Best-bets for April 29: Vampires have help, singers have masks

1) “What We Do In the Shadows,” 10 p.m., FX. Guillermo (the terrific Harvey Guillen, shown here) once seemed gentle and harmless, the mild aide (called a “familiar”) to do-nothing vampires in Staten Island. Then he learned he’s descended from vampire-hunters; now he uses his skills to protect his masters. Tonight, he infiltrates a vampire-hunter club. The result isn’t for everyone, but many people will consider this an odd delight. Read more…

1) “What We Do In the Shadows,” 10 p.m., FX. Guillermo (the terrific Harvey Guillen, shown here) once seemed gentle and harmless, the mild aide (called a “familiar”) to do-nothing vampires in Staten Island. Then he learned he’s descended from vampire-hunters; now he uses his skills to protect his masters. Tonight, he infiltrates a vampire-hunter club. The result isn’t for everyone, but many people will consider this an odd delight.

2) The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. Twelve people have already been ousted and unmasked, including lots of ringers – Tony Hawk, Sarah Palin, etc. – and two icons, Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan. Now we’re at the part of the show that tends to only have music pros. Last week, Bret Michaels (the Poison singer) was ousted; six people remain. Nick Cannon also hosts an after-show at 9 p.m.

3) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. “Spy cam” is back, with high-tech views of low-tech nature. Realistic, robotic creatures with cameras, are plopped alongside jaguars, apes and more. It’s mostly a gimmick; but a fun one. (The hour starts with great scenes of a fake-ape baby being hesitantly accepted by the adults, then upended by a playmate.) The best scenes are filmed by humans. We see some of the 20,000 turtles that return to their Costa Rican birthplace for the first time in 15 years, to drop their eggs.

4) “H20: The Molecule That Made Us,” 9 p.m., PBS. Last week’s opener mixed pictures and general thoughts about water. Now we get to the tougher part – civilization’s interaction with water. We think of Saudi Arabia as a desert, but this says hour says there was a massive underground aquifer. The Saudis went on a growing binge … exhausted the water in 20 years … and moved on. Now they’ve fond a fresh aquifer in Arizona, creating mega-farms. It’s a fascinating subject.

5) “Mrs. America,” any time, Hulu. As the Equal Rights Amendment fight grew, both sides were wary of gays. Conservatives disliked them; some feminists feared being dismissed as a lesbian-only cause. Betty Friedan even talked of the “lavender menace.” Now we see both views wobble: Phyllis Schlafly, the anti-ERA leader, begins to realize her son is gay. Brenda Feigen – a feminist lawyer whose husband was writing a pro-feminist book – finds she likes sex with women. Drama begins to unfold subtly.

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