Streaming today on Netflix, "Marriage or Mortgage" is so contrived it just might catch on. In each episode, a young(ish) couple must decide if they want to blow their modest nest egg on a big wedding or do the sensible thing and put that money toward a down payment on their first house. To help them decide (or torment them with choices), a real estate agent and a wedding planner "fight" for their money.
Each episode unfolds like a dream custom made for a city’s chamber of commerce. The first episode concerns a pair who just relocated to Nashville. The bride has been to too many weddings not to reciprocate for her friends and family, and the groom works in the hospitality business, so the dice seem pretty loaded from the outset. What follows is a tour of Music City wedding venues, food trucks, bars, beer gardens and wedding trolleys, followed by a pretty hard sell of homes, backyards, closets and vast kitchens, all within their price range.
Nashville has done a good job selling itself via television. The ABC melodrama "Nashville" got some funding from the city, and whatever it cost was well spent on turning the country music mecca into a tourist destination and a place for weddings, receptions and bachelor parties.
Episode 2 moves on to Memphis, where Graceland-themed weddings are the thing.
"Marriage" does such a good job of selling its locations, you can overlook its contrivances. And its emotional void. At times it seems like "Father of the Bride" without the father. Or for that matter, any family or friends at all.
— Wayne Brady, a veteran of decades of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" improvisations, hosts "Game of Talents" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG), a new game show that fits in well with the over-the-top atmospherics of "The Masked Singer" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG), returning tonight for its fifth season with Niecy Nash as guest host.
"Talents" offers a new variation on a guessing game. Contestants are offered a list of special acts that will perform for them and the TV audience. Then they are introduced to one performer and presented with a number of cryptic clues. Their task is to use that information to link that performer to his or her particular act. If they guess correctly, they accumulate prize money. Wrong answers result in money going to their rivals.
Neither the acts nor the contestants are boldfaced names. Most of the performances are out of the "America’s Got Talent" realm of Vegas-style variety acts. The contestants have clearly been coached to come up with "acts" of their own.
As with every game show since "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" arrived at the turn of the century, "Talents" resembles a video game. Acts emerge only after some giant object, resembling a UFO or the old Houston Astrodome, spins up and off the stage. Brady keeps the shenanigans shuffling along without a celebrity in sight.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A fellow Navy vet joins the team on "Chicago Med" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Memories make Severide misty on "Chicago Fire" (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Closing the circle on a drug ring on "S.W.A.T." (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A shooting shocks the city on "Chicago P.D." (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A man passes himself off as a Saudi prince on "The Con" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Brad Dourif stars as a peculiar preacher in director John Huston’s 1979 adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s novel "Wise Blood" (8 p.m., TCM). O’Connor is the subject of an "American Masters" profile airing on PBS on March 23.
SERIES NOTES
"Tough as Nails" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A murder mystery dinner party on "The Goldbergs" (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Archie rebuilds the volunteer fire department on "Riverdale" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … A new neighbor on "American Housewife" (8:30 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
Closing in on Syria on "SEAL Team" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Improvising to save Halloween on "The Conners" (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Volleyball and witchcraft on "Nancy Drew" (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … A meddling Midwestern mom relocates to interfere with her children’s lives on "Call Your Mother" (9:30 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Norman Reedus and Mike Vecchione on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Audra McDonald, Fruit Bats and John Herndon visit "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Trevor Noah and Grouplove appear on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS).
