Are American TV viewers ready to embrace soccer? Or football, as it is called around the world? Fox certainly hopes so. It dedicates five hours over the next three Friday evenings to “Phenoms” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m.), profiling the world’s best players.
This is all promotion for the upcoming World Cup, which will begin airing June 14 on Fox, FS1 as well as the Fox Sports app.
Hour one of “Phenoms” is dedicated to “The Attackers,” the best goal-scoring talents in the world, including Dele Alli, Marco Asensio, Gabriel Jesus, Paulo Dybala and Hirving Lozano. The second helping covers “The Defenders,” such as Marquinhos, Davinson Sanchez, Kenny Tete and Alhassane Sylla.
— “My Last Days” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) enters its second season, featuring young people facing mortality well before their time and making the most of their allotted hours. In the first episode, a choreographer puts on a contemporary dance show and a street photographer creates an ALS charity.
These are real stories, as opposed to the contrived romantic comedy “Life Sentence” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14), about a young woman whose prospects are radically altered when her terminal diagnosis is proven wrong. Despite Stella’s (Lucy Hale) improved prognosis, the series itself has been canceled.
While movies like “The Fault in Our Stars” have done well, TV shows featuring dying or seriously ill characters — including “Life Sentence,” the 2014 Fox melodrama “Red Band Society” and ABC Family’s 2014 drama “Chasing Life” — have not succeeded in finding audiences.
— Netflix appears to have crammed every conceivable “girls’ night out” cliche into the 2018 romantic comedy “Ibiza” (TV-MA), streaming today. A harried young executive (Gillian Jacobs) is sent to Spain by her icy boss. Efforts to excel at her vague assignment go awry when two of her slacker friends accompany her and convince her to go to the resort city that gives this forgettable film its name. There, they convince her that a quick and consequence-free hookup with a DJ who is described as “hot” any number of times will pretty much solve all her problems. Help yourself.
— “Great Performances: The Opera House” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera’s home at New York’s Lincoln Center. The film features archival interviews with architects, artists and officials living and dead, including soprano Leontyne Price, composer Samuel Barber, producer Franco Zeffirelli and urban planner Robert Moses.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— On two helpings of “Champions” (NBC, TV-14), Priya’s unexpected visit (8 p.m.), Michael’s first date (8:30 p.m.). The second episode is the season finale. While this series has not yet been canceled, the ratings-measuring website TVbythenumbers.com says it is likely to be.
— Foreign potentates need special protection on a new episode of the recently canceled “Quantico” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— Viewers who haven’t had their fill of royal weddings might enjoy the 2018 romance “Royal Hearts” (8 p.m., Hallmark), about a Montana rancher who discovers he’s heir to a foreign throne.
— Carl Reiner celebrates friends and fellow funny nonagenarians including Mel Brooks and Betty White in the 2017 documentary “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” (8 p.m., HBO2).
— A dog owner’s duty gets the high-tech treatment on “Shark Tank” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
— A hoop star’s demise may not be what it seems on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Long before “Titanic,” Debbie Reynolds starred in the 1964 adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (3:30 p.m., TCM) as the larger-than-life Colorado woman who survived the 1912 disaster.
SERIES NOTES
YouTube star Bethany Mota mentors young filmmakers on “Undercover Boss: Celebrity Edition” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A hacker springs an arsonist from prison on “Hawaii Five-0” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … A two-hour “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC) … Stella and Wes seek professional help on “Life Sentence” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC).
LATE NIGHT
James Comey and Jason Aldean are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Julianna Margulies, Giancarlo Stanton and Dan White on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC).
Ethan Hawke, Ronan Farrow, Jodie Comer and Matt Byrne visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Meghan Trainor, Guillermo del Toro and Jamie Lee appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
(Kevin McDonough can be reached at [email protected].)
