Worth Watching: Netflix Explores ‘Love on the Spectrum’ and ‘NY vs. Mafia,’ Final Season of ‘Corporate’
A selective critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:
Love on the Spectrum (streaming on Netflix): First dates can be nerve-wracking in the best of circumstances, but as this heartwarming five-part docuseries follows seven young singles on the autism spectrum seeking connection and possibly love in the dating world, family members and experts help boost their confidence in finding a soul mate. It can be done, the series reveals, as the series also profiles two lucky couples who’ve been able to sustain long-term relationships.
Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia (streaming on Netflix): Eclectic as ever, Netflix offers another non-fiction series on the menu, looking back at the organized crime boom in the 1970s and ’80s perpetrated by the “Five Families” of New York City: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese clans, whose cumulative control of unions, construction and other industries made them seemingly invulnerable. In the three-part Fear City, documentarian Sam Hobkinson uses archival footage, recordings and new interviews to go inside the police investigation and prosecution case that brought these deadly crooks to justice, ending the so-called “Golden Era of the Mob.”
Tough as Nails (8/7c, CBS): Tough luck for Melissa, the Ohio farmer who punched out of the race for the top prize last week. But she’s still part of a team, and back in her element as the grueling competition moves from the junkyard onto a farm. I was kind of hoping for a barn-raising, but it appears the main challenge involves building a large fence, which creates communication problems for one of the teams.
Corporate (10:30/9:30c, Comedy Central): For anyone who’s grown weary of working remotely from home, this dark workplace satire returns for its third and final season, reminding us that life in the office is anything but a picnic. How far will Matt, Jake, Grace and the rest of the Hampton DeVille team make it up the corporate ladder before it’s all over? While we wait to find out, junior-executive-in-training Jake (Jake Weisman) is rattled upon learning the truth about beloved kids’ show Pickles 4 Breakfast.
Inside Wednesday TV: HGTV introduces a tearjerker of a new series, Build Me Up (9/8c), in which Orlando Soria, an interior designer and author, helps folks in the midst of big life changes get a fresh start by overhauling their home. In the premiere, he comes to the aid of a newly widowed mother of two who wants to update her California home while also preserving the memory of her husband… Lifetime’s Happily Ever Altered (10/9c) profiles a couple whose trip to the altar undergoes some surgical detours — a breast lift, tummy tuck and veneers for Alexa, liposuction and dental work for Matt — as they prepare their vows. In another gimmick, they live apart during their recovery, not seeing the other again until a double reveal at the wedding… A Korean thriller being likened to Dexter is now streaming on Rakuten Viki, a platform for Asian entertainment. Flower of Evil stars Lee Joon-Gi as a seemingly perfect husband and family man who’s hiding some very dark secrets from his detective wife (Moon Chae Won).
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