L ATIMES.COM/CALENDAR FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019E9
SERIES
Masters of Illusion Fea-
tured magicians in this
new episode include Tet-
ro, Bill Cook, Anna
DeGuzman, Andi Glad-
win, Steve Brundage and
Greg Frewin. 8 p.m. CW
How Do Animals Do That?
The first of two new epi-
sodes of the nature docu-
mentary series looks at
how cats always land on
their feet. The second epi-
sode examines why cows
are always chewing. 8:30
p.m. Animal Planet
The Big Stage Elizabeth
Stanton and James
Maslow introduce Asian
American male dance
crew Poreotics, musical
celebrity impersonator
Ryan Goldsher and mar-
ried “American Idol”
alumni Ace Young and Di-
ana DeGarmo. 8:30 p.m.
CW
What Would You Do? A
mother insists a trans
woman use the men’s
room in this new episode
of the hidden camera
show. 9 p.m. ABC
Diners, Drive-Ins and
DivesLooking for menu
items that are loaded,
stuffed and fried, host
Guy Fieri starts out in
Santa Fe, N.M., where a
farm-to-table eatery de-
livers serves a lamb sand-
wich with bison gravy
fries. 9 p.m. Food Network
KilljoysA hostage situation
throws a major wrench
into Dutch’s (Hannah
John-Kamen) prison
takeover scheme. 10 p.m.
Syfy
The UnXplainedThis new
episode looks at cases of
near-death experiences.
William Shatner hosts.
10:03 p.m. History
This Week at the Comedy
Cellar Comedians per-
form at New York’s leg-
endary venue in the sea-
son finale. 11 p.m. Comedy
Central
A Black Lady Sketch Show
A divorce party spins out
of control following a
mushroom trip, and a
peeved airline passenger
tries to find a customer
service representative
who shares her frustra-
tion. Robin Thede, Ashley
Black, Gabrielle Dennis
and Quinta Brunson are
among the performers. 11
p.m. HBO
SPECIALSSpecial ReportDr. Sanjay
Gupta documents the
real-life impact of dozens
of deregulation orders at
the EPA and what it
means for American fam-
ilies. 7 p.m. CNN
Breaking Point: Califor-
nia’s Homeless CrisisRe-
porters Pat Harvey, Her-
mela Aregawi, Jeff
Michael and DeMarco
Morgan take an in-depth
look at the factors that
cause homelessness in
Southern California and
the limited options to ad-
dress the problem. 9 p.m.
CBSMOVIESThe Wedding Plan (2016)
8:30 a.m. Epix
Despicable Me(2010) 8:40
a.m. HBO
Mission: Impossible – Fall-
out(2018) 10:20 a.m. Epix;
10:05 p.m. Epix
AStar Is Born(2018) 5:10
p.m. HBO
Ghostbusters(1984) 7 p.m.
AMCTALK SHOWSCBS This MorningTennis
player Naomi Osaka. (N) 7
a.m. KCBS
TodayLizzo performs. (N) 7
a.m. KNBC
KTLA Morning News(N) 7
a.m. KTLA
Good Morning America
French Montana per-
forms; Gerard Butler. (N)
7 a.m. KABC
Good Day L.A. Alison
Sweeney (“The Chronicle
Mysteries”); Grae Drake;
Pink Martini performs.
(N) 7 a.m. KTTV
Live With Kelly and Ryan
Samuel L. Jackson(“Shaft”); MMA fighter
Juan Archuleta; NOTD
performs, featuring Geor-
gia Ku. (N) 9 a.m. KABC
The View Amy Poehler;
Ciara. 10 a.m. KABC
Strahan & Sara Pitbull.
noon KABC
The TalkAvril Lavigne per-
forms; Katy Mixon. 1 p.m.
KCBS
Washington WeekPresident
Trump walks back initial
calls for tougher back-
ground checks for gun
purchases; foreign policy;
Greenland is not for sale;
should Russia be allowed
to rejoin the G-7: Martha
Raddatz, ABC; Dan Balz,
the Washington Post; Jim
Tankersly, the New York
Times; Anita Kumar, Poli-
tico. (N) 7 p.m. KOCE
Real Time With Bill Maher
Rep. Katie Porter (D-
Irvine); Kevin Williamson;
former Sen. Heidi
Heitkamp (D-N.D.); Eric
Klinenberg; Michael
Smerconish. 10 p.m. HBO
The Issue Is: Elex Mich-
aelsonPresidential candi-
date Sen. Cory Booker (D-
N.J.); Rep. Nanette Bar-
ragán (D-San Pedro). (N)
10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.
KTTV
The Tonight Show: Jimmy
FallonDana Carvey; Emi-
ly Ratajkowski; Chloe
Hilliard. 11:34 p.m. KNBC
The Late Show With
Stephen Colbert Idris
Elba; Maude Apatow;
Perry Farrell performs.
11:35 p.m. KCBS
Amanpour and Company
(N) midnight KOCE; 1
a.m. KLCS
Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m.
KABCSPORTSBaseballThe Angels visit
the Houston Astros, 5
p.m. Fox Sports Net; the
Dodgers host the New
York Yankees, 7 p.m.
SportsNet LA
NFL Preseason Football
The Cleveland Browns
visit the Tampa Bay Buc-
caneers, 4:30 p.m. NFL;
the Buffalo Bills visit the
Detroit Lions, 5 p.m. CBS
MLS SoccerAtlanta United
FC visits the Orlando City
SC, 5 p.m. ESPN; Seattle
Sounders FC visit the
Portland Timbers, 7 p.m.
ESPN
For more sports on TV, see
the Sports section.TV HIGHLIGHTS
CW
MUSICALcelebrity
impressionist Ryan
Goldsher in “The Big
Stage” on CW.FridayPrime-TimeTV SportsNewsMovies(N) NewÅClosed Captioning
8 pm 8: 30 9 pm 9: 30 10 pm 1 0: 30 11 pm
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ÅWhat Would You Do?A mother
insists a trans woman use
the men’s room. (N)Å20/20Authorities maintain
that a woman’s death was a
suicide.ÅNews(N)ÅKCALNews(N)Å News(N)Å News(N)Å Sports Central 2 Broke Girls
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UNI La reina soy yo(N) Juntos, el corazón nunca Sin miedo a la verdad(TV14) Noticias
KOCEThe O’Jays: Live in New YorkÅ 70s Soul Superstars(TVG)Å
KDOCDateline(TV14)Å The Goldbergs The Goldbergs Family GuyÅ Family GuyÅ SeinfeldÅ
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Bray.ÅBluegrassFlatt
Lonesome.ÅAustin City Limits(TVPG) Arc-
tic Monkeys; Wild Child.ÅFront and Center(TVPG)
Hozier.ÅWorld NewsÅA&E Live PD: Rewind(TV14) (8:06)Live PD(TV14) (N)Å
AMC Ghostbusters›››(1984) (7) (PG) Ghostbusters II››(1989) Bill Murray. (9:35) (PG)Å
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mals Do That?
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BBC Ace Ventura: Pet Detective››(1994) Jim Carrey.Å Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls››(9:58)
BET black-ishÅ black-ishÅ Tales(TV14) The Next Big Thing(10:03) House Party 2
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StandingÅLast Man
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CNN CNN Tonight: Don Lemon(N) Anderson Cooper(TVPG)Å Cuomo Prime TimeÅ Newsroom(N)
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Disc BattleBots(TVPG) Last ditch efforts. (N)Å Mysteries of the Abandoned(TVPG) (N)
Disn Descendants 3(2019) Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson.Å Roll With ItÅ Raven’s Home Raven’s Home
E! Forgetting Sarah Marshall›››(2008) Jason Segel, Kristen Bell. (R)Å Vacation››(2015) (R)Å
ESPNM LS Soccer(Live) (7) SportsCenter(N)Å SportsCenter(N)Å SportsCenter
Food Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In Diner, Drive-In
FNC Fox News at Night(N)Å Tucker Carlson TonightÅ HannityÅ IngrahamÅ
Free Happy Feet›››(6:30) (PG) Matilda›››(1996) Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito. (PG)Å The 700 Club
FX Taken 3››(2014) Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker. (PG-13)Å SnowfallÅ
Hall Christmas Next Door(2017) Jesse Metcalfe.Å Golden GirlsÅGolden GirlsÅGolden GirlsÅ
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Trans-Dimensionals. (N)ÅAncient Aliens(TVPG) Islands
of Fire. (N)ÅThe UnXplained(TV14) Life
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Life Magic Mike›››(2012) Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer. (R)Å Psycho Stripper(2019)
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Nick The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water›››(2015) (PG)FriendsÅ FriendsÅ FriendsÅ
OWN20/20 on OWN(TV14)Å 48 Hours: Hard Evidence 48 Hours: Hard Evidence 20/20 on OWN
Para Man on Fire››(2004) Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning. (7:50) (R)Å Man on Fire
Sund Law & Order(TV14)Å Law & Order(TV14)Å Law & Order(TV14)Å Law & OrderÅ
Syfy Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters››(2013) (7:37) (PG)Å Killjoys(TV14) (N)Å FuturamaÅ
TBS Wedding Crashers›››(2005) Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn. (R)Å What Women Want››(2000)
TCM Swing Time›››(1936) (7) The Gay Divorcee››››(1934) Fred Astaire.Å Follow-Fleet
TLC 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days(TVPG) 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Family Chantel
TNT Jack Reacher››(2012) Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike. (PG-13)Å Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Toon American Dad American Dad Family GuyÅ Family GuyÅ BoondocksÅ BoondocksÅ Rick and Morty
TravelGhost Brothers(TV14)Å Ghost Brothers: Haunted Paranormal Caught on Camera A Haunting
Tru Inside JokesÅInside JokesÅInside JokesÅInside JokesÅInside JokesÅJokersÅ Brooklyn Nine
TV L RaymondÅ RaymondÅ RaymondÅ RaymondÅ 2 1/2 MenÅ 2 1/2 MenÅ King of Queens
USA Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen››(2009) (7)Å ChrisleyÅ ChrisleyÅ ChrisleyÅ
VH1 New Jack City›››(6:35) (R)Get Rich or Die Tryin’››(2005) Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. (R)Å
WGNLast-Standing Last-Standing Married ... With Married ... With Married ... With Married ... With How I MetÅ
Cine Dragged Across Concrete››(2018) Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn. (R)Å Traffic(2000) (10:40) (R)Å
Encr Soul Food›››(1997) (7:03)Power(TVMA)Å Power(TVMA)Å East Prom
Epix The Sum of All Fears›››(2002) Ben Affleck. (PG-13)Å Mission: Impossible: Fallout›››(10:05)
HBO Just Like Heaven››(2005) Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruf-
falo. (PG-13) (8:15)ÅReal Time With Bill Maher
(TVMA) (N)ÅA Black Lady
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ShowPeppermint›(2018) Jennifer Garner. (8:05) (R)Å BoxingThe New Generation. (N)Å
StarzPower(TVMA)Å Power(TVMA) (9:59)Å Power(TVMA) (10:57)Å Power(11:50)
TMC The Original Kings of Comedy››(2000) (R)Å The Queens of Comedy››(2001) (R)ÅKrystal Stubbs, a woman
whose husband, Travis (Al-
exander Skarsgård), has
hitched his fortune, or lack
of it, to Fam, a mutilevel
company/scheme along the
lines of Amway and Herb-
alife. You may have encoun-
tered one of many media
reportson these cultish py-
ramidal organizations, more
likely to impoverish than en-
rich the “independent busi-
ness owners” who make up
their ranks.
At the top of this particu-
lar heap, composed mainly
of anxious men — women
are accessories — sits leg-
endary distributor Obie
Garbeau II (Ted Levine, in
Mark Twain threads and
mustache), selling his
“downline” followers the
dream of “an A-list six-star
jet-set lifestyle.” Obie, who
also sells a line of motiva-
tional tapes (“Negative peo-
ple are road kill in your rear-
view mirror”), does not al-
ways seem exactly sure him-
self where the scam stops
and the cult starts, but he is
professionally invested in
the maintaining an air of
mysterious superiority.
“Our hearts will be free
and open and we will own a
helicopter,” Travis, having
embraced this idea to his ob-
viously impending ruin, tells
Krystal, who wants only not
to be “poor again” and pro-
vide for their baby daughter.
Krystal, who is not without
ambition, works at Rebel
Rapids, a water park man-
aged by her doting neighbor
Ernie (Mel Rodriguez) and
owned by Stan (Usman Al-
ley), who desires a better
class of customer: “A little
less Benetton, a little more
Ralph Lauren. ... People who
live in cul-de-sacs.”
Created by Robert Funke
and Matt Lusky — the first
major credit for either — the
series tells the familiar story
of a person seeking compen-
sation from a system that
did her wrong: making ene-
mies, gathering allies (some
of whom also might be ene-
mies), accruing power along
the way. But it also wants to
play some big cards about
Who We Are Now, our na-
tional sense of entitlement
and the implication that
anything less than financial
success is moral failure. It
seems likely that Obie, a
balding, bewigged narcissist
who serves his guests Ham-
burger Helper and gets him-
self spray-tanned before
public appearances, is
meant to recall a certain sit-
ting president. “God
almighty made this great
nation so you and your busi-
ness could prosper,” he tells
the troops. “Success is in
your blood, fella.”
There’s a lot of talent at
work here, notably musician
Beth Ditto as Max’s wife
(and Krystal’s confidant),
Bets, and Théodore Pellerin
as Cody, a true-believer Fam
recruiter with whom Krystal
becomes involved. But whatlifts the series to a higher lev-
el is Dunst. “Becoming a
God” would likely be worth a
look without her, but she
makes it worth going out of
your way for. Even when the
writing goes to the edge of
credibility, her performance
remains real, recognizable
and layered; her Krystal is at
once ordinary, powerful and
a little perverse, and Dunst
draws you into the character
even as you step back and
admire the actor. Watch it
alongside her work in the
2016 season of “Fargo,” a
show “Becoming a God” re-
sembles temperamentally
and thematically, and bow.
Set in Clearwater, Fla.,
where creator Laura Chinn
spent her (dropping out of)
high school years, Pop TV’s
very funny “Florida Girls” is
one of a number of recent re-
gional comedies, not neces-
sarily set in the best neigh-
borhoods, including FX’s“Atlanta,” Comedy Central’s
“South Side” and
“Detroiters”and You Tube
Premium’s “Champaign
ILL”and “Wayne” (Brock-
ton, Mass.). Local color and
customs, largely missing
from television, attach the
narrative, even when out-
landish, to reality. (The first
season of “Florida Girls” re-
cently completed its broad-
cast run, but it’s available to
stream on the Pop website
and app.)
It’s easy enough to style it
“Girls” with added Florida,
or “Sex and the City” with-
out a city, though its flavor is
specifically its own. Its four
heroines are lifelong friends,
usually broke, but scraping
by on luck, scheming and a
little bit of honest work. Be-
cause this is a comedy about
young people in 2019, there is
weed. And alcohol. And
LSD. And pills acquired
through somebody’s deadgrandmother’s old prescrip-
tion. There is also, less usu-
ally, theft — petty and grand
— fraud and vandalism,
which somehow don’t seem
all that bad in context. (They
are not the worst people we
see.) Issues of class and race
and sex are very much in the
mixbut approached from
odd, ironic angles, with a
lack of judging that some
viewers might take as a lack
of judgment. It is not, in the
strictest terms, a responsi-
ble entertainment, though it
is, somehow, a moral one.
Shelby (Chinn) wants to
improve herself and get out
of Florida, which Kaitlyn
(Melanie Field), who is an-
gry about that (and much
else), thinks is “the raddest
state in America.” Jayla
(Laci Mosley) is looking to
“find a man before I’m old
and nasty,” and Erica (Patty
Guggenheim) is an illiterate
kleptomaniac protectedfrom harm by an aura of in-
nocence, like a stoned, fe-
male Stan Laurel. (“I
thought I was going to stop
stealing,” Erica says, “but
you know what, I like, it, I’m
good at it and it doesn’t hurt
anybody.”) Whether they are
living the best version of a
bad life or the worst version
of a good one, they benefit
from sometimes antagonis-
tic, eventually reliable mutu-
al support. It’s a feel-good
comedywith bad hangovers.
Shelby’s routinely
mocked desire for a new
world must be managed in a
way that won’t pry her from
her old one, both for the sake
of the character and the
show itself — just as her
friends, who can be awful,
also need to be admirable,
laughable but not looked
down on. “Florida Girls”
manages this trick neatly
because Chinn knows the
territory, because the per-
formers are invested in the
characters, and because the
characters are invested in
each other. Their life is ridic-
ulous and, in its cockeyed
way, idyllic.Trying to make it work in Florida
[C omedies, from E1]
‘On Becoming
a God in
Central
Florida’
Where: Showtime
When: 10 and 10:45 p.m.
Sunday
Rated:TV-MA (may be
unsuitable for children
under age 17)‘Florida Girls’
Where:poptv.com
When: Any time
Rated: TV-MA (may be
unsuitable for children
under age 17 with
advisories for coarse
language and sexual
content)“FLORIDA GIRLS”on Pop TV is led by Laura Chinn, far right. She and her friends try to scrape by on luck.Seth F. JohnsonPop TVTELEVISION