Worth Watching: ABC’s ‘Emergency Call,’ Voting Explained on Netflix, a Week of BTS on ‘Tonight’
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
Emergency Call (10/9c, ABC): With Fox’s 9-1-1 not returning until the new year, fans can get at least one side of their Monday night fix in a new unscripted reality show, hosted and executive produced by a very earnest Luke Wilson, that recreates panicked calls that come into call centers in New Orleans, Austin and Wasilla, Alaska. The crises themselves aren’t staged, making the roles of the 9-1-1 operators more critical as they have to imagine the circumstances on the other side of the line. The situations range from harrowing — a hysterical mother reporting a car abduction with an 8-year-old in the back seat — to amusing (a peacock holding up traffic). For those counting the weeks, The Good Doctor is currently scheduled to return in this time period Nov. 2.
Whose Vote Counts, Explained (streaming on Netflix): Wherever you look on TV, networks are orchestrating get-out-the-vote campaigns to make sure as many participate as possible, given the stakes. In a new Netflix docuseries, artist-activists Leonardo DiCaprio, John Legend and Selena Gomez narrate and help lay out the way the process works, from the influence of corporate donors and partisan gerrymandering to threats of voter suppression and the very nature of the controversial Electoral College.
The Comey Rule (9/8c, Showtime): The second and final night of the politically charged limited series depicts the dramatic main course: the awkward working relationship of by-the-books former FBI Director James Comey (a restrained Jeff Daniels) and the newly elected anything-goes President Trump (an unrestrained Brendan Gleeson). Their infamous one-on-one White House dinner (“I need loyalty”) marks the beginning of the soul-crushing end.
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (11:35/10:35c, NBC): The last time Korean pop sensations BTS appeared on the late night, taking over iconic Manhattan locations including Grand Central Station in February, the episode became the most social in Tonight‘s history. BTS returns to a much-changed city for a weeklong visit through Friday, performing and participating in comedy bits and appearing as lead guest on Wednesday.
Inside Monday TV: It’s Disney night on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (8/7c), which means barely surviving contestant Carole Baskin (Tiger King) gets to dance a samba to The Lion King‘s “Circle of Life.” Consider this a warning… Speaking of which, Investigation Discovery’s two-night Tiger King wallow Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up (9/8c) concludes, followed by a prequel, Joe Exotic: Before He Was King (10/9c), for obsessives only… In the second episode of Fox’s soapy Filthy Rich (9/8c), one of the illegitimate children has an identity crisis, while the brazen Ginger (Melia Kreiling) is urged to join the church in a publicity stunt… E!’s Dr. 90210 (10/9c) introduces several female plastic surgeons bringing a woman’s touch to the male-dominated field in Beverly Hills.
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