1) “Young Rock” season-opener, 8:30 p.m., NBC. It’s an odd sort of brew – bits of comedy, scattered alongside a dramatization of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s real past and a fictional version of his future. Tonight’s comedy parts come early (with Randall Park in an awful talk show), then retreat. We see rough moments in the wrestling careers of Johnson as a young man (shown here) and his dad. And in the final minute, we jump ahead to a time after his failed 2032 run for president.
2) “Lopez vs. Lopez” debut, 8 p.m., NBC. In real life, George Lopez struggled with alcoholism; he divorced the wife who had given him a kidney and he was estranged from their daughter, Mayan. Now that’s been turned into a comedy. Mayan plays a veterinarian, married, with a son; George plays her father – alcoholic, out-of-work, out of options, hoping to stay with her while fixing her kitchen. The result is loud and, only occasionally, funny.
3) “Great Performances,” 9 p.m., PBS. Ever since the Philharmonic Hall opened 60 years ago in New York, there have been complaints about its acoustics. Renovations in 1976 and ‘92 failed; a makeover was set for 2009, then delayed … until the Covid shutdown created time for a $500-million project. Now we see the renamed David Geffen Hall re-open. The Philharmonic performs Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and premieres a work by Angelica Negron.
4) “Mosquito Coast,” any time, Apple TV+. As Allie and Margot scrambled through the first season, their kids – and viewers – assumed he was the crazed schemer, eluding the government; she was the long-suffering wife. But now – as they float on a tattered boat – we get flashbacks to 13 years ago. Beautifully played by Justin Theroux (whose uncle wrote the novel this is based on) and Melissa George, the hour builds to a bracing finale.
5) MORE STREAMING: One day after debuting “Blockbuster” – a comedy series with (again) Randall Park – Netflix gives NBC’s “Manifest” a final season. Also today, the Roku Channel has Daniel Radcliffe in a movie about Weird Al Yankovic and Prime Video has “My Policeman,” a movie that catches the same couple, 40 years apart. The younger version is played by Emma Corrin, an Emmy-nominee as Diana in “The Crown,” and Harry Styles.