A wealth of new series arrive, putting the accent on immigrants and their children and their place in the American experience.
Debuting on Apple TV+, the anthology series “Little America” offers half-hour vignettes based on true stories adapted from a column with the same name that runs in Epic magazine.
Shot and written like a short independent film, this installment of “Little America” shows 10 years transpire in less than 30 minutes as its subject grows up before our eyes, sadly trapped running his parents’ motel while waiting out their exile. Heartbreaking but never manipulative nor afraid to be funny, “Little America” may be the show that puts Apple TV+ on viewers’ radar.
“Little America” is created by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, who also produced “The Big Sick.”
— Disney+ introduces the series “Diary of a Future President,” which follows the middle-school dramas of a precocious Cuban American girl (Tess Romero). The series opens in the Oval Office, when the newly inaugurated president glances back at her battered old journal.
The framing device allows for many strident voice-overs to match the spunky ‘tween shenanigans. Immigrants come in many varieties, but the Disney treatment does not allow for many deviations.
— Neither an American nor an immigrant, a Canadian-born Indian comic reflects on ethnic differences in the Amazon Prime special “Russell Peters: Deported,” debuting today. Performing in a vast stadium in Mumbai, India, Peters reflects on the wisdom of middle age and the misshapen body and failing health that accompany such maturity.
While most of his fat jokes are at his own expense, he excels at singling out members of his audience for rapid-fire skewering, making him an heir to the Don Rickles tradition.
— Gillian Anderson stars as the frank sex therapist mother of an uncomfortable teen (Asa Butterfield) in the awkward coming-of-age U.K. series “Sex Education,” streaming its second season on Netflix.
— Apparently, the government of Thailand has banned the use of the three-finger gesture popularized in the 2012 fantasy “The Hunger Games” (8 p.m., AMC, TV-14) and its sequels. It has been used by those protesting that country’s authoritarian regime.
I learned about this phenomenon by watching the Al Jazeera news app on my Roku device. If you watch Al Jazeera for a half hour, you often hear reports from 15 different countries, many in Africa or Asia, places all but ignored by American “news.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Greek mythology inspires a killer on “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “Hopelessly in Love” (9 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14) recalls Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead.
— Frank cracks down on anti-police activists on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Cumming, Miriam Margolyes, Sharon Horgan and Craig David appear on the “Graham Norton Show” (11 p.m., BBC America, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
— A faculty couple (Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) turn their boozy taunts on a younger couple (Sandy Dennis and George Segal) in the 1966 adaptation of Edward Albee’s stage drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (9:45 p.m., TCM, TV-14), director Mike Nichols’ first film.
SERIES NOTES
Storm warnings on “Hawaii Five-0” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … A scary development on “Charmed” (8 p.m. CW, TV-PG).
A false front may catch a rat on “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC, r) … Alexis testifies at Blake’s trial on “Dynasty” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley McBryde on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Michael B. Jordan, January Jones and Cigarettes After Sex appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r).
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, David Byrne, H.E.R. and Caitlin Kalafus visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r).
