Viewers who didn’t get enough French scenery during the Paris Olympics may enjoy the new French thriller series “Nice Girls,” streaming on Netflix.
The fetching and fearless Leo (Alice Taglioni) considered herself “best cop on the French Riviera.” Her confidence is rattled when she hears of the murder of an old colleague in the far-off German city of Hamburg. Her efforts to freelance the investigation force her into an uneasy alliance with another beautiful woman officer, Melanie (Stefi Celma). Fortunately for viewers, the murder case brings them back from the gray German port city to the sun-drenched beaches after the city of Nice faces an imminent attack.
It’s difficult for me to watch procedural blow-‘em-ups set amid European history and scenery. I’m constantly reminded of the early scenes of the 2004 marionette movie and Jerry Bruckheimer spoof “Team America: World Police” when anti-terrorist super agents blow up the city of Paris in order to save it. My favorite detail in that film, produced by Matt Stone and Trey Parker of “South Park” fame, is the fact that every cobblestone in their puppet-sized Paris is shaped like a croissant.
Speaking of Paris and parodies, I couldn’t watch the Paris-to-L.A. handoff at last Sunday’s Olympics finale, featuring Tom Cruise skydiving into a desperate motorcycle dash to deliver the Olympic banner to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on a California beach, without thinking it was some kind of “Simpsons” spoof. Something out of a Duff commercial, perhaps. Irony tends to be lost on anyone who takes Tom Cruise at face value.
— Fans of Westerns may enjoy the six-episode Netflix documentary series “Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War.” Featuring more reenacting than acting, it recalls Earp’s battles with the Clanton gang in the years after the Civil War. Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”) narrates.
Also streaming on Netflix, and as far thematically from a cowboy war as one can get, “Pop Star Academy: Katseye” explores the laborious effort to cast, train and market a manufactured K-pop girl group.
A co-production of the Korean music company HYBE (the force behind BTS) and the Geffen Records label, “Academy” explores a process that began with sorting through 120,000 video submissions from warbling worthies from around the world. Directed by Nadia Hallgren, known for the Michelle Obama biopic “Becoming.”
Another Netflix series, “Back to 15” enters its third season.
— Cable’s decline can be seen in tonight’s (or any night’s) schedule. Viola Davis stars in “The Woman King” (7 p.m.), making its premiere on FX. But it’s been streaming on Hulu since Aug. 13. Comedy Central’s entire primetime schedule has been given over to repeats of “Seinfeld, ” which can also be streamed at will on Netflix. Similarly, Lifetime streams three consecutive episodes of “Castle” (8 p.m. to 11 p.m., TV-PG), which can be streamed on Hulu.
The list goes on. FXX presents nothing but “Family Guy” repeats. Over on WE? Just “NCIS” repeats. BBC America: three straight “Bones” repeats. At least the three “Pawn Stars” running on History are original to the network.
Some say that ad-supported streaming has become cable. But cable, which still probably costs more, is doing an increasingly poor job of imitating streaming.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Home viewers and voters give two acts the hook on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Coverage of the Democratic National Convention (8 p.m., PBS; 9 p.m., NBC; 10 p.m., CBS and ABC) unfold. In addition to network and cable coverage, the event can be livestreamed on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, Twitch, Facebook, and Amazon Prime Video throughout the proceedings. Viewers can also stream the convention at the DNC website, offering coverage in both English and Spanish.
— Two decades after the popularity of the Jerry Bruckheimer procedural franchise, high-tech forensics doesn’t look quite so slick on “The Real CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
After a plane crash, a diplomat (Ronald Colman) is transported to a magical Himalayan hideaway in the 1937 adaptation of James Hilton’s fantasy “Lost Horizon” (8 p.m., FMC), directed by Frank Capra.
SERIES NOTES
“Big Brother” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A two-hour installment of “MasterChef” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “Claim to Fame” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jenna Ortega, Jason Schwartzman, Melanie Hamrick and Thomas Rhett on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Channing Tatum and Sabrina Ionescu visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
