Let’s talk about things I hate. Anybody who reads this column knows there are some genres of programming I cannot endure. "Documentaries" that promote superstition and pseudoscientific nonsense top the list. No, we won’t find Bigfoot, because he doesn’t exist! Worse still are documentaries that blend history with conspiracy and paranormal drivel. If you believe in nothing, you will fall for anything.
But some benign entertainment is more insidious. Did you ever notice that as incomes became more unequally distributed and more people felt powerless, superhero movies have become more common? Prior to the 1978 arrival of "Superman," such efforts were considered silly kids’ stuff. Back in 1966, when the economy was far more geared toward income distribution, support of a middle class and a place at the table for organized labor, a show like "Batman" presented its heroes as ridiculous camp.
Over the past four decades, as income inequality has reached levels not seen since the 19th-century Gilded Age, superhero movies dominate the box office, often presented as dark gothic dramas reflecting a hellscape beyond the control of ordinary citizens. Do such entertainments reflect civic impotence, or encourage it?
Along with the rise of superhero distraction is the slavish adoration of celebrities. As we see most often on ABC, game shows that formerly provided a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the average Joe or Jane to appear on camera have been relegated to bold-faced names. Tonight, Taye Diggs and Demi Burnett hog the spotlight once afforded to ordinary people on "The Celebrity Dating Game" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
This cancer has overtaken HGTV, once a bastion of ordinary folks doing mundane chores. Programmers believe that viewers would rather watch the famous promote themselves than learn anything practical about landscaping or drywall.
This brings us to something called "Celebrity IOU," a 21st-century variation on "This Is Your Life," a chance for the very famous to reach out to the "little people" who helped them on the way to the tippy top.
Tonight’s second installment (9 p.m.) features singer LeAnn Rimes helping a friend who helped her through a dark patch. Fair enough. But the first (8 p.m.) sees actor Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker") renovating his mother’s outdated condo. We’ve reached a point where a rich celebrity helping out HIS OWN MOTHER is considered deserving of our adulation.
I’m getting the sneaking suspicion that the folks who own HGTV (and its sponsors) don’t exactly respect their viewers.
— Pop star Ed Sheeran will take up residency on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS) for the week. Every night he will perform his biggest hits and introduce new ones, including his single "Bad Habits."
— Dustin Hoffman narrates the 1989 documentary "Common Thread: Stories from the Quilt" (8 p.m., TCM), relating the stories of five people who died before their time, victims of the AIDS epidemic, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt project that paid tribute to them and others.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Chefs must decipher recipes written with emojis on "Hell’s Kitchen" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14). Anybody over 14 who communicates with emojis should be avoided.
— A busy urban executive discovers that her uncle has died and left her a picturesque ski chalet in the 2020 romance "Winter in Vail" (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— A K-9 cadet goes missing on "NCIS: New Orleans" (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— More than a game on "HouseBroken" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Sessions conclude on "In Treatment" (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— An abuse victim accused of killing her tormentor insists on an unusual defense on "Bull" (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— "Independent Lens" (10 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) presents "The People vs. Agent Orange."
CULT CHOICE
— A family is besieged by home invaders who look just like them in the 2019 shocker "Us" (8 p.m., FX, TV-MA), written and directed by Jordan Peele. Not to be confused with the just-concluded "Us" on "Masterpiece" or "This Is Us," the tearjerker on NBC.
SERIES NOTES
Calvin fears doctors on "The Neighborhood" (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … "American Ninja Warrior" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … A really big secret on "The Bachelorette" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Graduation nears on "All American" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Footloose on "Bob Hearts Abishola" (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … The governor cracks down on "The Republic of Sarah" (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Children’s entertainment on "Duncanville" (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … "Small Fortune" (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Michael B. Jordan, Nate Bargatze and Coi Leray on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC, r).
