Week In Sloth: “The Astronaut Wives Club,” “Killjoys” And “Battlebots”

\ Jun 18, 2015

3 min read

Thursday 18

Bug Movie Marathon (TCM 6pm) TCM kicks off the buggy summer season with a marathon of insect cinema starting with 1958’s The Fly starring Vincent Price. That’s followed by 1961’s Mothra (7:45pm), 1954’s Them! (9:45pm), 1959’s The Wasp Woman (11:30pm) and 1978’s The Swarm (12:45am).

“The Astronaut Wives Club” (KOAT-7 7pm) This historical series (based on Lily Koppel’s best-selling novel) looks at the domestic lives of the spouses of the Apollo 7 astronauts. Yvonne Strahovski (“Chuck”) heads the ensemble cast. Think “Mad Men,” but with rockets!

“Complications” (USA 7pm) A disillusioned ER doctor saves the life of a young shooting victim and gets drawn into an inner-city gang war. Jason O’Mara (“Life on Mars,” “Terra Nova”) stars in this medical/crime drama.

“Alone” (History 8:03pm) History Channel wades into the reality survival show genre.

Friday 19

“Killjoys” (Syfy 7pm) This Canadian-American co-production follows the adventures of a “fun-loving, hard-living trio of planetary bounty hunters.” It comes from the producers of “Orphan Black,” so there’s that.

“CollegeHumor Comedy Music Hall of Fame” (IFC 8pm) Paul F. Tompkins hosts this salute to comedy musicians such as Tenacious D, “Weird Al” Yankovic and … others.

Saturday 20

Perfect Match (Hallmark 7pm) Two wedding planners are forced to work together and obliged to fall in love in this made-for-TV rom-com, whose sole redeeming feature is a starring role for Danica McKellar. She played the object of Kevin Arnold’s tweenage obsession on “The Wonder Years.” She grew up to be seriously cute and insanely smart—which probably still makes Kev a little crazy when he surfs past her Facebook page, obsessively checking for updates to her relationship status.

Sunday 21

“BattleBots” (KOAT-7 8pm) ABC rebuilds the 2000-2002 TV competition in which badass nerds bang together deadly robots for use in an “arena combat elimination tournament.”

“The Crimson Field” (KNMR-5 8pm) The BBC dramatizes the experiences of three nurses (including Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter Oona) working on a French battlefield during World War I.

“True Detective” (HBO 7pm) Season 2 launches with a new city (Los Angeles) and a new set of detectives (Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch).

“Ballers” (HBO 8:01pm) How does Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have time to star in an “Entourage”-esque TV show about retired sports stars looking for their next career move?

“The Brink” (HBO 8:32pm) Jack Black, Tim Robbins and Aasif Mandvi star in this satirical comedy about a lowly Foreign Service worker sent to Pakistan to deal with a growing geopolitical crisis.

Monday 22

“Forged in Fire” (History 8pm) History’s newest docu-series looks at how famed weapons were created. The series stars off right with a look at the legendary Japanese katana.

Tuesday 23

“Leepu & Pitbull” (History 8:03pm) Not that you could tell by the title, but it’s another car restoration show.

“Another Period” (Comedy Central 11:30pm) Comediennes Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome star in this historical mash-up of “Downton Abbey” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”