Cheech and Chong on ‘Lopez,’ ‘Shogun’ Prepares for Battle, Mancini’s Movie Music, Cooking with Carnie

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are among the guest stars on back-to-back episodes of NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez. FX’s epic Shōgun heads to Osaka Castle for an explosive showdown. TCM salutes the classic film scores of Henry Mancini. Wilson Phillips alum Carnie Wilson brings celebrities into her kitchen in a new cooking show.

Cheech Marin as Carlos, George Lopez as George in 'Lopez vs Lopez' Season 2 - 'Lopez vs Let It Go'
Nicole Weingart / NBC

Lopez vs Lopez

In a classic example of sitcom stunt casting, legendary comedy duo Cheech & Chong are guest stars in separate storylines of the family-oriented sitcom. But first, even more guest stars appear in the first of two back-to-back episodes, with the NFL’s Marshawn Lynch appearing as a sideline reporter who interrupts George’s (George Lopez) plans to make amends with Oscar (Al Madrigal). Jane the Virgin’s Jaime Camil begins a recurring role as Josué Consuelos, a dashing personal-injury lawyer who charms Rosie (Selenis Leyva) and sparks George’s jealousy. In the second episode, Cheech Marin leads a meditation group whose “let it go” mantra proves irresistible to George, with Tommy Chong showing up as a fully baked burnout who moves next door.

Shōgun

The explosive penultimate episode of this sweeping period adventure, the second TV adaptation of James Clavell’s best-seller set in 1600s Japan, sends English pilot Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai) to Osaka, where the long game orchestrated by Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) plays out before his enemies. We’ve been waiting for weeks for “Crimson Sky” to get underway, but little in this violent land, a real-world game of thrones, goes off entirely as planned.

Peter Sellers in 'The Pink Panther' (1963)
United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Pink Panther

Henry Mancini’s haunting music graced more than 100 movies, including his Oscar-nominated Pink Panther score that features the playful theme of the 1963 caper, which introduced Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and later spawned a successful cartoon series, also using his theme. TCM’s 24-hour tribute includes his Oscar-winning title song to 1962’s Days of Wine and Roses (6 pm/5c) and the indelible Oscar-winning “Moon River” from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (10:15/9:15c), starring Audrey Hepburn. These movies, and many others, are unimaginable without his stirring scores.

Sounds Delicious With Carnie Wilson

Sounds Delicious With Carnie Wilson

Series Premiere

The music channel ventures into the food space with Carnie Wilson, best known as the daughter of Beach Boy Brian Wilson who hit the charts as part of Wilson Phillips (with sister Wendy and Chynna Phillips). Carnie, who has recently publicized a notable weight loss, welcomes celebrities into her kitchen to test and sample dishes. Her first guest: Sugar Ray lead vocalist and TV personality Mark McGrath, who helps her whip up a lasagna stuffed with mini meatballs.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

  • FBI (8/7c, CBS): Co-parenting couple Stuart Scola (John Boyd) and Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten, visiting from FBI: Most Wanted) pose as a married couple on a dangerous undercover assignment, stoking Scola’s fears that their son Doug could be orphaned should things go sideways. Followed by FBI: International (9/8c) and FBI: Most Wanted (10/9c), with Ray (Edwin Hodge) having a heart-to-heart with his dad (guest star Steven Williams) while the Fugitive Task Force pursues the shooters of armed guards transporting priceless Nigerian artifacts.
  • An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th (9/8c, HBO): Filmmaker Marc Levin’s documentary recounts the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, still the single deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in the U.S., while exploring the roots of anti-government extremist ideology.
  • Alert: Missing Persons Unit (9/8c, Fox): A hurricane complicates the search for a missing travel influencer.
  • Children of Ukraine (10/9c, PBS): A dramatic installment of Frontline concerns the search for missing children taken from Ukraine and held in Russian-occupied territories during the conflict, also telling the stories of Ukrainian teenagers who’ve managed to escape.
  • Life Below Zero: First Alaskans (10/9c, National Geographic): The Season 3 finale finds the Alaska natives hunting for all manner of sustenance before winter sets in.

 ON THE STREAM:

  • CTRL+ALT+DESIRE (streaming on Paramount+): A disturbing three-part true-crime docuseries from director Colin Archdeacon peeps inside the psyche of Grant Amato, whose obsession with a Bulgarian cam girl led to financial ruin and the execution-style murder of his family.
  • Hip Hop World (streaming on Prime Video): A music special hosted by Lenny Santiago doubles as a travelogue, as hip-hop stars DJ Khaled and Lola Brooke travel the world for inspiration, including trips to Jamaica and Paris.
  • Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer (streaming on Netflix): As in: kills on stage. Jimmy Carr directs and stars in his fourth comedy special for Netflix.