Appealing TV: Awkward, Hand Of God, The Great British Baking Show

So, what else is on?

Monday, August 31
Big Blue Live (8pm, PBS, series premiere)
If you wanted to see a convergence of scientists, filmmakers, photographers, and marine wildlife off the coast of Monterey for a once in a year spectacle of live TV, you are in luck. Think Big Brother means Planet Earth meets the 1999 MTV coverage of Woodstock (without lamenting humanity and violence). Big Blue Live runs from Monday to Wednesday the 2nd.

Awkward. (9pm, MTV, season premiere)
MTV is making for push for Monday night programming with the return of the high school comedy Awkward. for its fifth and final season, along with new episodes of high school comedy (with a lesbian twist) Faking It (9:30pm, MTV) the series premiere of reality show Torick (10pm, MTV, series premiere), featuring creative multi-hyphenate Todrick Hall and his troupe as they make weekly music videos, and the series premiere of Girl Code: Live (10:30pm, MTV, series premiere) which I can only assume is Girl Code but in Total Request Live format. Or one can dream.

Tuesday, September 1
Drunk History (10:30pm, Comedy Central, season premiere)
Drunk History should be taught in high schools. As part of a history/humanities course and as a module about the perils of binge drinking. Derek Waters’ webseries cum Comedy Central mainstay has kept fresh throughout its run on the cable channel, due to the stories featured, the monologists, and wonderful production value that goes into re-enacting each drunken comedian’s monologue about a historical event.

Wednesday, September 2
Mr. Robot (10pm, USA, season finale)
Mr. Robot’s freshman season was supposed to end last Wednesday, but USA decided to hold off on showing it due to the shootings in Virginia that occurred the morning of.

Thursday, September 3
Beyond Scared Straight (9pm, AMC, series finale)
Beyond Scared Straight has been a showcase of the failures of the prison system and a montage of adults intimidating juvenile delinquents for our entertainment.

Friday, September 4
Hand of God (12:01am, Amazon, complete first season)
Ron Perlman returns to TV as a morally corrupt judge whose breakdown leads him to believe the voice of God is speaking directly to him, and thus should go on a vigilante spree of justice. As part of the Amazon pilots program that got a full season order.

Saturday, September 5
Tiny House Hunting (9pm, FYI)
All the drama of looking at people looking for a house, combined with the insufferable snootiness of that house being tiny.

Sunday, September 6
The Great British Baking Show (7pm, PBS, season premiere)
The reality show competition equivalent of a warm hug returns stateside for another season of well meaning, everyday people who just so happen to be extraordinary bakers vie for best baker, sans the usual reality trappings of not being here to make friends. Of course with this being a UK import, your insufferable anglophile friends probably already have seen this season years ago and won’t ever stop reminding you of that.

See you next Monday!

the author

Paolo Sambrano adores television theme songs. You can follow him on Twitter @paolo. He is the creator of the card game, No Benefits and the writer/performer of the solo show Bi-Poseur.

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