time. “Look for Saloni Gajjar’s thoughts on this series of freshmen at the end of this week.
Regular coverage
This is us (NBC, 9 p.m.)
The big sky (ABC, 10 p.m.)
Wild card
Bad habits, holy order (Hulu, season one): The latest in a series of shows that sound like they stole their premise from a 30 Rock Little by little, this four-part series of realities follows a group of party girls who go to life in a convent of nuns in rural Norfolk, England. It’s not exactly one Sister Act riff, because these vicious twenty years don’t seem to be hiding from any mobster. But if you expect a simple clash between tight nuns and a few libertines, you may be disappointed – both groups remain pretty sweet in this one-night stand.