McMillions’ wild ride comes to an end, plus an exclusive clip from Dispatches From Elsewhere
TV Lists What's On Tonight
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, March 9. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
McMillions (HBO, 10 p.m., series finale): The final installment of HBO’s six-part docuseries airs tonight, with Jerome “Jerry” Jacobson, the guy who rigged McDonald’s Monopoly game for most of the ’90s, and defrauded the company of $24 million, taking the stand. The final episode will also feature testimonials from “winners” and co-conspirators—many of whom ended up with felony convictions—who “reflect on what they learned, their regrets and the ripple effects that one man’s greed had on so many people nationwide.” Brianna Wellen, who reviewed the first three episodes of the docuseries for us, will be back tonight to cover the finale.
Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC, 10:05 p.m.): This inquisitive and charming new series from Jason Segel has been switching up character POVs from episode to episode, and now it’s time to get inside Janice’s (Sally Field) head. As part of the team we’ve been following in their search for the Elsewhere Society, so far Segel’s Peter and Eve Lindley’s Simone have had a chance to step up, and from the looks of the exclusive clip below, it’s finally Janice’s turn. But Janice moves her team forward by turning people’s expectations of her against them; as the clip shows, she is a player, not one of the played. Liz Shannon Miller will have a full recap of “Janice” and her exploits after the episode airs tonight. [Danette Chavez]
Regular coverage
Better Call Saul (AMC, 9 p.m.)
The New Pope season-one finale (HBO, 9 p.m.)
Wild card
Black Lightning (The CW, 9 p.m., third season finale): If you’re catching up on post-Crisis Black Lightning like we are, you’re probably just as surprised as we were at how imposing Wayne Brady’s Gravedigger is. He made quick work of Khalil in a show-stopping fight scene, and now he’s going after Jefferson, who—spoiler—happens to be his great nephew. From the looks of the promo, it’s sure to be an action-packed showdown.
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Who knew Wayne Brady would make such an impressive action star?
Joke Attempt 1: Dave Chappelle Joke Attempt 2: two episodes of How I Met Your MotherJoke Attempt 3: that’s right, Frank Stallone.Seriously, though, I need to get caught up on so many CW shows. I also need to know if they let him sing.
Is time for Worst Cooks in America 8 March 2020, the finale edition:
Tonight is the finale, which means we jump straight into the prep for the finale three course meal after a no-stakes training demo.
Anne started her candidate with fish tacos. Alton trains his to make Hawaiian crusted fish. We got treated to a Best Friends animation, which is the best thing they the production assistants have had to do so far this season. This is pretty much just filler. Everybody sits down and has a nice meal on camera and goes home to relax.
For the finale cook, Anne taught a homemade ravioli and Alton made shrimp cocktail for the first course. The second courses were, respectively, a Carribean salad and steak with creamed spinach. The dessert portion was a fruit pastry and chocolate chip cookies. The practice cook was mostly drama free, although the shrimp was a touch overcooked. Will this come back dramatically five minutes later?
After a commercial break, we jump directly to the restaurant. Immediately, the recruits are overwhelmed: two normally very chatty players are stressed and not able to devote attention to talking as they rush through courses. Anne’s team starts the dessert prep and struggles with dough consistency, then feels flustered on the actual appetizer, with only 30 minutes left to make the dish. Alton’s chef burns their hand immediately after being told not to touch something hot, because the test shrimp was slightly overcooked and they needed to gauge firmness. Alton continued his haranguing of his team, mocking cooking technique but suggesting “you’ve got a great head of hair.” I still can’t tell if this is a great choice.
Anne’s chef finally realized they hadn’t started the ravioli! Commercial break! Artificial drama!
We come back from commercial and, I don’t know, I guess we goofed but we can keep moving.
The guest judges are introduced. The ravioli is a little oily. The shrimp cocktail is probably okay.
Fish filet cook is a struggle and break during flipping. Last chance cook comes up pretty quickly. Alton is stressed about flavor, and his chef is vague about what is missing. The spinach takes too long, and the steak is stressing him out. This is fine. Everything is fine, here. Alton is definitely drinking.
The main dish tasting goes well: the fish and steak are great. The sides are a bit off.
Dessert time is time for dessert. The cookie dough is frozen. The tart is proceeding apace but is messy.
The tasting and critique went as expected: Alton’s menu was very well executed but unexciting. Anne wins, as usual. Alton did pledge to donate to some food shelters on behalf of his chef, so it’s like everybody won.
If you’re lucky I won’t do this again next time there is another season of this show. Or you’ll just block my comments on Kinja and ignore it.
I just found out about this show last year, thanks to your summaries, and have enjoyed looking forward to them on Monday mornings. So thank you for introducing me to this wonderful, stupid show, and be aware that at least one person on this site is reading your recaps!
I wish so much that Black Lightning got nearly as much coverage as other CW shows do- not just here but in general. I rarely feel the storytelling is lacking, but maybe it doesn’t engage enough for critics to discuss? Is it just the blackness and overt themes specific to minorities that draws little attention? I know how little of a blip something like cloak and dagger made in online discussion too
If McMillions at all appeals to you as something you think you’d like – you will! If you think it won’t appeal to you for whatever reason – you’re wrong!
Doesn’t the new series or season of Cosmos start tonight on National Geographic also?
Would love to see Dispatches From Elsewhere but I’m not going to pay for basic cable. It’s not available to purchase/stream on any of the regular places: Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes, etc. Please allow those of us without AMC to see this show.