Judge Judy Sheindlin takes her courtroom act from syndication to streaming in the new, but oh so familiar, Judy Justice. A classic literary detective, P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh, returns to TV in feature-length mysteries streaming on Acorn TV. The 118 gets caught up in a prison riot on Fox’s 9-1-1. An Asian hate crime becomes personal for Dr. Park on ABC’s The Good Doctor.
Judy Justice
After 25 years in lucrative syndication, Judge Judy Sheindlin puts on a new burgundy robe to enter the brave new world of streaming, where her courtroom shtick of tough love—though not always love—will entertain her fans Mondays through Friday on Amazon’s free streaming service. She’s joined by a new crew including law clerk Sarah Rose (Judy’s granddaughter), stenographer Whitney Kumar and bailiff Kevin Rasco, who’s been her bodyguard the last few years. What hasn’t changed is Judge Judy’s sharp tongue, demanding order in her court in no uncertain terms. In the new episode I watched, she barked “Sit!” “Don’t speak!” “Do I look like I need any help from you?” “Who cares?” and “I’m not loving either one of you” whenever the hapless plaintiff and defendant dared to open their mouths. You’d think they’d know better.
ACORN TV
Dalgliesh
Tony-winning actor Bertie Carvel takes on the introspective and tragically romantic role of detective-poet-widower Adam Dalgliesh in a new adaptation of P.D. James’ classic mystery novels, set in the 1970s. In “Shroud for a Nightingale,” the first of three feature-length two-part whodunits dropping weekly, Dalgliesh investigates the grisly poisoning death of a nursing student during a training demonstration. The suspects, young and old, at the nursing school are unsettled by the quietly dashing detective’s piercing gaze, which projects empathy as well as skepticism. “You see the underneath… our souls,” observes one suspect. Which may be why Dalgliesh, like Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes, endures.
FOX
9-1-1
Fire is something they can handle, but Bobby (Peter Krause) and the rest of his 118 crew are overwhelmed when they respond to a fire call at a prison and find themselves caught up in a deadly riot. Where’s Athena (Angela Bassett) when you need her?
ABC/Jeff Weddell
The Good Doctor
Dr. Park (Will Yun Lee) finds himself personally affected by the case of an elderly Korean American shopkeeper (Francois Chau) who comes to the hospital with his activist daughter (Jee Young Han) after he’s beaten in an anti-Asian hate crime. In somewhat lighter hospital news, Lea (Paige Spara) surreptitiously tries to raise Shaun’s (Freddie Highmore) negative patient-satisfaction scores without him knowing what’s she’s doing.
Inside Monday TV:
- Holiday Baking Championship (8/7c, Food Network): So many holiday-themed food competitions to tempt the taste buds and wastelands. In a new season, host Jesse Palmer welcomes 12 holiday bakers, who immediately dig in to create fall and winter doughnuts, then a holiday cheese board, for judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goodman and Carla Hall. Two contestants won’t survive the double elimination.
- The Neighborhood (8/7c, CBS): Halloween isn’t over yet on this block, as Calvin (Cedric the Entertainer) investigates strange happenings in the family home, while Tina (Tichina Arnold) and Gemma (Beth Behrs) ponder whether sexy costumes are still suitable for them.
- Small Town Girl (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): Choreographer-director Adam Shankman (So You Think You Can Dance) and TCM host Dave Karger lead off a month-long celebration of cinema dance on Mondays with a little-known Jane Powell musical from 1953, featuring toe-tapping production numbers for Ann Miller and Bobby Van. Followed by 1980’s more iconic Fame (10/9c) and the soon-to-be-remade Oscar-winning West Side Story (12:30 am/11:30c) from 1961.
- Temple (Spectrum On Demand): Mark Strong returns for a second season of the thriller about a surgeon who operates an underground illegal medical clinic beneath London’s Temple subway station.
- The Informant: Fear and Faith in the Heartland (streaming on Hulu): George Stephanopoulos’ production unit at ABC News delivers its second documentary, an alarming investigation into a militant white supremacist group that plotted to murder scores of women and children in Kansas until an informant helped FBI agents take down the group.
- Y: The Last Man (streaming on FX on Hulu): Barring a miracle resurrection on another platform, the is the last we’ll see of this sweeping sci-fi drama, canceled after one season, set in a world where a calamity wiped out the world’s male population—except for poor Yorick (Ben Schnetzer).
