Over the next couple of days, TV offers some serious viewing on ABC and some educational silliness on A&E. Let's look at the latter first.
• Ozzy and Jack's World Detour returns for Season 3 at 8 p.m. Wednesday on A&E. Whether you like it depends on how much of "the Prince of Darkness" you can take.
First, let's introduce the players for those out of the loop.
Ozzy is Ozzy Osbourne, the aging (he's 69) rock star who is famous for being the lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and infamous for biting the head off a bat on stage in 1982. Ah, those were crazy days.
Those were Ozzy's self-admitted decades of excess, booze and drugs. They were enough to permanently addle Ozzy's brain to the point he almost became a caricature. Being incessantly befuddled became his TV persona when he starred with his family in the MTV reality show The Osbournes (2002--05). The series included his wife, Sharon, and two of their three kids, Kelly and Jack.
It may have been goofy, but it earned a reality-show Emmy in 2002.
After the series ended, Sharon went on to judge The X Factor and America's Got Talent and co-host The Talk. Kelly made a name for herself as a fashionista on E! and in 2009 was on Season 9 of Dancing With the Stars, finishing third.
The adventure-loving Jack was on Season 17 of Dancing With the Stars (also finishing third). He has since been known mostly as a travel reporter and has turned that passion into the series he now shares with his dad.
In Ozzy and Jack's World Detour, the self-proclaimed history nerds bond over father/son road trips "visiting iconic and historically significant locations and landmarks that are on the duo's bucket list."
The Osbournes' destinations range from typical tourist spots such as Mount Rushmore and the Alamo to lesser-known. The series is made all the more entertaining when subtitles are added to translate Ozzy's inaudible mumbling.
As Season 3 begins, Jack needs to stay behind in Los Angeles for the birth of his third child, so he "conspires" to convince Kelly to take the wheel and hit the road with Ozzy.
Hilarity and education ensue for eight episodes.
• The Last Defense debuts at 9 p.m. today in ABC. This is an intimate docu-series from executive producers Viola Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon. There will be seven episodes.
The Last Defense examines "the flaws in the American justice system through examinations of the death row cases of Darlie Routier and Julius Jones." Ironically, the Oscar-winning Davis (Fences) is the star of ABC's How to Get Away With Murder, for which she won an Emmy.
In 1997, Dallas housewife Darlie Routier was sentenced to death for the stabbing murders of her two young sons. Routier maintains her innocence and the debate over the fairness of her trial continues.
In tonight's episode, Darlie's husband, Darin Routier, recounts the events leading to her arrest, and the prosecutors walk through the crime scene as they prepare their evidence.
In the other case, Julius Jones, a black 21-year-old college star athlete, was sentenced to death in 2001 for the carjacking and murder of a white father of two in Edmond, Okla. The series examines his arrest and trial. Jones denies he murdered anybody.
"The docu-series is important," Davis says in an ABC interview, "so people can understand that it's not always fair. It wakes people up. It gives a face, a heart, an image to those people we have been dehumanized in the past."
• The Bold Type, 7 p.m. today on Freeform. Season 2 of the TV-14 comedy/drama arrives with our three attractive, ambitious young career women still wrestling with sex, romance, sex, relationships, sex, editors and deadlines.
Hmm. I've spotted a recurring theme on several Freeform series.
The generally amusing and sometimes inspirational series follows the angst-filled adventures of best buds Jane, Sutton and Kat (Katie Stevens, Meghann Fahy, Aisha Dee) as they try to make their mark at a global Cosmo-esque fashion magazine aimed at young women.
TV-MA would be too stiff a rating for The Bold Type because no naughty parts are actually ever shown. But because of the adult subject matter, I'd still feel a bit squirmy if there was a 14-year-old in the room while the show was on.
• Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Fox. Yet another show where Ramsay screams at people for 24 hours while trying to help them save their restaurants.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/12/2018