Generational divides (and stereotypes) get the once-over in the 2023 comedy “Old Dads,” streaming on Netflix. Actor/comic Bill Burr directs this film, about three friends (Burr, Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine) who become fathers rather late in life and find themselves the only alpha males amidst persnickety PTA types, gender neutral playdates, pretentious millennial tech CEOs and other obvious fodder that triggers their rage, impatience and confusion.
This entails, or rather demands, quite a few tirades about growing up When Men Were Men and music came on vinyl LPs, or at least CDs, and becoming “carbon neutral” was not the greatest goal one could pursue.
This is hardly a novel comic style. Much of the humor on the original “Frasier” came from Martin (John Mahoney) lamenting the namby-pambyness of his professionally accomplished and culturally attuned sons. Ed O’Neill’s Jay Pritchett character on “Modern Family” served in a similar mode, a Vietnam vet whose late fatherhood in a second marriage invited him to the foreign territory of 21st-century parenthood.
Those characters were support roles on serialized comedies. “Old Dads” only has to amuse for a few hours before becoming “The Wild Hogs Dad Club.”
— Amidst all of the articles, concern and scaremongering about artificial intelligence and its ability to change/enhance/ruin “reality,” it goes unmetered that there’s already a pretty smart and funny TV comedy that has played with these themes for some time now.
“Upload” streams its third bewildering and silly season on Prime Video. Blending farce, speculative science fiction and murder mystery, the half-hour comedy contemplates a future where our digital avatars can be uploaded to an AI “afterlife” when our flesh and blood bodies give out.
This corporate digital “heaven” is a setting ripe for social satire and biting commentary on status, wealth and caste. It’s also a great conceptual playpen for contemplating a future of drones, robots and AI assistants “helping” us with the most mundane tasks.
Robert Amell plays Nathan, a tech inventor who appears to have been “uploaded” before his time — or rather murdered to prevent the public launch of a cheaper and more democratic service for posthumous cloud-based reality. His character makes a transition rather rare on television — he actually grows more human and likable after he “dies.”
While season two dealt with Nathan’s “downloaded” return to a flesh-and-blood reality, look for new episodes to contend with a fresh “upload” of his digital self, leading to confusion among the living and the dead.
Few series have as much fun playing with notions of the Brave New World we are creating.
— A married woman’s (Camille Rowe) tryst gets complicated when she and her lover make a pit stop in a gas station attended by a sadistic gunman in the 2023 shocker “Night of the Hunted,” streaming on Shudder.
Shudder and AMC+ also stream the holiday special “Joe Bob’s Helloween.”
— When a boy complains to his parents (Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr) about bumps in the night, they humor him with theories about the “settling” of an old house. But he soon discovers that there may be another, darker explanation in the 2023 shocker “Cobweb,” streaming on Hulu.
— Based on a character created by prolific best-selling author Michael Connelly, “Bosch: Legacy” returns for a second season streaming on Amazon’s FAST (Free Ad Supported Television) service FREEVEE.
Titus Welliver (“The Town,” “Argo”) plays the brooding homicide detective turned private eye. Look for Mimi Rogers (“Austin Powers”) amidst a large cast of crooks, clients and victims.
— Netflix streams the seventh season of the prep-school melodrama “Elite,” imported from Spain.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “Next at the Kennedy Center” (9 p.m., PBS) presents a celebration of modern Indigenous culture, music and dance.
— Baker’s assault complicates matters on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A brother and sister (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) buy a home on the Cornish coast that isn’t entirely vacant in the 1944 ghost story “The Uninvited” (11:45 p.m., TCM).
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right at Night” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Sand, sunglasses and casual attire on “Magnum P.I.” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night Smackdown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
“Raid the Cage” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Keith Richards, Canelo Alvarez and 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Tracy Morgan and Chris Hayes visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r).
