NBA Scandal in ‘Clipped,’ When Hockey Fans Rioted, ‘Star Wars: Acolyte,’ Cyndi Lauper Looks Back

Clipped

With the NBA Finals starting later this week, a lively fact-based limited series revisits a turbulent moment in pro basketball history. The catalyst: the L.A. Clippers’ wealthy and eccentric owner Donald Sterling (a perfectly cast Ed O’Neill), who’s publicly shamed in 2013 when an audio recording of his outrageously racist comments is leaked to TMZ—just as the cursed team is reversing its lousy playoff history thanks to newly arrived coach Doc Rivers (an equally perfectly cast Laurence Fishburne). The brouhaha is triggered by an outlandish triangle involving Sterling, his jealous wife Shelly (Jacki Weaver) and his sexy and ambitious assistant known as V. (Cleopatra Coleman), whose proximity to and desire for fame and fortune is reflected in the tabloid reality-TV culture epitomized by the famous-for-fame’s-sake Kardashians. Launches with two episodes.

30 for 30

ESPN’s 30 for 30 series explores another dark moment for a sport making news this week, titled “I’m Just Here for the Riot,” when hockey fans rioted throughout Vancouver in June 2011 in the wake of the Canucks’ Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals. (This year’s Stanley Cup matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers begins Saturday.) The special examines the aftermath of a chaotic event captured on scores of cell phones, with rioters exposed to face the consequences, raising troubling issues about fandom and mob violence.

Star Wars: The Acolyte

The first Star Wars spinoff created by a woman (Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland) is, not surprisingly, skewed heavily toward female heroism—and villainy. The set-up, which can only be hinted at without spoiling, takes fans back to the start of the franchise timeline, a century before the rise of the Empire, “a time of peace” when Jedis ruled. A former Jedi named Osha (Amandla Stenberg), who left the Order six years earlier, is forced to face her tragic past when she’s implicated in the murder of Jedi masters. Squid Game Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae appears as her former mentor and Jedi Master Sol, who recruits Osha to help solve this mystery. Launches with two episodes.

Let the Canary Sing

“If you’re doing what you love: magic.” So says the titular canary, music superstar Cyndi Lauper, as she reflects on her colorful career and eventful life in a music documentary from director Alison Ellwood (The Go-Gos). Canary charts Lauper’s rise from the technicolor breakthrough of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, to an eclectic resumé that includes a Tony for the score of Kinky Boots. The special also celebrates her activism, with testimonials from such peers as Patti LaBelle, Boy George and Billy Porter.

Who Killed WCW?

Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling, once the most popular form of grappling entertainment in America, blew up like nitro in 2001. A four-part docuseries sifts through the layers of greed, ego and backstabbing the ended the league. In the opener, see how a brash young salesman named Eric Bischoff gained control of WCW, teaming with Hulk Hogan to create the 1990s phenom.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Bright Eyes (8/7c, TCM): Turner Classic Movies’ “Star of the Month” franchise expands to the galaxy of stars once based at 20^th Century Fox, with films each Tuesday. The series opens with the 1934 Shirley Temple musical that introduced “On the Good Ship Lollipop.” Followed by Betty Grable in 1941’s Moon Over Miami (9:45/8:45c) and Alice Faye with Carmen Miranda in 1943’s The Gang’s All Here (11:30/10:30c).
• No Easy Victories: The 1994 New York Rangers (9/8c, ESPN, streaming on ESPN+): Maybe Rangers fans, whose post-season dreams were crushed when they were eliminated Saturday by the Florida Panthers, can take solace in an E60 special, where Jeremy Schaap looks back on the team’s historic Stanley Cup win on the 30^th
• Stand-Up Corner: For laughs, check out these sets: Marlon Wayans: Good Grief (streaming on Prime Video) and Jo Koy: Live from Brooklyn(streaming on Netflix).
• Great Danes: Two very different streaming imports from Denmark: On Viaplay, Call Me Dad is a comedy about a man who learns to his dismay that his best friend and business partner is dating his mom; on MHz Choice, The Eagle is an introspective mystery about a detective who faces his personal traumas while joining an investigative team to address cross-border crime in Europe.