The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Paramount+ movie) — Look for Keanu Reeves’ cameo in this irreverent animated adventure, which follows SpongeBob and Patrick, his starfish pal, looking to vindicate Mr. Krabs after he’s been framed for heisting King Neptune’s crown. In doing so, they must leave their Bikini Bottom refuge and make their way to Shell City in journey that illuminates the power of friendship. In addition to the actual movie goodness, check out our “Rapid Fire” video with rapper 2KBaby as he looks to beat the buzzer in a quiz.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years: Season 1 (Paramount+ series) — This accompanying prequel series (which is landing on the Paramount+ launch day) follows 10-year-old Spongebob at his summer Kamp Koral, which really shakes up the kelp forest as underwater campfires are all the rage near Lake Yuckymuck.
Mr. Mercedes: Season 3 (Peacock series) — The crime-thriller series that’s based upon Stephen King’s best-selling Bill Hodges Trilogy continues from executive producer David E. Kelley and director Jack Bender. Viewers know that this series brings us a very different Holly Gibney (as portrayed by Justine Lupe) than the one we witnessed on HBO’s The Outsider (as played by Cynthia Erivo), and this season was co-written by Kelley and King. Settle in as the murder of a beloved local author (and American icon) becomes the focus of Hodges, Holly, and Jerome, who find that this case is much more complex than mere cold-blooded killing.
Pacific Rim: The Black (Netflix series) — This animated series is as bonkers as the live action-ish films. There’s massive robots and Kaiju overrunning Australia, which renders the whole continent inhabitable. Amid the mayhem, two siblings search for their missing parents and basically embark upon their search by piloting a Jaeger, which is their only shot at survival.
Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests (HBO Max documentary) — Personality tests can be insightful, sure, but they can also reflect into doing more harm than good when they’re essentially applied out of context, despite a gut feeling that these things are the object of American obsession.
The Unicorn (CBS, 9:30pm EST) — Wade and Shannon are living too far apart and might not be able to make it work, so Wade starts thinking about the future. Meanwhile, Forrest is struggling with insomnia.
Clarice (CBS, 10:00pm EST) — The Silence of the Lambs franchise sees Clarice Starling investigated (along with the VICAP) after the assassination of a suspect.
The Hustler (ABC, 10:00pm EST) — Host Craig Ferguson stands by while contestants compete for money, and “The Hustler” among them keeps doing his or her secretive and enigmatic thing.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Sacha Baron Cohen, Wesley Snipes, Charlotte Lawrence
The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Tracy Morgan, Sam Heughan, Pete Lee
The Late Late Show With James Corden — Daisy Ridley, Caroline Polachek
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Ike Barinholtz, Lilly Singh
In case you missed this recent pick:
Punky Brewster: Season 1 (Peacock reboot series) — Hear me out here on this one. Reboot madness won’t stop (no matter what we do), and after NBCU’s streaming service did the Saved By The Bell thing (which is already renewed for a second season), the progression toward Punky Power shouldn’t be too surprising. In this series, Punky’s a single mom who finds herself inspired by meeting a young orphan who possesses of all her old spunk. Both Soleil Moon Frye and Cherie Johnson reprise their roles, and Freddie Prinze Jr. plays Punky’s ex-husband. Did she go by “Punky” or “Penelope” while taking wedding vows? I kind-of need to know.