The high-concept comedy “The Big Door Prize” returns for a second season, streaming on Apple TV+. Chris O’Dowd (“The IT Crowd”, “Bridesmaids”) leads a sprawling cast of residents of a small multiracial and multicultural town where nobody appears to have aged out of the coveted 18-to-49 demographic.
Presented like a Pepsi commercial, “Prize” asks us to care about people who become besotted with an old-school vending machine in a small grocery store that dispenses tickets that reveal one’s “Life Potential.”
As in the 1960 “Twilight Zone” episode “Nick of Time,” where William Shatner’s character becomes obsessed with a fortune-telling plastic devil, the results are life-changing.
The community seems to lose its collective mind and explodes into a carnival atmosphere right out of a musical, or perhaps a “Simpsons” parody of a musical.
O’Dowd, who so often conveys a self-deprecating sense of pathos, seems miscast here in a story that is an essentially slick, shallow effort trying to pass itself off as profound.
Based on a novel by M.O. Walsh and produced by David West Read, creator of “Schitt’s Creek.”
— After the massive success of “The Sound of Music” in 1965, Hollywood adaptations of musicals fell out of fashion. Their failures helped ruin studio finances and usher in a period of challenging experimentation.
TCM recalls this rather fallow period with a daylong marathon of middling efforts and ambitious misfires. Better known for “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now” (8 p.m., TV-MA), director Francis Ford Coppola was tasked with adapting the socially conscious 1968 leprechaun relic “Finian’s Rainbow” (9 a.m., TV-G), starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.
While the 1960 Broadway musical “Camelot” became a metaphor for the Kennedy years, its 1967 screen adaptation (11:30 a.m., TV-14), starring Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero, got mixed reactions. Harris became better known for the curious pop single “MacArthur Park,” released a year later, when the lyrics of Jimmy Webb had more resonance than Lerner and Lowe.
Director Arthur Hiller’s 1972 version of “Man of La Mancha” (2:45 p.m., TV-PG) cast non-singers Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren in the leads. The same year, MGM returned to a 1930s hit to present “The Great Waltz” (5 p.m., TV-PG), a profile of composer Johann Strauss. It was the final film directed by Andrew L. Stone, a Hollywood fixture since the Silent Era.
Musical adaptations would remain a creative and financial minefield for some time, Bob Fosse’s 1972 “Cabaret” being the notable exception. Young director Peter Bogdanovich (“The Last Picture Show”) could do no wrong until he tried to revive the sound of Cole Porter in the 1975 musical “At Long Last Love,” a critical pinata for the ages.
The songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David dominated the pop charts on a level surpassed only by Lennon and McCartney. But their partnership foundered when they worked on the 1973 musical version of “Lost Horizon,” a film that has to be seen to be believed. One could argue that it was the most embarrassing musical flop of all time — at least until the 2019 adaptation of “Cats.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A mother has doubts about her son’s procedure on “Chicago Med” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— “Changing Planet” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) explores coral reefs and the perils of rising ocean temperatures.
— Nell learns about the paper’s imminent sale on the hourlong season finale of “Not Dead Yet” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— A revolving door on “Chicago Fire” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— Adventures in Montevideo on “The Amazing Race” (9:30 p.m., CBS).
— A teen’s abduction on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A therapist (Bruce Willis) counsels a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who claims he can “see dead people” in the 1999 thriller “The Sixth Sense” (8:10 p.m., FXM, TV-14).
SERIES NOTES
“Survivor” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … National cheeseball day on “The Conners” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Swan’s way on “Animal Control” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … A reverse mortgage disaster on “Family Guy” (9:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … Repeat episodes of “The $100,000 Pyramid” (9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tyla appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Conan O’Brien, Nicole Richie, Liam Gallagher and John Squire on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Jeremy Strong, Amber Ruffin and Fred Armisen visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
