TV Talk: ‘Fargo’ returns; ‘The Comey Rule’ and ‘Tamburitzans’ debut

Back for its fourth season, the important good news is this iteration of “Fargo” (9-11 p.m. Sunday, FX) is significantly better than the disappointing third season, though probably not as good as the near-perfect second season.

Sunday’s two-episode premiere spends a lot of time grounding the show in backstory that’s established with panache by writer/director Noah Hawley. It’s a deliberate pace some might consider slow but enough quirky characters get introduced that it remains engaging. By episode three, airing Oct. 4, the new season of “Fargo” really takes off.

Set in Kansas City in 1950, the new season begins as an established Italian gang finds its dominance challenged by up-and-coming African-American mobster Loy Cannon (Chris Rock, who excels in an uncharacteristically dramatic role).

Perhaps the new season of “Fargo” is a little less immediately embraceable because it’s about warring mob families as opposed to in seasons one and two where many characters were semi-sympathetic strivers who made bad choices.

This new season has its standouts, including episode one narrator Ethelrida Pearl Smutny (E’myri Crutchfield), an African-American high school student with a keen sense of observation (she’s essentially this season’s heroic detective).

Ethelrida lives in the funeral home her family runs, located across the street from Minnesota-accented odd duck Oraetta Mayflower (scene-stealer Jessie Buckley), a nurse with some bad habits who falls into bed with Italian mobster Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman). He’s involved in an intra-family war with his brother, Gaetano (Salvatore Esposito).

Add to this mix an OCD-addled war vet cop (Jack Huston) who’s in the pocket of the Faddas; a Mormon, carrot-crunching U.S. Marshal (Timothy Olyphant, very much in “Justified” mode) and Cannon’s consiglieri, the well-named Doctor Senator (Glynn Turman, another standout in a season full of strong performances).

And then there are the jailbird sweethearts, Zelmare Roulette (Karen Aldridge) and Swanee Capp (Kelsey Asbille), who arrive in episode three and help propel “Fargo” to full throttle, tension-filled, dramatically satisfying storytelling.

‘The Comey Rule’

Likely to be best appreciated by political wonks and those fascinated with how the bureaucratic sausage is made, “The Comey Rule” (9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Showtime) is less sophisticated than the version director Jay Roach (2012’s “Game Change”) would have made for HBO.

“The Comey Rule” may feel a bit book report-ish to those who followed the 2016 election cycle obsessively, but there’s been so much water under the national political bridge since then that “The Comey Rule” remains engrossing for the small details amidst the familiar broad strokes of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail system during her stint as U.S. secretary of state. (Of local note: Monessen native Holly Hunter plays deputy U.S. attorney general Sally Yates.)

The first night of the two-part “Comey Rule” focuses on FBI director James Comey (Jeff Daniels), who we’re told is a press-hungry egomaniac but what viewers see is mostly someone wrestling with doing the right thing. “Comey Rule” doesn’t vindicate Comey’s choices but suggests there were no good options.

The second night pits Comey against President Trump (Brendan Gleeson), who at a private dinner demands Comey’s loyalty like a mob boss.

In a teleconference with reporters earlier this month, Ray said he used Comey’s book, “ A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership ,” as a jumping-off point but augmented it with his own research, including dozens of interviews.

“We didn’t make this series to change people’s votes,” Ray said. “The reason that I did this was because I felt that the Russians had had a profound and unhappy effect on our political process in 2016, and I wanted the American public to know about that before they went to the polls in 2020.”

While he admits to believing in Comey’s integrity, Ray said he’s not trying to venerate him.

“It’s not my goal to wind up with people erecting statues of Jim Comey or tearing them down,” Ray said. “I just want to tell the story of how heartbreaking it can be to be a public servant in the current landscape of America.”

ABC drama

After it renewed “Stumptown” in the spring, last week ABC reversed course and canceled the series.

ABC announced season premiere dates for new series “Big Sky” (10 p.m. Nov. 17, WTAE-TV), a thriller about Montana detectives searching for kidnapped sisters, and returning series “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m. Nov. 2), “Station 19” (8 p.m. Nov. 12), “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m. Nov. 12), “For Life” (10 p.m. Nov. 18) and “A Million Little Things” (10 p.m. Nov. 19).

‘Tamburitzans’ on WQED

Live theater is on hold due to the pandemic, but WQED-TV will bring the 80-year-old Duquesne University-affiliated Tamburitzans song and folk dance company into viewers’ homes next week.

“Tamburitzans: Prism” (8 p.m. Oct. 1, WQED), produced/edited by WQED’s Frank Caloiero, captures the troupe’s performance of “Prism” from the 2018-19 season. Caloiero, a former “Tammie” dancer/singer and Tambura player (1988-92), taped a June 2019 performance at West Mifflin High School that has been edited to fit a one-hour broadcast.

PBS Kids podcasts

Parents looking to entertain their children on car trips can download PBS Kids podcasts, including a new podcast based on “Odd Squad,” produced by Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions. (Podcasts available at PBSKids.org or anywhere you download podcasts from.)

The seven-episode “Odd Squadcast,” premiering Nov. 25 with two episodes released weekly, offers The Big O’s weekly address to Odd Squad agents worldwide.

Coming sooner, the second season of the “Molly of Denali” podcast premieres Sept. 30 and “Pinkalicious Peterrific” debuts a podcast Oct. 28.

Kept/canceled

HBO Max renewed “Raised by Wolves” for a second season.

Starz renewed “Power Book II: Ghost” for a second season.

The CW’s “Supergirl” will end after its upcoming sixth season in 2021.

DC Universe will no longer offer original series as those programs shift to HBO Max, including animated “Harley Quinn,” renewed for a third season.

ABC canceled summer sitcom “United We Stand” after one season; Netflix canceled “Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” as well.

In early 2021 Paramount Network will be rebranded Paramount Movie Network with an emphasis on films, including weekly original movies and quarterly limited series, including “Yellowstone.” “Ink Master,” “Wife Swap” and “Battle of the Fittest Couples” will be canceled. “Lip Sync Battle” and “Bar Rescue” will likely relocate to other ViacomCBS channels.

Channel surfing

Gibsonia’s Connor Trott exited the “Love Island” villa this week and Shaler native Ian Terry was ousted from CBS’s “Big Brother: All-Stars” last week. … The premiere of filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Manhunt: Deadly Games” was a bust for CBS, ranking third in its time period in total viewers (1.6 million viewers) and the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49. … CNN premieres “John Lewis: Good Trouble” (9 p.m. Sunday), a documentary about the life of the late civil rights activist and legislator. … CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” will premiere at 7 p.m. Sept. 30th . … Cable’s ID offers jailhouse interviews with the “Tiger King” star in “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up” (9-11 p.m. Sept. 27 and 9 p.m. Sept. 28) followed by “Joe Exotic: Before He Was King” (10 p.m. Sept. 28). … NBCUniversal’s free, ad-supported streamer Peacock is now available on Roku devices. … T.J. Holmes will join Amy Robach as co-anchor of “GMA 3: What You Need to Know” (1 p.m. weekdays, WTAE-TV). … The final season of Emmy-winner “Schitt’s Creek” comes to Netflix on Oct. 7. Comedy Central will rerun the series from the start, airing five episodes every Friday beginning Oct. 2. “Creek” begins airing in national syndication next week with episodes locally at 10:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. weekdays on WPNT-TV, Channel 22.