‘Survivor’ Returns, Playing Dominoes on Fox, ‘Pam & Tommy’ Finale, Andy Warhol Diaries
Reality pioneer Survivor is back for a 42nd season. Fox launches Domino Masters, where teams of three build elaborate domino structures for everyone’s toppling pleasure. Hulu’s limited series Pam & Tommy ends with the Internet taking their infamous sex tape to the next level. Netflix explores the legacy of Andy Warhol through his diaries in a six-part docuseries.
Survivor
The scenic islands of Fiji welcome 18 new contestants, once again initially split into three tribes, to compete in the 42nd season of the durable and ever-changing reality competition. The show is promising (or threatening) a “faster, more extreme” season, with food and supplies at a minimum to ratchet up the stakes of the mental and physical challenges. In the two-hour opener, meet the members of Vati (green), Taku (orange) and Ika (blue), which include a retired firefighter, a pageant coach, a dietitian, a veterinarian and a therapist who could come in handy.
Domino Masters
Watch the dominoes fall in elaborately designed chain reactions as 16 teams of three gather to build themed projects in painstaking detail. Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet hosts the game, which opens with a “Sports Night” theme as teams incorporate custom elements into their builds, only to watch them topple (presumably not until they’re ready) for everyone’s delight. Domino maestro Steven Price judges alongside actress/math advocate Danica McKellar and NFL legend Vernon Davis.
Pam & Tommy
With the final episode now available, this is a perfect time to binge the exhilarating eight-part drama starring a remarkable Lily James and Sebastian Stan as Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and rock ’n’ roll drummer Tommy Lee, whose lives, careers and relationship unravel in the wake of their private sex tape going public. The finale takes us back to a time when the Internet was in its early growth stage, providing an unimaginably large canvas for distribution. All of which is a nightmare not only for Pamela, who sees herself as a “walking punchline” who’s unable to book lucrative jobs, and for Tommy, whose latest comeback goes nowhere, but also for a repentant Rand (Seth Rogen), the born loser whose theft of the tape set all of this in motion. (In a late real-life twist, Pamela Anderson just announced that she’ll be joining the cast of Broadway’s Chicago revival as Roxie next month.)
The Andy Warhol Diaries
The celebrated and enigmatic artist who is often associated with the notion of “15 minutes of fame” lives on in a six-part docuseries from producer Ryan Murphy and director Andrew Rossi. Using Andy Warhol’s posthumously published diaries to tell his life story in his own words, enhanced by his own voice recreated through AI techniques, the private becomes public. Those who knew Warhol, an eclectic group including John Waters and Rob Lowe, offer their own perspectives.
Kung Fu
Season 2 of the martial-arts action series opens with Lunar New Year approaching, and San Francisco vigilante Nicky (Olivia Liang) will have to marshal all of her resources when a break-in at the Shen residence has her and Evan (Gavin Stenhouse) suspecting Russell Tan (Kee Chan) is involved. Later, an unexpected relative crashes the Shen’s New Year’s Eve dinner and shakes up everyone’s world. Kung Fu is now joined by The Flash (8/7c) on its new night.
Inside Wednesday TV:
- Chicago PD (10/9c, NBC): Capping a night of all-new Chicago procedurals, the Intelligence Unit responds to last week’s shocker by seeking one of their own who remains in grave danger.
- Resident Alien (10/9c, Syfy): Harry’s (Alan Tudyk) trippy adventures in New York City continue, but he and Asta (Sara Tomko) aren’t the only strangers in town.
- Good Trouble (10/9c, Freeform): In the Season 4 premiere, Callie (Maia Mitchell) struggles to keep her lawyer boss Kathleen (Constance Zimmer) out of legal trouble when footballer Tommy Sung’s (Kevin David Lin) murder trial ends.
- Signs of a Psychopath (10/9c, Investigation Discovery): A new season of the chilling true-crime series begins with a look back at the reign of terror in the 1980s and ’90s of Houston’s “Tourniquet Killer.”
- The Last Kingdom (streaming on Netflix): A fifth season of the historical drama opens with 10th-century England enjoying a rare yet fragile peace. Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) suspects it won’t last long, and given this show’s history, he’s probably right.