‘9-1-1’ Goes Full Poseidon, NCAA Sweet 16, Second Life for ‘Rust,’ Meet the Baxters

9-1-1

Whether you think this first-responder melodrama is at its best or worst during its season-opening Big Events—this week’s Ask Matt column aired both sides of the argument—there’s no doubting they took quite a swing replicating the classic down-is-up capsizing of a cruise ship in an homage to The Poseidon Adventure. The film gave nightmares as a kid to Athena (Angela Bassett), but now the honeymooning police officer is in charge, along with firefighter husband Bobby (Peter Krause), of keeping her fellow passengers safe while seeking a way to be rescued. Back on land, Hen (Aisha Hinds) is still trying to raise the alarm about the MIA ship, willing to break protocol to find her friends.

March Madness

March Madness continues with the men’s Sweet 16 round in prime time. The action begins at 7 pm/ET on CBS, with No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Clemson, followed at approximately 9:30 pm/ET by the matchup of No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Alabama. On TBS, simulcast on truTV, No. 1 UConn faces No. 5 San Diego State at 7:30 pm/ET, followed by No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Illinois at approximate 10 pm/ET. Eight more teams play on Friday, with the surviving Elite Eight moving on to games on Saturday and Sunday. The women’s Sweet 16 begins Friday on ESPN.

American Rust

The grim drama about corruption and crime in the Rust Belt town of Buell, Pennsylvania, returns for a second season on a new platform after Showtime dropped the series. Jeff Daniels is back as embattled former police chief Del Harris, now a Pittsburgh detective under scrutiny for his past misdeeds, with Maura Tierney as his sullen soulmate Grace Poe. She’s seeking justice—which the series’ subtitle suggests is a big ask—for her son Billy (Alex Neustaedter), who spent time behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. The mystery this season involves a series of murders that may be connected to a major fracking company. Del’s new partner, tough Pittsburgh Homicide detective Angela Burgos, is played by Dexter’s Luna Lauren Velez.

The Baxters

If Rust sounds too downbeat, those seeking uplift during Holy Week might be more inclined to gravitate toward a wholesome, faith-based family drama based on Karen Kingsbury’s Redemption series. Executive producer Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) co-stars with Ted McGinley as Elizabeth and John Baxter, rocks and role models for their five adult children and their families. The first season deals with the family crisis when daughter Kari (Ali Cobrin) struggles with saving her marriage after learning her husband Tim (Brandon Hirsch) is having an affair with one of his college students. Kathie Lee Gifford guest-stars, with her grown-up daughter Cassidy Gifford part of the regular cast.

We Were the Lucky Ones

An exceedingly earnest yet ultimately moving WWII drama, based on Georgia Hunter’s novel fictionalizing a true story, depicts over eight chapters the ordeal of the Jewish Kurc family from Poland, when they’re swept up and torn apart by the Nazi invasion of their country. The large cast includes Logan Lerman (Hunters) as Addy, a musical prodigy who becomes separated from his family and spends years seeking word of their fate, and Joey King (The Act) as sister Halina, who takes refuge in a Soviet-occupied region of Poland but never stops fighting on behalf of her loved ones. Launches with three episodes.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Major League Baseball Opening Night (7:30 pm/ET, ESPN): The centerpiece of baseball’s opening day features World Series champion Texas Rangers hosting the Chicago Cubs, kicking off ESPN’s 35^th season of MLB coverage. Setting the stage for the new year, Baseball Tonight airs a pre-game celebration at 6:30 pm/ET.
• Son of a Critch (9/8c, The CW): In back-to-back episodes of the charming Canadian family period comedy, the Critch clan engages in spring cleaning, only to air out some long-buried dirty laundry. Then young Mark (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) tries his luck at stand-up comedy, finding material that’s awfully close to home.
• Grey’s Anatomy (9/8c, ABC): Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) clashes with a new attending while she and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) seek new funding for their research. Followed by Station 19 (10/9c), where the crew’s celebration at the FABruary Winter Pride parade is interrupted by mayhem.
• My Name Is Dany Garcia (10 pm/ET, ESPN and ESPN Deportes): A documentary (Mi Nombre es Dany Garcia for the Spanish presentation) profiles the entrepreneur who as co-owner of the United Football League is the first woman to own an equal or majority stake in a professional sports league.
• The Long Shadow (streaming on Sundance Now and AMC+): The gripping British docudrama, about the search for the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s, intensifies when another murder occurs in a different town, and a young female police officer is recruited to go undercover with the streetwalking sex workers who are most at peril.