It’s a night of long-awaited second season returns on HBO as a pair of very different–both well-reviewed and with a cult following–come back after pandemic-related delays. Meanwhle, one of our top 20 shows of the past year airs its penultimate episode of its opening season.

BRAD’S PICK:
Euphoria [HBO, 9p]
HBO’s boundary pushing teen drama returns for a second season. The question many parents ask after watching is are kids really like this? The answer isn’t always clear, but if nothing else it is an honest portrayal of what teens go through today. It’s not always an east watch but it is an important one.

JASON’S PICK:
The Righteous Gemstones [HBO, 10p]
If Succession‘s satire were a bit closer to the surface and took place in the world of megachurches, you’d have this show which combined farcical elements of a heist comedy with the genuine warmth of a family drama (but it’s more of the former). Its insanely great cast includes John Goodman, Walton Goggins, Danny McBride, Adam Devine, and Edi Patterson (who has created one of the most captivating car crashes of a character in the delightfully squirrelly Judy Gemstone). The trailer promises new kooky roles from Eric Andre, Jason Schwartzmann, and they seem to have even dug up Eric Roberts to play a smarmy rival.

FIONA’S PICK:
Yellowjackets [Showtime, 10p]
We’re back in the woods for another episode. This week it looks like we’ll get to see a bit more about the team’s time in the woods and things that they did beyond basic survival. Meanwhile Shauna is getting to the bottom of who Adam actually is. I hope she brings him to Misty’s creepy basement to interrogate him! This seems unlikely, but Misty definitely is the most equipped for torture out of the group.  

KATHERINE’S PICK:
Bob’s Burgers [Fox, 8:30p]
Louise takes advantage of the shift in power dynamics when the students must rate the teachers. 

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

• A group of three 40-something friends (Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin, Maggie Q) lose their fourth friend suddenly and it sends them spiralling–and in apparently hilarious ways as it is a comedy. Pivoting debuts on Fox tonight.
• Call Me Kat is such a mixed bag. We want to like it as a remake of the ridiculously fun UK show Miranda. And it’s got tons of cats darting in and out of scenes as it takes place in a cat cafe. It showed some promise in its first season, even if its hard to say the critics who savaged it are wrong–in many ways, it’s a hackneyed sitcom. Mayim Bialik unfortunately makes it even harder to like the show with her weird comments shaming abuse victims and promoting anti-vaxx views (and she’s a friggin’ neuroscientist who should know better).
• PBS returns to Yorkshire for the gentle adventures (and misadventures) of a local veterinarian with the second season of All Creatures Great and Small debuting tonight.

• Just from the image above, it’s clear Smiling Friends will fit in snugly in the Adult Swim aesthetic. Taking place in a somewhat grotesque city landscape, two aliens(?) start an agency dedicated to making people happy.
• Andrew Zimmern’s series for the new Magnolia Network actually sounds quite intriguing. Family Dinner has our host traipsing across the American landscape to examine how various regions’ customs and quirks affect their culinary choices.
• And the award for Lifetime-ingest Movie Title of So Far in 2022 goes to Trapped by My Sugar Daddy. It’s on Lifetime and it’s about an 18-year-old girl who dates a 50-year-old man. What could possibly go wrong? Obviously, a lot, and in there we have the essence of a Lifetime movie. Up has the Hallmark title of the day with Love’s Second Chance, while over on the ACTUAL Hallmark Network (well HMN), the new movie is the outdoorsy North To Home.