The new series “Big Shot” features an idea so natural, the series just about writes itself. And it shows.
Streaming on Disney+, “Big Shot” sees the return of John Stamos (“Full House”) to episodic television. He plays Marvyn Korn, a hot-headed college basketball coach of the Bobby Knight school. One thrown chair too many gets him exiled from the game that defines his life. He’s still famous enough to have an agent (Adam Arkin) who works on the tippy-top floor of an urban office building, but even he can only get Marvyn a lowly job coaching a basketball team at the high school level — at a girls’ prep school.
And not just a girls’ prep school, but a Disney version of one.
Suddenly, Marvyn finds himself transplanted to some gorgeous but entirely generic California coastal town, where he lives in a hotel and works at a proud and elite institution that looks like it was built yesterday. It has the deep roots of an Olive Garden.
Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community”) plays the stern headmistress who barely tolerates Marvyn and tells him point blank that he was only hired because the school’s biggest donor insisted because he’s obsessed with getting his daughter, Louise (Nell Verlaque), on a top college team. No pressure, Marvyn.
You can sort of see where this is going. Snooty and insecure girls push Marvyn’s buttons until “the game” helps bond them and they go on a journey of self-discovery. Together. Yada, yada, yada.
Let’s face it. Anything to do with high school coaches is going to feature its share of bromides and inspirational cliches, halftime speeches, Hail Mary passes and three-point shots at the buzzer. That’s why the best of them have a deeply rooted sense of place. Think “Hoosiers” or “Friday Night Lights.” “Big Shot” takes place nowhere, exactly. It suffers from all the worst aspects of Disney magic. The happiest place on Earth is no place anyone would call home.
— You can’t say the new comedy “Frank of Ireland” doesn’t have a sense of place. Streaming its first season on Amazon Prime, “Frank” stars Brian Gleeson in the title role. Thirtyish and still living with his mother (Pom Boyd), he fancies himself a busker, but never practices. His low-self-esteem girlfriend (Sarah Greene) has moved on, and his best friend is named Doofus (Domhnall Gleeson). Consistently obvious and without charm.
— “Great Performances” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) presents “Beethoven in Beijing,” recalling the 1973 visit by the Philadelphia Orchestra to perform in China. At the time, the country was still embroiled in the Cultural Revolution. The prevailing “Gang of Four” clique frowned upon Western influence as “running dog imperialism.” “Beethoven” interviews musicians who participated on the trip as well as Chinese musicians and citizens who could feel the winds of change that would transform their nation.
— “The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs” returns, streaming on Shudder.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A quiet day in the countryside on “The Blacklist” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— It’s hard to believe that “Bridesmaids” (8 p.m., Bravo, TV-14) was released 10 years ago.
— A case becomes very personal for the Reagans on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— “Van Helsing” (10 p.m., Syfy, TV-14) enters its fifth and final season.
CULT CHOICE
Social snobbery dooms a proud family as times change in director Orson Welles’ 1942 adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s novel “The Magnificent Ambersons” (4:15 p.m., TCM, TV-PG). Only a year after “Citizen Kane,” Welles lost control of the film to the studio RKO, which proceeded to trim more than an hour from his efforts. Despite this “mutilation” at the hands of Robert Wise (“The Sound of Music”), “Ambersons” is still considered a masterpiece. A must for “Mank” fans.
SERIES NOTES
Ernie Hudson and Wendy Raquel Robinson guest-star on “MacGyver” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Restaurateurs adjust to COVID lockdowns on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Improvisations on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (8 p.m. CW, TV-14), followed by a repeat episode (8:30 p.m., TV-PG).
A psychic wants to prevent a murder she envisioned on “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) … “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Michael Strahan and Jon Pardi on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Mark Wahlberg, Hunter Biden and the Wallflowers drop by “Jimmy Kimmel Live! (11:35 p.m., ABC, r) … Sacha Baron Cohen, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Ash Soan visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Eddie Murphy and Tiana Major9 appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
