You have to give The Real Love Boat (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) some credit for the perverted ingenuity. The new reality TV show pays homage to the cheesy chestnut by flipping it.
Rather than simply redo the old show (something UPN did poorly in 1998, starring Robert Urich), Boat essentially turns the old ship into a setting for a pastiche of The Bachelor and The Amazing Race.
The ship sets sail with a host of singles willing to find a romantic connection. Along the way, they must overcome small challenges as the boat moves from one tourist destination to another. New singles board at each stop, adding to the collective eye candy and providing complications and competition for future couples.
The closest thing to the old scripted series is the crew, made up of unknown actors seemingly chosen for their likenesses to the captain, bartender, and more. of origin. Married celebrity couple Rebecca Romijn and Jerry OConnell are overseeing the action and pitching new singles. The two were scheduled to host a daytime talk show on CBS about seven years ago, so they’re used to working together.
At a time when prime time game shows focus on celebrity contestants, this Boat harkens back to the early days of reality TV and puts the spotlight on amateur contestants. It’s odd because the original appeal of The Love Boat was seeing B-list celebrities put their heads in the ship’s lifeline.
Luckily, no one messed with the theme song. Sung by actor Jack Jones with a disco beat, the original inspired a generation of Bill Murray-esque performers to holler. You can sing like a moose while convincing yourself that you can master it. Get on board! We’ve been waiting for you-oooh!
The recent coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and the long period of ceremony and mourning have cast the kindest light on the British royal family. You knew it wouldn’t last. Another shoe drops with a rather crude thump with the 2022 documentary Prince Andrew: Banished, airing on Peacock.
The film begins and ends with Andrews’ reminders of many connections to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and subsequent child trafficking accusations and also offers an encyclopedic catalog of the history of controversy and blunders. Andrews.
Andrew doesn’t appear as a royal bad boy, but as a protected and pampered prince, too stupid, greedy and privileged to realize how botched his situation has been. After a TV interview meant to get things clear about Epstein went down in the worst possible way, Andrew told his doting mother, Queen Elizabeth II, that all went well. He has no idea. Banished suggests his oblivious right made Andrew a sitting duck to a predator such as Epstein.
The juiciest or saddest details to emerge come from former employees and royal guards whom Andrew treated with disrespect. One reveals that in addition to Andrews’ habit of petticoating, cursing for help, and associating with sketchy foreign oligarchs, he has a teddy bear fetish. Woe betide the maid who can’t properly store the more than 40 stuffed animals he keeps on his hotel room bed.
TONIGHT OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
The staff is split on treating a paranoid on Chicago Med (7 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Rivers of Life (7 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) glides down the Danube.
A movie theater is engulfed in flames on Chicago Fire (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
NOVA (8 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) explores efforts to end HIV in America.
Bologna, Italy, offers cooking challenges on The Amazing Race (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
Pharmacy Cowboys on Chicago PD (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Disappeared Without A Trace on Big Sky (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
Estranged siblings return to the family ranch to care for their ailing father in the 2021 indie drama Montana Story (8 p.m., Showcase).
Survivor (7 p.m., CBS, TV-14)… The Masked Singer (7 p.m., Fox, TV-PG)… Mark needs his driver’s license on The Conners (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG). Lego Masters (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG)… Troubadours open doors on Abbott Elementary (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG)… Income brackets feature prominently on Home Economics (8 p.m. 30, ABC, TV-PG).
Dr. Anthony Fauci and Cody Keenan are booked on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (10:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon hosts Reese Witherspoon, Kevin Nealon and Sabrina Wu on The Tonight Show (10:34 p.m., NBC) … Kelly Ripa, Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, Julio Torres and Ashley McBryde visit Late Night With Seth Meyers (11:37 p.m., NBC).
Okay, that was weird. The least anticipated story of the week was the scandal involving Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) and When Calls the Heart star Lori Loughlin (7 p.m. Sunday, Hallmark, TV-G), in a bribery/deception plot to obtain their respective daughters. in elite universities.
This is obviously an ongoing case, and all parties must have their say, or one day, in court. But the motivation at the center of this story is worth discussing. It implies an overwhelming need to do anything to get children into elite schools. As if anything less was unthinkable.
Television plays a significant role in this insecurity. I can’t remember how many times I’ve had to describe an ABC legal drama where every character hails from the most exclusive Ivy and spends most of the pilot bragging about it.
There was a time, not so long ago, when John Grisham wrote best-selling books about barely credentialed young lawyers from anonymous institutions who took on impossible cases against big corporations and ultimately won. And I got the girl, to boot.
Thus, the neurotic obsession of our present age with elitism and inequality is hardly entrenched.
If anything comes of this sordid affair, it’s an appreciation that shoddy efforts at snobbery are still essentially pathetic. Or on classic TV, comedy. Looking at Gilligans Island, we identified with Mary Ann and the Skipper, and took pity on the millionaire and his wife.
CNN debuts the four-hour documentary Tricky Dick (8 p.m., Sunday), chronicling the life and times of Richard Nixon’s public career, which spanned decades from the dawn of the Cold War through the Clinton years.
An anxious new mother joins a solidarity and support group, only to find he has darker plans on his agenda in 2019’s clash Mommy Group Murder (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
The Thunder and Warriors meet in NBA action (7:30 p.m., ABC).
A former kidnapper returns to form on Ransom (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
Program on 60 Minutes (6 p.m., CBS): the employees of the embassies in China and Cuba complain of mysterious ailments; AOL founder Steve Case and his plans to invest in the future of neglected small towns in America; a visit to Monaco.
The duels begin on World of Dance (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
Auditions continue on American Idol (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
Lex Luthor is free on Supergirl (7 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
Mr. Wednesday prepares for battle on American Gods (7 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
After discovering her royal lineage, an adopted 10-year-old girl becomes a little bully in 2019’s clash Mommys Little Princess (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
A Secret Room Holds Dangers on Charmed (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
Hidden secrets revealed on The Walking Dead (8 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
A new trial continues on The Case Against Adnan Syed (8 p.m., HBO, TV-14).
Ax is determined to destroy Taylor in the fourth-season premiere of Billions (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
Ulysses pursues a conspiracy theory on Now Apocalypse (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
Unsung (8 p.m., TVONE) profiles the Jets.
Peaceful openings on Madam Secretary (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
The tension mounts on Good Girls (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Mos’ past comes to light on Black Monday (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
St. Patrick’s Day inspires many traditions. Syfy offers a marathon of Leprechaun movies, from Leprechaun 5: In the Hood (Saturday 4 p.m., TV-14) to Leprechaun 2 (8 p.m.). TCM takes the traditional approach, dumping Technicolor blarney from director John Fords 1952 romance The Quiet Man (7 p.m. Sunday, TV-PG).
Dateline (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … NBA Countdown (7 p.m., ABC) … Kids Are Fine on MasterChef (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … 48 Hours (9 p.m., CBS) … A vintage portion of Saturday Night Live (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
A visit from an old friend inspires Miles in God Friended Me (7 p.m., CBS, TV-PG)… Homer can’t leave Barth’s virtual kingdom in The Simpsons (7 p.m., Fox, TV-14). .. Empathy for All Things on Bobs Burgers (7:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
A walk down the aisle on NCIS: Los Angeles (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14)… On two episodes of Family Guy (Fox, TV-14), Megs Winter Olympics (8 p.m.), fighting over a dowager (8:30 p.m. , r)…Aches on Shark Tank (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).