Best-bets for Aug. 2: Funny tasks and bouncing balls

1) “Taskmaster” debut, 9 p.m., CW. These are games we rarely try: Make a ventriloquist dummy from odd objects … Bite doughnuts off a line, so they fall into your pail … Play hide-and-seek at a railroad yard … And bring a potent smell from home. Alex Horne created and writes this oddity, but works as the semi-silent sidekick to the flashier host, Greg Davies. (They’re shown here.) An American version had a one-season run on Comedy Central, but these are the original British episodes, which are weirdly likable. Read more…

1) “Taskmaster” debut, 9 p.m., CW. These are games we rarely try: Make a ventriloquist dummy from odd objects … Bite doughnuts off a line, so they fall into your pail … Play hide-and-seek at a railroad yard … And bring a potent smell from home. Alex Horne created and writes this oddity, but works as the semi-silent sidekick to the flashier host, Greg Davies. (They’re shown here.) An American version had a one-season run on Comedy Central, but these are the original British episodes, which are weirdly likable.

2) Basketball, 3:30 and 8:30 p.m.ET, ABC. When the season was suddely suspended, the Milwaukee Bucks had the top record in the NBA. Now they face the Houston Rockets at 8:30. Earlier, it’s the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers.

3) “The Real Housewives of Potomac” season-opener, 9 p.m. Bravo. First is a refresher course; most of the previous season reruns, from 4 a.m. to a three-hour reunion at 6 p.m. Then a new season brings change – a new baby for Ashley Darby, a new house for Karen Hager, a new parrot for Monique Samuels … and a new “housewife” with little time for empty glitz. Wendy Osefo is a Nigerian native with four college degrees, three kids and several jobs, from TV commentator to associate professor.

4) “American Portrait,” 10:30 p.m., PBS (check local listings). This started as a mass video diary; people were asked to send their stories. Then the pandemic made those stories more important; they offer glimpses of us thriving (or just surviving) amid change. The videos are online; a series and book are coming. First, here’s a montage of snippets, plus interestng stories about young women: One helps a granddad who has dementia; the other visits a dad who was exonerated after eight years in prison.

5) And more. “Fridge Wars,” debuting at 8 p.m. on CW, is a Canadian show with chefs using random leftovers; it’s the definition of low-impact, sorta-shrug TV. Also at 8, National Geographic’s “Sharkfest” has one of its rougher hours, “Shark vs. Surfer”; we meet people who survived and hear about those who didn’t. For gentler fun, the slick “Pillow Talk” (1959) is 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies. It won an Oscar for its script and nominations for sets, music, Doris Day and Thelma Ritter,

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