Behind the Wheel With Formula E, ‘S.W.A.T.’ on the Move, ‘Bad Boy’ From Israel, ‘Rust’ on Demand

The genre of immersive sports docuseries that go behind the wheel and off the track with celebrated race-car drivers turns to the Formula E World Championship circuit for an electrifying four-part series. Among those participating in the 2023-24 season from Mexico to the London finale: reigning champ Jake Dennis, “bad boy” Dan Ticktum, Mitch Evans, and António Félix da Costa, marking 10 years of the electric-powered sport.

Moving time periods again to close out its eighth and final season — CBS apparently is serious about the cancellation this time — the action drama finds 20-Squad and Honda (Shemar Moore) on the hunt for six inmates who escaped after an explosion at a fruit-packing plant. And did Commander Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit) read the tea leaves? He’s already packing up his office.

Winner of seven Israeli TV awards (their equivalent to the Emmys) including for best drama, writing and directing, this harrowing four-part drama at times feels like a companion piece to Netflix’s acclaimed British hit Adolescence. Like that series, it opens with the traumatic arrest of a teenage boy, Dean (Guy Manster), rousted from his bed and thrust into a violent juvenile prison. Dean’s ordeal is framed by present-day scenes of his adult self 20 years later, now a stand-up comedian named Daniel Chen (playing himself), reflecting on his turbulent adolescence with the darkest of humor.

This indie Western became the focus of intense media attention when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in a tragic 2021 on-set accident after a live round was discharged from a gun Alec Baldwin was using as a prop in rehearsal. After 18 months of legal fallout, production resumed in spring 2023, and the final result is now available On Demand and in select theaters. Baldwin stars as 1880s Wyoming outlaw Harland Rust, who goes on the run with his grandson Lucas (Patrick Scott McDermott) after the boy accidentally kills a rancher, with a U.S. Marshal (Josh Hopkins) and bounty hunter (Travis Fimmel) in hot pursuit.

Coop (Jon Hamm), the antihero of this offbeat dramedy, is no longer alone in his Breaking Bad-style descent into upscale suburban criminality. He now finds himself teamed with his ex-wife’s housekeeper Elena (Aimee Carrero) as they discover a new underworld in the treacherous arena of art theft and forgery. Severance‘s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson guest-stars as their sinister new contact as they target Coop’s neighbors, “buyers who don’t really give a sh*t about art.” What could go wrong?

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Grosse Pointe Garden Society (8/7c, NBC): The timelines converge in the mystery-comedy as events unfold at the “Monaco Under the Stars” gala.
• Hollywood Squares (8/7c, CBS): The game show relocates with back-to-back episodes, with Drew Barrymore presiding in the center square, accompanied by funny folk including Mario Cantone, Tig Notaro, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Nealon, JB Smoove, and The Carol Burnett Show alum Vicki Lawrence.
• Power Book III: Raising Kanan (8/7c, Starz): The body count rises in the crime drama as Raq (Patina Miller) goes on the offensive, her son Kanan (Mekai Curtis) tries to discover what happened to Famous (Antonio Ortiz), and his cousin Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore) searches for O-Cee (Cornelius Kittrell).
• True Crime Watch: ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) examines the brutal 2021 stabbing murder of Christina Parcell in her South Carolina home, where a Ring doorbell camera helps lead to a courtroom confession. On Dateline NBC (9/8c), Blayne Alexander reports on the nearly 20-year investigation into the 2007 stabbing death of college student Anita Knutson in North Dakota.
• Black Bag (streaming on Peacock): Steven Soderbergh‘s stylish spy drama starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett makes its streaming debut. Also new to streaming: Adult Best Friends (Max), a comedy about female friendship, which premieres on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.