This is what is happening in the television world on Thursday, April 22. All times are Eastern.
Best choice
Rutherford Falls (Peacock, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): “With warm and witty humor, Rutherford Falls fits exactly in the Mike Schur TV universe like a glove. Co-created by Schur, Sierra Teller Ornelas and (series star) Ed Helms, the Peacock comedy is set in a small northeastern town of the same name. While the show can be seen primarily in Rutherford Falls, it expands its scope with characters that truly represent the Native American community. Ornelas, who is Navajo and Mexican American, is also the showrunner, while the writing team has a record number of Indigenous members. Their voices lend a fairness to the depiction of Native American characters, who otherwise don’t have much real estate in small screen comedies. ” Read the rest of Saloni Gajjar’s pre-air review.
Regular coverage
Earth Day on your TV
Let’s give the planet its own wildcard.
Action Planet (Discovery +, 3:01 p.m., series premiere): You can watch this new series highlighting “the work of high-profile changemakers including Common, Jane Fonda, Matt Damon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrian Grenier and Greta Thunberg” on OWN (9:00 pm), Discovery (22 : 04:00), and also the Science Channel (11:00 pm).
Threatened (Discovery +, 3:01 p.m., documentary premiere): Ellen DeGeneres narrates this effort from Discovery and the BBC Natural History Unit; as you may suspect, it is about the disturbingly long list of wildlife in danger of extinction.
Living in color with David Attenborough (Netflix, 3:01 p.m., full season one): Hey, discover +! Netflix has DAVID MOTHER FUCKING CAREFULLY narrating for Earth Day. Take that, DeGeneres. In addition to hosting a global treasure, this series also boasts a number of ‘innovative technology,“Allowing the public” to explore nature from a new perspective, as animals use color to survive and thrive in the wild. “
Secrets of the Whales (Disney +, 3:01 a.m., full season one): This paper by James Cameron / NatGeo “plunges viewers deep into the epicenter of whale culture to experience the extraordinary communication skills and intricate social structures of five different whale species: orcas, humpbacks, belugas, narwhals and sperm whales.” And the whales don’t get Attenborough, but they do To do take Sigourney Weaver, which is still pretty rad.
Cher & The Loneliest Elephant (Paramount +, 3:01 p.m., premiere): Attenborough, Sigourney, and Cher? One day? We’d call that an exaggeration, but it’s a climate emergency, so no, let the celebrity storytellers come. Can someone get Mariah Carey and Tom Hanks on the line, maybe?
2040 (The CW, 8:00 PM, two-hour special): This paper offers “a positive vision of the future where humanity will solve climate change, with solutions that are within reach today.”
Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World (PBS, 8 p.m., full docuseries): Greta doesn’t need a famous storyteller. She just wants you to listen to the science.
Other jokers
A wildcard section for people who don’t care about the Earth. (We’re kidding, we’re kidding.)
G / O Media can receive a commission
Generation hustle and bustle (HBO Max, 3:01 p.m., full season one): Contrary to what the title might suggest, this isn’t a 10-episode argument to stop at least one of your side issues. Instead, it’s a docuseries about scammers! Who doesn’t love a good scam yarn?
2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards (IFC, 10 pm): That’s how a whole slew of prize-like things that will happen over the next week begins. Melissa Villaseñor hosts –read our interview with her.