— Are you ready for UPN nostalgia? The very ’90s network never really got much respect. But some of its programs and players are returning in "new" and newish formats.
Hulu has begun streaming "Veronica Mars," which aired on the UPN and CW from 2004-7. A "new" season four will begin streaming on Hulu on July 26.
Netflix digs deeper into UPN history, casting Tia Mowry in its new old-fashioned sitcom "Family Reunion," which begins streaming today. Tia and her twin sister, Tamera Mowry, starred in the UPN comedy "Sister, Sister" from 1994-99.
Here, she’s cast as Cocoa McKellan, wife to football star Moz (former NFL player Anthony Alabi). The couple and their children are first seen arriving in Columbus, Georgia, for a vast McKellan family reunion. The kids find the Deep South very different from their home in Seattle. When teen daughter asks grandpa for their Wifi password, he replies, "We don’t have Wifi." And she begins punching that in.
"Reunion" rolls along, filled with these gentle misunderstandings. Moz outrages his mother, M’Dear (Loretta Devine), when he reveals that he no longer takes the family to weekly church services. As soon as you can say "Amen" (an old NBC show), they’re in the pews the very next day.
Filled with wacky relatives and adorable, precocious children, "Reunion" hearkens back to classic sitcoms of the 1980s and ’90s. Nobody will be surprised when the pilot concludes with the Seattle McKellans deciding to stick around to live their lives with family and good country people.
For all of its feel-good intentions, the show involves one segment that some may find a tad too old-school. When one precocious child backtalks grandma, she insists she be punished and physically beaten with a belt. Rather than inspire a meaningful conversation about the virtues (or damaging pathologies) of this "don’t spare the rod" thinking, it plays the notion for laughs, and generally dismisses any qualms about violent parenting as snowflakey and overly "woke" thinking.
— Also set in the South, the comedy "Florida Girls" (10 p.m., POP, TV-MA) follows four drunk, unruly and ambition-free young women living in a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Audience participation on "Ellen’s Game of Games" (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG).
— Sixteen compete on "MasterChef" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Tracy Morgan hosts "The 2019 ESPYs (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Stage 5 of the 2019 Tour de France (8 p.m., NBCSN).
— A pirate (Antonio Banderas) looms large in the 2015 animated feature "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" (8 p.m., Nickelodeon, TV-PG).
— Nostalgia-wise, "Battle of the 80s Supercars With David Hasselhoff" (8 p.m., History, TV-PG) throws in the whole KITT and caboodle.
— Embedded cameras follow "First Responders Live" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— "NOVA" (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) examines new projects that anticipate a return to lunar exploration.
— will.i.am searches for talent on "Songland" (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG).
— The three-part "American Experience" (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) presentation "Chasing the Moon" concludes.
— Abigail returns on "The InBetween" (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— John and Beth cultivate their candidate on "Yellowstone" (10 p.m., Paramount, TV-MA).
— Franklin wants to give back as "Snowfall" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) returns for a third season.
CULT CHOICE
— A reporter (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers a homeless street musician (Jamie Foxx), who turns out to be a Juilliard-trained artist battling schizophrenia in the 2009 true-life drama "The Soloist" (7 p.m., Starz).
SERIES NOTES
Games unfold on "Love Island" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Illusionists audition on "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG).
Julie Chen Moonves hosts "Big Brother" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Jane has a new book idea on "Jane the Virgin" (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Militants stage a blackmailing scheme on "S.W.A.T." (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
"The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" (11 p.m., Comedy Central) presents The Best of Michael Kosta Vol. 2 … Adam Scott appears on "Conan" (11 p.m., TBS) … Dax Shepard, Preet Bharara, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Jon Stewart are booked on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Willie Nelson and Adam Devine on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Seth Rogen, Dave Bautista and Jaden Smith appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Terry Crews and Anthony Jeselnik visit "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Karlie Kloss, Max Minghella, Sean Paul and J Balvin appear on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
