Less than two weeks before Halloween, it’s a big night for wolves. The horror comedy “Wolf Like Me” returns to Peacock.
A product of the Australian streaming service STAN, “Wolf” stars Broadway and Disney musical performer Josh Gad (“Book of Mormon” and “Frozen”) as Gary, the widower/father of Emma (Ariel Donohue), an adolescent girl still grieving her mother when a series of chance encounters brings them into contact with Mary (Australian soap star Isla Fisher), an advice columnist and social shut-in with emotional problems of her own.
As anyone can guess (or knows from watching the show’s first season, streamed in 2022), Mary is a werewolf and must confine herself when the feeling comes over her, or things get very messy.
Over the course of season one, Gary and Emma bond with Mary and take care of her secret as best they can — mainly by locking her in the basement when necessary.
Season two opens with Mary expecting a baby. And no sonogram has yet revealed the tyke’s gender. Or species.
Australian series tend to go over the top with bathroom and bodily function humor. In the opener of season two, Mary has a dream/premonition of attending a posh wedding with Gary and Emma and having her baby crawl out of her, reminiscent of a scene in “Alien,” and spray the attendees and the string quartet with buckets of blood.
Among the interesting aspects of “Wolf” is watching Gad cast against type as the responsible partner and dad. Not only must he contend with a 13-year-old grieving daughter, but he has a girlfriend who is “hormonal” in all of the worst ways.
Gad is rather famous for his goofy exuberance, a trait that has worked well for him in musicals, but not necessarily on the small screen. He’s been in a number of short-lived series (NBC’s “1600 Penn,” HBO’s “Avenue 5” and FX’s “The Comedians”), where he has been given more free rein.
The talents and attributes that shine on stage can often seem like screaming when confined to television. I remember NBC’s decision to replace “Seinfeld” with (among other things) a show called “Encore! Encore!” starring Nathan Lane as a womanizing opera singer. One wag called it the “Moose Murders” of sitcoms.
So a buttoned-down Josh Gad may be a good thing here. Besides, he has other chances to strut his stuff. Gad just opened on Broadway in the genre spoof “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
— Over on Max, look for the animated short “Peter and the Wolf,” updating the musical fable by Sergei Prokofiev with artwork by U2’s Bono.
More than a half-century ago, the catchy “Peter and the Wolf” theme was adapted (or was it desecrated?) into a series of cigarette commercials. That’s why I can’t hear it without humming, “I’d Walk a Mile for a Camel.”
— Max also launches the dystopian cartoon series “Scavengers Reign.”
— Netflix debuts “Neon,” a limited musical comedy series following a gaggle of friends from South Florida who go from living in their car to becoming stars in the reggaeton world.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A criminal bigshot faces a jury on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— Bash’s patient exhibits exotic symptoms on “Transplant” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— The Saints host the Jaguars in NFL Thursday Night Football, streaming on Prime Video.
CULT CHOICE
Set in a circus sideshow featuring real performers, the 1932 shocker “Freaks” (4 p.m., TCM), directed by Tod Browning (“Dracula”), was considered tasteless, despite being released by the prestige studio MGM.
SERIES NOTES
“Buddy Games” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Password” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “The Golden Bachelor” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
“Big Brother” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Lego Masters” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Bachelor in Paradise” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
“The Challenge: USA” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Keegan-Michael Key, Elle Key and Jon Batiste are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Bad Bunny, Sam Heughan and Victoria Monet on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Snoop Dogg, Ms. Pat and October London appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Christine and the Queens, Fred Armisen and Jacquelene Acevedo visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Rudy Rush, Flip Schultz, Jeff Dye and Sarah Tiana appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:37 a.m., CBS).
