RSVP to ‘The Afterparty,’ The ESPYs, the ‘Quarterback’ Mystique, New ‘Blueys’

The Afterparty

Calling attention to its own status as a sequel to last year’s clever mystery-comedy, The Afterparty returns with Tiffany Haddish as newly ex-detective Danner. She’s cashing in on her true-crime celebrity with a book (she has yet to write) and smelling a juicy follow-up when former suspects Aniq (Sam Richardson) and Zoë (Zoë Chao) call in a panic after her sister’s new husband (Silicon Valley’s very funny Zach Woods) is found dead the morning after, along with his beloved pet lizard. Yet again, everyone’s a suspect, and once Danner is on the scene, each interrogation takes the form of a “mind movie” in a different film genre. But first, we get a classic romcom focused on awkward Aniq’s hapless attempts to ingratiate himself into Zoë’s family. Then in the second episode, the focus shifts to the bride, Grace (Poppy Liu), whose description of her whirlwind romance with doomed tech titan Edgar takes on a Bridgerton-style Regency look. The fabulous cast includes John Cho, Elizabeth Perkins, and Black Bird’s Paul Walter Hauser as Grace’s would-be gumshoe ex.

ESPYS

Top athletes are honored for “Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly,” with music from Lil Wayne and H.E.R., who delivers a tribute to the 30^th anniversary of the V Foundation and college basketball coach Jim Valvano’s memorable 1993 speech. Highlights of each ceremony include the special citations that go beyond sports. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team gets the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage acknowledging their fight for equal pay. Chicago White Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Liam Hendriks receives the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. And the Pat Tillman Award for Service goes to the Buffalo Bills training staff for their life-saving measures after the collapse on the field of Damar Hamlin.

Quarterback

A dramatic pro football season is seen through the eyes of three prominent quarterbacks, who allowed themselves to be mic’d for each game of their 2022 campaign in the streamer’s first partnership with the NFL. The eight-part docuseries follows the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes on and off the field, joined by the Minnesota Vikings’ comeback kid Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota as he takes over as starting QB with the Atlanta Falcons.

Bluey

That rare preschool show that’s adorable enough to be enjoyed by parents as well as their kiddos returns with 12 new episodes, featuring the lovable Blue Heeler puppy and her Australian friends and family. Celebrity voices include superfan Lin-Manuel Miranda as a talking horse (in “Stories”) and Rose Byrne as Chilli’s older sister Brandy (in “Onesies”).

Platonic

Rose Byrne is also center stage in the season finale of the winning comedy about best friends who might not be each other’s best influences. Much of the season has suggested that Sylvia’s (Byrne) rekindled friendship with man-child Will (Seth Rogen) might cause damage to her marriage to good-natured Charlie (Luke Macfarlane). But in the finale, when the couple buys a new home and Will disrupts the housewarming party with his peculiar enthusiasms, harsh words are said between the two and we begin to wonder if this friendship can be saved as they each face new life paths.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• MasterChef: United Tastes of America (8/7c, Fox): The regional home chefs get their first Mystery Box Challenge, with apples as the key ingredient. Then on Gordan Ramsay’s Food Stars (9/8c), the entrepreneurs put their utensils down to show they’ve got what it takes on social media, creating a TikTok recipe video.
• Mayans M.C. (10/9c, FX): The Sons are closing in on the Mayans in the series’ penultimate episode when EZ (J.D. Pardo) crosses paths with a familiar face.
• grown-ish (10/9c, Freeform): Andre (Marcus Scribner) frustrates his roomie Zaara (Tara Raani) by treating her more like a therapist than a friend.
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (10/9c, FXX): The guys can’t help themselves from crashing Dee’s (Kaitlin Olson) bowling night, setting up a battle of the sexes against The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), Gail the Snail (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and Artemis (Artemis Pebdani). I’d put money on there being no winners in this contest.
• Hijack (streaming on Apple TV+): On the ground, air traffic controller Alice (Eve Myles) concludes, “This is very quickly becoming not good.” And she doesn’t even know that someone’s been shot on Kingdom Air 29. As the flight continues into the fourth suspenseful hour, the latest peril involves how to avoid being shot down by the air forces of the nations they’re flying over.