Bill Harris’ TV must-sees for the week of May 25
1 Undateable
Debut with back-to-back episodes: The premise in this sitcom from Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town) is that all of us go through stages where we’re undateable. For some it just lasts longer. Chris D’Elia stars.
When: Thursday on NBC
2 The Normal Heart
Debut: Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch and Jim Parsons star in this powerful drama about the onset of the then-mysterious AIDS-HIV crisis in New York City in the early 1980s.
When: Sunday on HBO Canada
3 The Night Shift
Debut: Not another movie about late-night TV, I pray. Oh, wait, this is a scripted hospital drama about the men and women who work through the wee hours. With Eoin Macken and Jill Flint.
When: Tuesday on NBC, Global
4 Derek
Second-season debut: Ricky Gervais is back as Derek Noakes in this bittersweet series about a retirement-home worker whose caring attitude provides acute moments of comedy and sadness.
When: Friday on Netflix
5 The Listener
Fifth-season debut: Snakes on a plane! Well, not quite. But snakes on a body? Toby (Craig Olejnik) investigates a serial killer who has a habit of leaving snakes with his victims. Ewww.
When: Monday on CTV
6 The Sixties
Debut: Documentary series executive-produced by Tom Hanks kicks off with an episode titled Television Comes of Age, looking at shows such as The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive and Laugh-In.
When: Thursday on CNN
7 MasterChef
Sixth-season debut: Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot return as judges on the American version, coming off the successful rookie season of the Canadian version.
When: Monday on Fox, CTV
8 Motive
Second-season finale: When a major case from the past resurfaces, it may prompt Detective Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) and Sergeant Mark Cross (Warren Christie) to come clean about their history.
When: Thursday on CTV
9 Crossbones
Debut: You have to wonder if we’ve reached the saturation point with all this historic/fake-historic/fake-historic-with-magic TV. Anyway, this stars John Malkovich as the pirate Blackbeard.
When: Friday on NBC, Global
10 So You Think You Can Dance?
Eleventh-season debut: Justin Bieber will be introducing a new “dance crews” component and encouraging viewers to vote through Twitter. Bieber’s bits were shot in Cannes. That sounds dirty.
When: Wednesday on Fox, CTV
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