Tonight brings something old and something new to the schedule.
The something new is Kicking & Screaming, which debuts at 8 p.m. today on Fox. It may be a new series, but it contains component parts from every survivalist show from Survivor and Man vs. Wild to Fat Guys in the Woods and Naked and Afraid.
It's fascinating to me how we love to watch ordinary city folks channeling their inner Bear Grylls as they get down and dirty in some "unforgiving wilderness." Maybe we like living vicariously through their struggles. Maybe we just like to see them fail.
In Kicking & Screaming, 10 "no-nonsense survivalist experts" from all walks of life (one helped capture Saddam Hussein; another is a legit ninja) team up with what Fox labels "nature-phobic partners" to face the "extreme challenges of Fiji's tropical jungle." The 10 pampered novices "have never spent a night camping in their own backyard, let alone surviving in the wilderness."
Note: Fiji is where the current season of Survivor is taking place (again).
Fox promises the teams will face "dangerous animals, wild rivers, hunger and extreme weather." There is an incentive. The prize is $500,000, but the challenge for each team is that one member is a complete klutz and a burden to the expert.
Burden? The contestants include a fashion blogger, a model, an NBA cheerleader and a Baywatch star. Others are a professional video gamer, professional chess player, amateur fashion student/nightclub devotee mama's boy, etiquette expert and an out-of-shape delivery driver.
The challenges could get ugly, even though Fox says there will be "relationships forming and romances."
For some reason, the fetching Hannah Simone, who plays the fetching Cece Schmidt on Fox's New Girl, is our host. I suspect her job is to look pretty as the contestants compete while kicking, screaming, whining and complaining all the way.
"They have to survive each other, and the jungle, and the game," Simone says.
• The Catch. The something old today (although it might seem new) is ABC's The Catch, which debuts Season 2 at 9 p.m. In case you missed the first season, the thriller comes from the prolific Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder) and her ShondaLand partner, Betsy Beers.
The series stars Mirelle Enos (The Killing) and Peter Krause (Parenthood). Enos plays powerhouse Los Angeles-based private investigator Alice Vaughan, with Krause portraying her master con artist fiance, Benjamin Jones, who is working for an international crime operation. Ben completely fooled Alice, made off with millions and disappeared.
A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensued as Alice was determined to track down her elusive ex before he destroyed everything for which she had worked.
Lots of drama took place, although show-runner Allan Heinberg says that there will be a reboot for Season 2 that will morph the series into a comedy.
"We embraced the show as a comedy," Heinberg is quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. "We looked at Season 1 and saw that it's really a romantic comedy at its heart. Season 2 will have fewer cases and see the central team take on only those that hit close to home.
"The case work was really challenging. We were finding out what the show was as we went. I owed the network and audience a 'case of the week' every week, and they took up an enormous amount of real estate in the script."
In other words, if you sampled Season 1 and left dissatisfied, give it another shot. It might play better with laughs.
• Time to slime. WWE star and actor John Cena will host Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards live from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday from the University of Southern California's Galen Center in Los Angeles.
This is the award show where winners get slimed with green goo. That alone is worth the price of admission.
The awards "celebrate kids' favorites from across the worlds of film, television, music, pop culture, animation and more."
The telecast will air on Nickelodeon channels in more than 180 countries and Cena promises, "I have a lot of big surprises in store so bring on the slime!"
• More Feud. The first season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series Feud just premiered last Sunday, but FX has already ordered a 10-episode Season 2. Feud: Charles and Diana will debut sometime in 2018.
Feud: Bette and Joan, starring Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, airs at 9 p.m. Sundays.
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Weekend on 03/09/2017