TV Best Bets

Wednesday, April 26: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is a Chilling Vision of a Not So Bright Future

The Handmaid's Tale Take Five/Hulu

All Times Eastern.

Wednesday, April 26

The Handmaid’s Tale
Hulu
New Series!
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Top of the Lake) headlines this gripping, 10-episode adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel set in a not-far-off future society called Gilead — a militaristic theocracy that has replaced the United States, and where women are viewed as property of the state. Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley and Alexis Bledel also star.

Blindspot: “Regard a Mere Mad Rager”
NBC, 8pm
Jane (Jaimie Alexander) and Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) go undercover on a high-stakes scavenger hunt run by powerful hackers. Shepherd (Michelle Hurd) journeys to Thailand to procure a dangerous weapon.

Speechless: “R-U-N—RUNAWAY”
ABC, 8:30pm
When Maya (Minnie Driver) learns JJ (Micah Fowler) tried to run away from home, she decides to help him complete the mission like any able-bodied person, but her efforts frustrate her son who longs for real independence. Meanwhile, Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) struggles to have serious talks with the kids without Maya present and Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) tries to get Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) to relive his glory days as a star high-school jock.

black-ish: “Sister, Sister”/”All Groan Up”
ABC, 9pm
Guest Star Alert!
Black-ish returns tonight with all-new, back-to-back episodes. In “Sister, Sister,” Bow’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) sister Santamonica (guest star Rashida Jones) comes to town after a stint on a reality show, highlighting the siblings’ differences. Meanwhile, Zoey (Yara Shahidi) suggests that Dre (Anthony Anderson) spend more time with Junior (Marcus Scribner) since she’ll be leaving for college, and Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane (Marsai Martin) decide to rebrand themselves. Then, in “All Groan Up,” Zoey is accepted at colleges across the country, leaving a nostalgic Dre and Bow pondering life without her always around, and Pops (Laurence Fishburne) and the twins trying to sway Zoey to pick a school in a city they want to visit.

Criminal Minds: “Unforgettable”
CBS, 9pm
Guest Star Alert!
Guest star Jane Lynch returns as Dr. Reid’s (Matthew Gray Gubler) mother in the new episode “Unforgettable.” The BAU investigates when several federal government employees succumb to symptoms of a heart attack.

NOVA: “Building Chernobyl’s Mega Tomb”
PBS, 9pm
An international team of engineers races to construct a gargantuan dome to contain the lingering radioactive materials and crumbling remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, decades after being the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Designated Survivor: “Lazarus”
ABC, 10pm
As President Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) considers vice presidential candidates, Kimble Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) finds herself embroiled in scandal. Agent Wells (Hannah Q) and Jason Atwood (Malik Yoba) return from North Dakota with a critical new lead. Abe Leonard’s (Rob Morrow) investigation takes an unexpected turn.

The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands
AXS TV, 10pm Live
Dallas-based group Warehouse performs a tribute to Dave Matthews Band.

Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders: “Blowback”
CBS, 10pm
In the new episode “Blowback,” the FBI investigates the International Response Team after a mission results in the death of a suspect.

Chicago P.D.: “Grasping for Salvation”
NBC, 10pm
While investigating the murder of a teenage boy, Voight (Jason Beghe) finds a connection with the murder weapon — linking it to a case that he worked on 17 years ago. While the victim’s father (guest star Philip Casnoff), a prominent defense attorney, tries to get the case taken over by Area Central Homicide, Voight digs back into the old case under the watchful eye of his former partner, Lieutenant Denny Woods (guest star Mykelti Williamson).

Wild Weather
PBS, 10pm
Watch an innovative documentary that illustrates through ambitious (even unlikely) experiments how nature transforms simple ingredients like wind, water and temperature into something spectacular and powerful.

Gomorrah
SundanceTV, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Season 2 of the engrossing and visually stunning Italian mob drama — which bests Game of Thrones’ ratings in its homeland — makes its American debut tonight.

Thursday, April 27

“Planet Earth” Marathon
BBC America, beginning at 12pm
The groundbreaking Planet Earth documentary series from 2007 airs in a marathon beginning with “Deserts.” David Attenborough narrates.

NFL Draft: First Round
ESPN & NFL Network, 8pm Live
ESPN and NFL Network air live coverage of Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia tonight in primetime. The Cleveland Browns have the No. 1 overall pick. Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett, Alabama DT Jonathan Allen and LSU RB Leonard Fournette are high on the draft board. ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network combine to televise all rounds through Saturday.

MasterChef Junior: “An Extra Serving”
FOX, 8pm
Chef Gordon Ramsay hosts the cooking competition’s first-ever retrospective highlighting some of the series’ most memorable moments. The one-hour special will feature Ramsay dishing on favorite moments and favorite meals, and sharing never-before-seen outtakes. Ramsay will also be visited by past winners and fan-favorites to see how they’ve grown — not only as chefs, but also as young adults.

The Simpsons
FXX, 8pm
Eight straight episodes of The Simpsons on FXX tonight include all-time greats like “Rosebud,” in which Mr. Burns longs for his teddy bear Bobo; “Hungry Hungry Homer,” in which Homer goes on a hunger strike to protest the Springfield Isotopes moving to Albuquerque; and “Brick Like Me,” in which everything and everyone is made of Lego.

Superstore: “Cheyenne’s Wedding”
NBC, 8pm
It’s Cheyenne (Nichole Bloom) and Bo’s (recurring guest star Johnny Pemberton) dream wedding, but not everything goes according to plan. Meanwhile, relationships unravel as Amy (America Ferrera) and Jonah (Ben Feldman) dodge relationship rumors. Glenn (Mark McKinney) tries to change Jeff’s (recurring guest star Michael Bunin) mind after learning of upcoming layoffs, Dina (Lauren Ash) talks her way into the wedding party and Mateo (Nico Santos) dodges Jeff throughout the wedding.

Scandal: “Mercy”
ABC, 9pm
Just when Peus’ grip on Olivia (Kerry Washington) and everyone she holds dear seems inescapable, a shocking threat to the White House upends everything.

Mom: “A Cricket and a Hedge Made of Gold”
CBS, 9pm
Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) takes a break from the group in the new episode “A Cricket and a Hedge Made of Gold.” With Marjorie gone, Bonnie (Allison Janney) suddenly becomes the go-to for everyone’s problems.

Chicago Med: “Deliver Us”
NBC, 9pm
Dr. Rhodes (Colin Donnell) fights to save a mother who is desperate to help her daughter beat cancer. Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) asks Sarah (Rachel DiPillo) to conduct his daughter Robin’s (Mekia Cox) psych evaluation but has difficulty staying out of the case.

The Blacklist: “Philomena”
NBC, 10pm
The task force chases an artful bounty hunter employed to target Red’s (James Spader) closest associates. Meanwhile, Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) faces a moral dilemma when he takes on a new assignment with a former colleague (Enrique Murciano).

Inside the FBI: New York
USA Network, 10pm
New Series!
Produced in conjunction with the FBI, this unscripted series centers around the agency’s New York field office. Each episode will follow a division within the office, such as Counterterrorism, Gang Units, Cyber Crimes and Human Trafficking. The series comes from Dick Wolf, creator of Law & Order, and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Marc Levin.

Friday, April 28

Catastrophe
Amazon
Season Premiere!
Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan’s BAFTA-winning sitcom makes its Season 3 U.S. debut today.

Casting
JonBenét 
Netflix
This “documentary hybrid” is a stylized exploration of the infamous and still unsolved death of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey. Over 15 months, filmmakers traveled to the Ramseys’ Colorado hometown to find how this crime and its resulting mythologies have shaped the attitudes and behavior of successive generations of parents and children.

Dear White People
Netflix
New Series!
Set against the backdrop of a predominantly white Ivy League university where racial tensions bubble just beneath the surface, this satirical series, picking up where the 2014 film of the same name left off, is a sendup of “post-racial” America.

Sofia the First
Disney Channel, 11:30am
Season Premiere!
Cable TV’s most-watched preschool series returns with new adventures for Princess Sofia, voiced by Modern Family’s Ariel Winter. The series also stars the voices of Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda, Wayne Brady as Clover and Tim Gunn as Baileywick. Eric Stonestreet and Hugh Bonneville recur as Sofia’s flying horse Minimus and the Narrator, respectively, and the series frequently enjoys guest voices from big-name stars.

NFL Draft: Rounds 2-3
ESPN, ESPN2 & NFL Network, 7pm Live
Rounds 2-3 of the 2017 NFL Draft from Philadelphia air live on ESPN and NFL Network tonight. After the first hour, ESPN’s coverage will shift to ESPN2.

Undercover Boss: “Taco Bueno”
CBS, 8pm
New Episodes!
Undercover Boss returns after a few months off with the new episode “Taco Bueno.” Michael Roper, president and CEO of Tex-Mex restaurant chain Taco Bueno, goes undercover to see if everything is fantástico with their service.

Rosewood: “Blistering Heat & Brotherly Love”
FOX, 8pm
Season Finale!
Rosewood, Villa, Slade and Hornstock work to take down a highly skilled group of criminals suspected of a jewelry store heist, and Rosie decides that someone from the inner circle should run a new Magic City Lab on the West Coast.

First Dates: “Should I Try to Kiss You?”
NBC, 8pm
One dater comes on strong and proves that age is just a number when it comes to love; siblings go on the show’s first double date; the bathroom camera catches an honest reaction.

Ancient Aliens
History, 9pm
Season Premiere!
Season 12 kicks off with a look at how the search for proof of extraterrestrial life has been underway by the government for decades, and theorists offer evidence that similar efforts to find life were made thousands of years ago.

Vanity Fair Confidential: “Alter Ego”
OWN, 9pm
Tonight’s episode looks at Kansas family man J.R. Robinson, who led a second life for nearly two decades. Neither his wife nor children knew that he was a swindler, forger and serial murderer. As the case unfolds, his family has difficulty coming to terms with his true identity.

Blue Bloods: “Foreign Interference”
CBS, 10pm
Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Baez (Marisa Ramirez) team up with two Russian operatives to search for a dangerous Russian man who entered the U.S. with a diplomatic visa in the new episode “Foreign Interference.”

Saturday, April 29

NFL Draft: Rounds 4-7
ESPN & NFL Network, 12pm Live
ESPN and NFL Network air the final rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft live today in Philadelphia.

Training Day: “Sunset”
CBS, 8pm
In the new episode “Sunset,” Frank (Bill Paxton) investigates a reclusive Hollywood producer after one of Holly’s (Julie Benz) call girls goes missing.

World War Z
FXX, 8pm
In this 2013 horror film, Brad Pitt stars as a U.N. employee who must race around the globe trying to help stop a zombie pandemic that has toppled governments and broken down society.

The Son: “No Prisoners”
AMC, 9pm
In 1849, an enemy forces Young Eli (Jacob Lofland) to question his loyalties. In 1915, the McCulloughs’ past comes back to haunt them, with deadly results.

White House Correspondents’ Association Awards Dinner
C-SPAN, 9:30pm Live
C-SPAN offers live coverage of this annual event. With President Trump not attending the dinner this year, he becomes the first president in more than three decades to skip the annual gathering. Host and speakers had not been announced at press time.

Verizon IndyCar Series: Phoenix Grand Prix
NBCSN, 9:30pm Live
Stars of the Verizon IndyCar Series head to the 1-mile tri-oval at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona for the primetime Phoenix Grand Prix.

Class: “Nightvisiting”
BBC America, 10pm
BBC America’s Doctor Who spinoff series Class continues tonight with Episode 3, “Nightvisiting.”

Road Hauks: “Search and Rescue”
History, 10pm
Kenny has been hired by a local ski resort to turn their old rusted-out Bronco into the ultimate search-and-rescue vehicle. After realizing the Bronco is beyond saving, the crew attempts to combine kit parts with the original vehicle, which proves much more difficult than anticipated.