Seven Days of Television: February 2 to February 8
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY FEBRUARY 2 A Path Appears (PBS, 9:30 p.m.) While most broadcast outlets ruthlessly chase ad dollars, PBS is still trying to make the world a better place, one show at a time. This new three-part special follows several high-profile celebrities – including Blake Lively, Eva Longoria, Alfre Woodard, Mia Farrow and others – in their philanthropic efforts to expose gender oppressions and glaring human rights violations. In the opener, Ashley Judd and New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof travel to Nashville to profile a young woman named Shana, whose mother sold her to a pimp at the tender age of 12 years old. The good news: Through the highly-acclaimed recovery program called Magadelene, Shana and others like her have managed to find their own place in society. Another episode follows.The New York Times
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3 Limo Wars: Las Vegas (A&E, 10 p.m.) Eventually, every single vocation in American society will become its own A&E reality series. As the title suggests, this new entry follows the daily work routine of a successful Las Vegas limousine service with more than two-dozen cars in its fleet. And based on the two opening episodes, life is one big adventure for these limo jockeys. In the first show, limo driver Chris is forced to keep the rowdy members of a bachelor party entertained (hello, strip clubs). In the second episode, the drivers have to transport a manic monkey and a sexy showgirl in the same evening! What happens in Vegas, and so forth.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 Fresh Off the Boat (ABC, 8:30 p.m.) You be the judge: Is this new sitcom with an all-Asian American cast trying to break new TV ground or is ABC just trying to capture a slice of the available viewing demographic? Based on the bestseller by celebrity chef Eddie Huang, the premise takes place in 1995 and focuses on a kid named Eddie (Hudson Yang), whose parents have just relocated from Chinatown in Washington, D.C. to suburban Orlando in pursuit of the great American dream (which in this case means opening a steakhouse). The one to watch is Randall Park (most recently seen as Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in The Interview), who commands immediate attention as Eddie’s tightly-wound dad, Louis.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5 Allegiance (NBC, 10 p.m.) Get ready to make space for a new show on your weekly PVR list. Debuting tonight, the premise revolves around the likeable performance by newcomer Gavin Stenhouse as rookie CIA analyst Alex O’Connor, whose very first case involves scrutinizing the statements of a recently-defected Russian spy warning of an imminent terrorist attack against the U.S. So imagine Alex’s surprise when he digs deeper into the case and discovers that his own parents (Hope Davis, Scott Cohen) are part of a dormant Russian sleeper cell. Awk-ward!
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6 Shark Tank (ABC, CTV Two, 9 p.m.) What’s the deal with Canadian-born Shark fixture Kevin O’Leary and Courtney Love? The odd couple were spotted leaving an L.A. restaurant recently, which instantly sparked rumours that they were plotting some new business venture together. Whatever the case, there’s no evidence of Ms. Love in tonight’s new episode, but we do hear from two Brooklyn ladies pitching their new line of organic lipsticks and two brothers trying to get funding for their yak and cow chews for dogs. Yak and cow chews? Ew.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 The Philadelphia Story (TCM, 8 p.m. ET) If only Hollywood could still turn out movies like this 1940 classic. Adapted from a hit Broadway play, the story casts that inimitable firebrand Katharine Hepburn as Philadelphia socialite Tracy Lord, who is on the verge of tying the knot with a boring stiff named George (John Howard). On the night before her nuptials, Tracy’s handsome ex-husband Dexter (Cary Grant) shows up unannounced to turn her head and then the situation gets even more complicated with the arrival of a dirt-digging reporter named Mike (James Stewart) who is supposedly writing a story on Tracy’s adulterous father. Watch it again, or for the first time, and try to name a current movie with such brilliant word play.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8 The 57 th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS, Citytv, 8 p.m.) Hear my song! See my thong! Expect the biggest names in pop to cram into the Staples Center tonight for the music industry’s annual awards fete. Hosted for the fourth straight year by rapper LL Cool J (hey, he’s on NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS’s highest-rated show), the show is scheduled to include stage turns from a diverse range of artists, including Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Madonna, AD/DC, Sam Smith and Usher. But the really big news: The show will reportedly include a performance by Mr. Purple Rain himself: Prince!