From True Detective to a true story, Sundays on HBO feature new programming for the remainder of the month with Show Me A Hero (Miniseries Premiere, 8 p.m. Sunday, HBO).
The creator of The Wire (David Simon) and director of Crash (Paul Haggis, whom you might recognize from his interviews in the recent HBO Scientology doc, Going Clear) present this miniseries about efforts to desegregate Yonkers, N.Y., public housing in the 1980s and ’90s.
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina) stars as Nick Wasicsko, a cop-turned-Yonkers City Council member who becomes the city’s youngest mayor. When a federal judge orders Yonkers to build 200 units of public housing in a largely white, affluent area of the deeply segregated city, Wasicsko (while running for office) opposes it. But when his term begins, the young mayor changes his tune. Wasicsko’s efforts to enact the changes are met with opposition, bringing to surface the many political, socio-economic and race issues facing the city at that time — and much of America today.
The series offers perspectives of longtime middle-class residents fearful of dropping market value and rising crime, black families hesitant to integrate under such hostile terms and politicians and organizations on both sides of the fight.
Based off Liza Belkin’s nonfiction book of the same name, the miniseries’ title comes from the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote, “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” The series airs two parts at a time from 8-10 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 30.
WEDNESDAY 12
Skin Wars (9 p.m., GSN) – Local Aryn Fox has made it to the final four! In the penultimate episode, the artists paint pregnant women’s bellies and work with challenging natural elements.
Key & Peele (10 p.m., Comedy Central) – Val Kilmer talks with the valets; Judge Jessie’s new show; a man waits for his job interview.
Lachey’s Bar (10:30 p.m., A&E) – Drew brings some friends along to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and comes home with a pricey barrel of booze.
THURSDAY 13
Project Runway (9 p.m., Lifetime) – Unconventional challenge! The designers must incorporate Hallmark cards into their looks.
Lip Sync Battle (10 p.m., Spike) – The Lakers’ Nick Young competes against fiancée Iggy Azalea. So people won’t pay to see her on tour, but they might tune in to watch her lip sync?
Married (10:30 p.m., FX) – Lina and Russ take extreme measures to secure a family vacation.
SATURDAY 15
Hannibal (10 p.m., NBC) – Jack and Will are convinced Dolarhyde will kill again as a full moon nears; Alana offers Hannibal an opportunity to make amends.
SUNDAY 16
I Am Cait (8 p.m., E!) – Cait attends a sleepover at Candis’ house; Kim and Khloe take issue with Cait’s words about Kris in the Vanity Fair story; Cait visits a support group for trans kids’ families.
Humans (Season Finale, 9 p.m., AMC) – The season winds down as the action ramps up, with Hobbs capturing Elster’s synths (and Leo) and the Hawkins family dealing with the fallout. I had high hopes for Humans, and the show definitely lived up to my expectations. One simple storytelling technique that many shows overlook is just a solid mix of characters interacting with one another. Humans nails that — from people to synths (and synths that act like people), each character has a range of relationships with the others. And with the promise of Season Two, we can expect to explore this even more next year.
TUESDAY 18
Punk’d (Season Premiere, 10:30 p.m., BET) – Punk’d is back, with a new home on BET. Cool?
CONTACT JAC KERN: jkern@citybeat.com or @jackern
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2015.