TV Guide Magazine April 11, 2022

WINNING SHOW It was mostly great to see the Oscars televised again this year (March 27) and all the fabulous artistic achievements of actors and those behind the scenes. I thought the idea of honoring old movies by bringing their stars together to present awards was brilliant. —Christine IMPRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION Wow! NBC’s The Thing About Pam was totally believable. I forgot I was watching Renée Zellweger. I was in front of my television every Tuesday anxious for the next episode. Kudos to Zellweger for her outstanding work. —Judith DONE-DONE? How is it possible to combine the talents of Sam Waterston, Jeffrey Donovan and Anthony Anderson with a formula that has worked for decades, and come up with as unwatchable a program as the new season of NBC’s Law & Order? It’s a badly written disappointment.…

@TVGMMattRoush Too many “limited series” based on true stories could have been told in a two-hour movie. Did we really need so many episodes of Hulu’s Pam & Tommy (eight) or Netflix’s Inventing Anna (nine)? Some episodes are so padded out with fiction, it’s disgraceful even to say it’s based on reality. Plus, they’re making many of these shows about really unlikable people (The Dropout, Anna, The Shrink Next Door and so on). Great actors, but such rotten characters. The Dropout is already getting on my nerves trying to paint Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) as a poor victim. And again, most of these stories could have been covered in a succinct telemovie. —Benji MATT ROUSH: No argument here. While I appreciated The Dropout’s attempt to get beyond Holmes’ glamorous facade to explore…

Smart Watch If you have a half hour, check out this series Snappy writing, warm characters—including Jake Johnson’s (New Girl) publisher—and a great premise (a 1970s women’s magazine that shows some skin) make Minx a winner. Season 1 ends Thursday, April 14, HBO Max If you have an hour, watch this series Icy is the word for both the Arctic setting and temperament of a psychopathic whaler (Colin Farrell) in the intense series The North Water, based on Ian McGuire’s bestseller. Sunday, April 24, 10/9c, BBC America If you have a free evening, watch this documentary “We’ve been focused on making sure the vehicle works,” says Elon Musk in Return to Space, a gorgeous and inspired film about his bluesky SpaceX project that finally sent manned flights back toward the stars. Netflix If you have a free…

Hazel King (Angie Harmon) is no ordinary exassassin. Having wielded a gun since age 15, the trained killer now runs a local desert-town diner and has an adult daughter (Lauren Richards) to protect. But the past is hard to outrun in the tension-filled Buried in Barstow (premiering Saturday, June 4, 8/7c, Lifetime). And Hazel shies away from nothing, whether it’s her daughter’s abusive beau (Timothy Granaderos, left, with Harmon) or the bigger baddies who come out of the woodwork to access her high-caliber talents. “This will be the last time,” she says of a job sure to put her in peril. Given her particular skills, don’t bet on it. —Robert Edelstein The Show We’re Talking About in the Office For 11 years, we’ve laughed and cried with the nuns and nurses of…

@TVGMMattRoush Julia Watching Julia Child at work and play is a four-course banquet of sheer joy Thursdays, HBO Max FRIENDLY WARNING: DO not watch Julia on an empty stomach. You’ll want to savor every sumptuous dish prepared by legendary French Chef host Julia Child, grandly and giddily embodied by the wonderful British actress Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley). It also helps to have an appetite for living, because few series are so generous in serving up a heaping platter of pure joy. “All you have to do is plunge in,” Julia tells her rapt audience in 1963 as she ends her first TV season on Boston’s WGBH and beyond with a celebration of the classic soufflé. “That’s the key not only to the kitchen but to life itself.” With a light comic flair that only enhances…

Top Picks COMPETITION MasterChef Junior (Thursday, 8/7c, Fox) It’s the ultimate baby shower! In the April 14 episode of the kids’ cooking competition, the 12 remaining young chefs are tasked with mixing up a satisfying, well-balanced meal. And who’s doing the tasting? A restaurant full of expectant moms, including Season 8 judge and cookbook author Daphne Oz, who is awaiting the birth of her own child. Teens ANIMATED PAW Patrol (Fridays, 11:30am/10:30c, Nickelodeon) Ryder and his search-and-rescue canine crew are back in all-new adventures for Season 9. In the April 15 episode, the brave pups (above) keep a dance competition from going out of step after a floating floor carries contestants away. Then they solve one fishy mystery at an undersea-themed museum by helping an octopus who longs to return to the…