SoCal TV highlights, Oct. 22-28: 'AKA Mr. Chow,' 'Pain Hustlers,' 'Would You Kill for Me?' and more
A restaurateur dishes, a family faces trials and tribulations, pill pushers push pills, and a young survivor of the Armenian Genocide becomes a silent-era star
Hello and welcome to the latest TV or Not TV? roundup of new and noteworthy programming on broadcast, cable and streaming. I’m Matt Cooper, former listings coordinator for the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar section.
SUNDAY — Oct. 22
Watch out for that ottoman! Comedy legend Dick Van Dyke voices his animated likeness on “The Simpsons.” 8 p.m. Fox
A potential love interest has an astrophysicist seeing stars in the TV movie “Under the Christmas Sky.” With Jessica Parker Kennedy. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
That name again is Mr. Chow: The Shanghai-born artist-actor-entrepreneur who founded the restaurant chain that bears his name is profiled in “AKA Mr. Chow.” 9 p.m. HBO
“The Neighbors Are Watching” — so open the curtains and give ’em a show! But seriously, a single gal sees something she shouldn’t’ve oughta in this suburban thriller. 8 p.m. Lifetime
Deck the halls with Jack-o-lanterns, it’s time for another season of the holiday decorating competition “The Great Halloween Fright Fight.” 10 p.m. ABC
MONDAY — Oct. 23
Batman, Superman, et al. are trapped in a world they never made in the animated 2023 adventure “Justice League: Warworld.” Anytime, Max
A TV chef puts down the EVOO and picks up a hammer to help everyday folks in need in the new home-reno series “Rachael Ray’s Rebuild.” Anytime, Hulu
Charles in charge? And for how much longer? And then what? Follow the line of succession in the special “The Royals: A New Era.” 9 p.m. The CW
The tale of a teenage survivor of the Armenian Genocide who went on to star in a silent-era drama about her experiences is retold in “Aurora’s Sunrise” on “POV.” 10 p.m. KOCE
Social-media star and podcaster Desus Nice is this week’s guest host on “The Daily Show.” 11 p.m. Comedy Central; also Tuesday-Thursday
TUESDAY — Oct. 24
The docuseries “Get Gotti” details the FBI’s efforts to make charges stick against the infamous New York mafioso once dubbed the “Teflon Don.” Anytime, Netflix
Learn how a humble Aussie quartet rose to become the Beatles of children’s music in the docuspecial “Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles.” Anytime, Prime Video
The struggle for control of a controversial spiritual movement takes a dark turn in the new true-crime series “Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder.” Anytime, Peacock
Hips don’t lie, but lips do in “Milli Vanilli,” a new doc about the 1990s pop-music duo who fell from grace with the record industry. Anytime, Paramount+
The special “Pete Holmes: I Am Not for Everyone” captures the Boston-born comic cracking wise about prostate exams, voicemail mishaps and more. Anytime, Netflix
A rising comic opens up about her life as a Black Muslim in America in the standup special “Zainab Johnson: Hijabs Off.” Anytime, Prime Video
A new season of NBA Basketball tips off and includes your Los Angeles Lakers versus defending champs the Denver Nuggets. 4:30 p.m. TNT
See how Indigenous peoples today are finding a path forward into the future in the Season 2 premiere of “Native America.” 9 p.m. KOCE
The weather outside is frightful as sexy singles cohabitate for a third season of the reality series “Winter House.” 9 p.m. Bravo
ARRRGGGHHH!!! Sam Kinison, the controversial comic who died in 1992 at the height of his fame, is remembered on a new “Dark Side of Comedy.” 10 p.m. Vice
WEDNESDAY — Oct. 25
“Life on Our Planet” is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really, pressure and time in this new series narrated by Morgan Freeman. Anytime, Netflix
I’d like to be under the sea … surrounded by hidden cameras disguised as denizens of the deep in “Spy in the Ocean, A Nature Miniseries.” 8 p.m. KOCE
Trash will be talked, drinks will be thrown, etc., etc. as “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” return for a 13th season. 8 p.m. Bravo
Best they can do is twenty bucks when the spinoff “Pawn Stars Do America” returns with new episodes. 8 p.m. History Channel
Nice work if you can get it! A new “Artbound” looks at local artist-in-residence programs at cultural institutions around Southern California. 9 p.m. KCET
The Permian extinction event, which nearly wiped out all life on this planet 250 million years ago, is explored in a new installment of “Ancient Earth” on “Nova.” 9 p.m. KOCE
Why do they call it the Eiffel Tower? Because from the top, you get an eyeful of Paris below! Find out if that’s true on a new “Secrets of the Dead.” 10 p.m. KOCE
THURSDAY — OCT. 26
The horrors will continue until morale improves in new episodes of the anthology/spinoff “American Horror Stories.” Anytime, FX on Hulu
An Irish journalist (India Mullin) matches wits with a serial killer in the new drama “The Vanishing Triangle” inspired by true events. Anytime, Sundance Now
Actors and writers went on strike, and all I got were new episodes of the Canadian-made sitcoms “Son of a Critch” and “Run the Burbs.” 8 and 8:30 p.m. The CW
Come, Armageddon, come! Members of an ultra-religious family in England await the day when “Everyone Else Burns” in this satirical sitcom. 9:30 p.m. The CW
FRIDAY — OCT. 27
Papa is a rolling stone, only he ain’t rolling and now it’s up to his wife and kids to turn him back to normal in the animated tale “Curses!” Anytime, Apple TV+
They’re he-re! The docuseries “The Enfield Poltergeist” investigates purported paranormal activity in one family’s suburban London home in the late 1970s. Anytime, Apple TV+
Replace a certain mouse-like pizza-parlor mascot with a homicidal animatronic bear and there you have the 2023 horror-comedy “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Anytime, Peacock
Black Widow and her pops Red Guardian are up on blocks in the animated tale “LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red.” Anytime, Disney+
Emily Blunt and Chris Evans find themselves at Ground Zero of the opioid epidemic in early 2000s Florida in David Yate’s 2023 drama “Pain Hustlers.” Anytime, Netflix
A.I. rears its ugly head and our favorite foul-mouthed fourth graders ain’t havin' it in the special “South Park: Joining the Panderverse.” Anytime, Paramount+
“Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho looks back on his days as a young college student/cinephile in South Korea in the new doc “Yellow Door: ’90s Lo-fi Film Club.” Anytime, Netflix
The Phillies or the Diamondbacks face the Astros or the Rangers in Games 1 and 2 of the 2023 World Series. 5 p.m. Fox; also Saturday
An aspiring fashionista finds romance while working on a new collection in the TV movie “Christmas by Design.” With Rebecca Dalton. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
Nothing up my sleeves and … presto! The magic showcase “Masters of Illusion” conjure up a batch of new episodes. 9 p.m. The CW
Dancers from the illustrious New York City Ballet leave it all on the floor at Madrid’s Teatro Real on “Great Performances.” 9 p.m. KOCE
They’re the laughingstock of the animal kingdom in new episodes of “World’s Funniest Animals.” 9:30 p.m. The CW
SATURDAY — Oct. 28
Come for the pizza, stay for the romance in the new TV movie “Mystic Christmas.” Jessy Schram stars. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
Melissa Joan Hart portrays the matriarch of a tragically dysfunctional family in the fact-based TV movie “Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story.” 8 p.m. Lifetime
Comic Nate Bargatze hosts and Foo Fighters perform on a new “Saturday Night Live.“ 8:29 and 11:29 p.m. NBC
The onetime queen of daytime TV and a former “Scandal” star have a little tête-à-tête in “OWN Spotlight: Oprah & Kerry Washington.” 10 p.m. OWN
(All times Pacific; programming subject to change without notice)
Milli Vanilli!