PBS imports “Funny Woman” (10 p.m., Sunday, TV-14, check local listings) from the U.K. Based on the novel “Funny Girl” by Nick Hornby, it leans heavily on pop music and period settings and attitudes, not unlike Hornby’s other novel (and film adaptation) “High Fidelity.”
“Funny” begins in the provincial British seaside city of Blackpool in the summer of 1964. Barbara Parker (Gemma Arterton) is seen working at her father’s saltwater taffy machine and entering the “Miss Blackpool” contest. Shapely and attractive with long legs, a bright smile and a mass of blond hair piled atop her head in the style of Brigitte Bardot, she’s a cinch to become a beauty queen.
But something about the realization that she’s been championed by and yet limited to Blackpool puts her in a panic. The glib mansplaining sexism of the local press doesn’t help. She abandons home and her crestfallen fiance for “The Big Smoke” — London and all its magic.
Enchantment does not come easily or quickly. She soon discovers that her job at a posh department store is rife with class hierarchies and judgments based on clothes, stature and accents. When she does try to stand out, she’s treated like a common prostitute by upper-class married clientele.
These setbacks are but speed bumps on the way to her discovery by a theatrical agent and getting cast on a popular U.K. sitcom, rife with backstage intrigues and class hierarchies of its own.
Light as a feather and in love with mid-1960s clothes and music, “Funny Woman” is propelled a bit too breezily by one musical montage after another. The carefree atmosphere of Blackpool is accompanied by Lesley Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.” When London-based Barbara goes downtown, you can bet Petula Clark’s signature song “Downtown” is about to drop.
You half want them to unplug the jukebox (and do us all a favor!).
More of a drama about comedy than a comedy, “Funny Woman” is only sporadically funny. It unfolds over six episodes. If Gemma Arterton looks familiar, it’s because she played Strawberry Fields in the Bond adventure “Quantum of Solace.”
— A spoof of detective series, the adult cartoon “Grimsburg” (8 p.m. Sunday, Fox, TV-14) may leave viewers wondering if Fox has lost any clue about animated comedy.
“Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, seen recently in “The Morning Show” and “Fargo,” provides the voice of Marvin Flute, a failed, terminally depressed alcoholic detective who returns to a town that earned its name by association with an ancient curse. Once back in town, Marvin reconnects with his beautiful wife (Erinn Hayes), now a journalist, and his all-but-abandoned son, Stan (Rachel Dratch), so emotionally stunted that his only friend is an imaginary talking skeleton.
“Grimsburg” has more decapitations and gore than an “Itchy & Scratchy” cartoon, and only half as much emotional resonance. It’s yet another “clever” cartoon that proves that when anything can happen, nothing really matters.
The greatest mystery in this strenuously unfunny faux detective show is why Hamm seems to be channeling the voice of Will Arnett.
— Jo Koy hosts the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards (8 p.m. Sunday, CBS). The Globes have always been a bit of a joke. And for a while, they were even fun to watch.
Founded way back in 1944, these awards were doled out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at casual and often boozy dinner parties. They were carried on local L.A. television for decades. CBS picked up the baton in the 1980s, and by the first half of the 1990s, TBS carried them for audiences who wanted to watch the tipsy Beverly Hills shenanigans late into the night, at least on the East Coast.
In addition to their frivolity, the Globes were characterized by dubious choices and sketchy ethics. In the early 1980s, it was widely assumed that Pia Zadora’s wealthy older husband had purchased her win for her role in “Butterfly,” a film also anointed with a Golden Raspberry for her performance.
When the Globes moved to NBC, they began airing on Eastern time, turning the Beverly Hills banquet into an early bird special. This cut down on the high-octane hijinks and turned the show into just another pitstop on the way to the Oscars.
Controversy would return in the humor-impaired 2020s, when the HFPA was accused of a lack of accountability and a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in its choices and among its ranks. This resulted in the awards being dropped by NBC.
A change in corporate ownership has apparently laundered the Globes of its perceived sins and now it’s back on CBS.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— The Indianapolis Colts host the Houston Texans in NFL football (8 p.m., ABC, ESPN).
— Indiana hosts Ohio State in college basketball (8 p.m., Fox).
— “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14) offers a true-crime account of a story that inspired the film “Mommy Dead and Dearest” and the Hulu miniseries “The Act.”
— A golf pro returns to her native Budapest to work on her game, only to meet a handsome stranger on the links in the 2024 romance “Love on the Right Course” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Two 1988 dramas explore relationships between an ambitious man and his mentally challenged brother. Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce star in “Dominick and Eugene” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-MA), and Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman appear in “Rain Man” (10 p.m., TCM, TV-MA).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Alden Ehrenreich stars in the 2018 adventure “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14). Not to be confused with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (5:40 p.m., TNT, TV-14) or “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (9 p.m., TNT, TV-14) from 2017 and 2019, respectively.
— A brothel scandal threatens to bring down the government as “Miss Scarlett and the Duke” on “Masterpiece” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) enters its fourth season.
— Heat-seeking Canadians want to start over in Mississippi on “Home Town” (8 p.m., HGTV, G).
— The Miami Dolphins host the Buffalo Bills in NFL football (8:15 p.m., NBC), the last Sunday-night game of the regular season.
— “All Creatures Great and Small” on “Masterpiece” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) enters its fourth season.
— A surprise visit on “The Curse” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— A crotchety widower (Ben Kingsley) finds his life complicated after a UFO lands in his backyard in the 2023 satire “Jules” (10 p.m., Showtime).
CULT CHOICE
A woman’s (Anna Kendrick) attempts to assert her independence does not sit well with her violent and possessive boyfriend (Charlie Carrick) in the 2022 psychological drama “Alice, Darling” (9 p.m. Saturday, StarzEncore). The film was critically lauded for its realistic depiction of an abusive relationship — a fact that may also explain its limited box-office appeal.
SATURDAY SERIES
A new team in a new lab faces crises on “CSI: Vegas” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m., r, and 10 p.m., CBS) … Two vintage episodes of “Saturday Night Live” (10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
Imposter syndrome on “Krapopolis” (8:30 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … A no-escape room on “Bob’s Burgers” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Public speaking with nothing to say on “The Great North” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
