Monday: Three Sheets
Because the only thing more fun than actually getting drunk at a bar is watching someone else do it from the comfort of your own couch, here comes Three Sheets. The series, now in its fourth season—the show moves from the defunct MOJO-HD to Fine Living Network starting tonight—finds host and “comedian” Zane Lamprey visiting countries around the world to sample their watering holes and local customs. Mr. Lamprey tries a bit too hard to be Joel McHale, and the postproduction team is too drunk on their use of wacky sound effects to underscore each scene, but you could certainly do worse on a Monday night in July than watching a bunch of New Zealanders get drunk on moonshine. And the best part? No hangover the following morning! [FLN, 10 p.m.]
Tuesday: Ted Williams
Toward the end of HBO’s thoroughly fascinating documentary about Ted Williams, biographer Leigh Montville—who’s book about “the Splendid Splinter” covers much of the same ground as this film—says that the slugger was a real man’s man, to both his credit and detriment. Who are we to argue? Part John Wayne, part Roy Hobbs and part Tony Soprano, Mr. Williams was a conflicted ballplayer and, apparently, one tough son of a gun to be around. He was also cut from a cloth that has long since disappeared. Think about it: He was a legitimate war hero who stopped playing baseball during the prime of his career to defend the country. Something tells us Alex Rodriguez wouldn’t make the same choice. [HBO2, 8:30 p.m.]
Wednesday: Michael and Michael Have Issues
Calling Michael and Michael Have Issues the funniest show of the summer feels like damning with faint praise—after all, there really isn’t that much in the way of laughs on TV right now (NYC Prep doesn’t count). But don’t let the lack of competition fool you: The Comedy Central series is legitimately great. Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter—refugees from Stella and, before that, The State—play versions of themselves, and they infuse their characters with such contempt that the series rises above its tired, “show-within-a-show” conceit. We promise: You will laugh, and laugh hard. [Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.]
Thursday: The Wackness
Was it only last summer that we sat in the Angelika during a sweltering summer night and watched The Wackness? Apparently! Jonathan Levine’s coming-of-age dramedy falls victim to the old adage of the parts being greater than the sum of the whole. Blessed with an outstanding cast—Ben Kingsley, Jane Adams, and, your 2008 Girl Crush, Olivia Thrilby—there is plenty to like about this nostalgic trip back to the summer of 1994. (Cue up Tribe Called Quest!) Unfortunately, like so many young filmmakers, Mr. Levine loses the thread sometime before the third act and the film sputters to an unappealing finish. Still, ignoring The Wackness wholesale would be a fool’s errand; the film captures the feeling of Manhattan-in-Summer better than anything we’ve seen in some time. [Starz, 3:30 p.m.]
Friday: Nick of Time
Nick of Time embraces its B-movie qualities with such gusto that it comes off like the kind of cheapie thriller Alfred Hitchcock would have directed to fulfill a studio contract. And that’s a good thing! The “real time” hook isn’t as fresh, especially now that 24 has spent the better part of the last decade making a career out of it, but John Badham’s film, with Johnny Depp being all Depp-y, is a potboiler of tension. That Christopher Walken shows up as a mustached baddie spouting ridiculous things like “I got the call, I put him down like a sick animal” is merely icing on the cake. This is pure pulpy fiction. [Thriller Max, 2:30 p.m.]