Cover Story this week Musical mystery

Season 3 of ‘The Masked Singer’ premieres after Super Bowl LIV

By Breanna Henry TV Media

There is an absolute smorgasbord of reality television to choose from these days, and performance competitions make up a large percentage of the most watched. It seems like we can’t get enough of shows like “American Idol,” “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent,” but there’s one such series that sets itself apart from the rest.

Season 3 of “The Masked Sing er” premieres Sunday, Feb. 2, on Fox, right after Super Bowl LIV, and the new installment of this si multaneously strange and beauti ful series promises to be bigger and better than ever. Series host Nick Cannon (“Berserk” 2019) re turns along with the previous sea sons’ judges: actors Ken Jeong (“The Casagrandes”) and Jenny McCarthy (“Return of the Mac”) are back on the panel with musicians Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger. This time around, there are 18 new masked mystery celebrities — more than any season so far.

Unlike most performance com petitions, “The Masked Singer” does not recruit previously un- known talents to vie for a prize. In this reality series, it’s celebrities who face off against one another for fan votes, and each episode features spectacular musical performances. The catch is that the celebrities are wearing elaborate costumes that conceal their identi- to be talk show host Ricki Lake, and last season’s Ice Cream and Thingamajig shocked audiences when they revealed themselves to be professional video gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and NBA star Victor Oladipo, respectively. While some of the masked singers are recording artists by trade — such as

Late Laughs

A Little Late With Lilly Singh

I’m not a fan of the New Year’s kiss, mostly because I usually spend New Year’s with my family, and I’m not trying to be Cersei Lannister.

Media (a reality television production company) CEO Craig Plestis became distracted, as we all so often are, by the TV while dining out in Thailand. Looking around, Plestis noticed that most of the guests had abandoned both their conversations and their meals in favor of watching the weird program airing on the television. It featured a “crazy kangaroo in a pleather outfit” dancing around on stage and singing. Entranced by what he had seen (and the other diners’ reactions to it), Plestis and his dining companions didn’t even finish their food before beginning to research the series.

He discovered that the program originated in South Korea in 2015 as “King of Mask Singer” (or the much more fun literal translation, “Mystery Music Show: Masked Singer’s King”). By the time Plestis saw it for the first time, the show had already become a franchise, expanding to China, Indonesia, Vietnam and, of course, Thailand.

As culture and values vary across the globe, so does the approach to television. Although American media dominates the airwaves in most of the Englishspeaking world, most people are able to spot shows that don’t originate in the U.S. for multiple reasons, perhaps without even knowing why. Even muted, shows that come from across the pond can be identified by many people, thanks to technological differences that cause film to relay and display differently on screen (you can research the American color encoding system NTSC vs. the British system PAL for more insight).

Those who are used to the ultraHD, high-contrast look of American films might describe the look of British shows like “Doctor Who” and “Coronation Street” as slightly hazy or dream-like. But sometimes it’s the content of a series that betrays its origins, as is the case with “The Masked Singer.” Take one look at the utterly glorious absurdity that is this show, and it evokes the same distinctly non-American feelings that other adaptations are known for — consider the dry humor of Britain’s “The Office,” the interests of the titular character in Venezuelan series “Jane the Virgin” and the over-thetop costuming and acting in Japan’s “Power Rangers.”

I don’t need to explain to anyone why, historically, the tradition of beauty pageants is problematic. Women’s looks were judged more than their accomplishments, and the only place with more creepy old men hanging around was Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

According to a new poll, Republican’s top choices for president in 2024 include Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Meanwhile, Eric just got his tongue unstuck from a pole he licked at Christmas.

Tonight was the season premiere of “The Bachelor.” The new bachelor is Peter, and he’s actually a pilot for Delta. When he was sitting by the fire on a date, and the girl asked for a blanket, he was like, “That’ll be $9.”

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

While the Middle East is getting all the headlines, there are also some smaller, quirky little headlines you may have missed. For instance, the president of the United States was impeached. Remember that?

Harry and Meghan are stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family! Do you have any idea what that means? Because I have no idea! There are senior levels of royal? I thought it just went like: King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Jack of Spades, boy wizard, Dukes of Hazard and then cartoon mouse that sews Cinderella’s dress.

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Uber is launching a new service that will let users find rides that allow animals. At least when you get into one of these ubers there’s a reason it’s covered in hair and smells disgusting.

By Jessica Gosse TV Media

WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX “Locke & Key”

Connor Jessup (“Falling Skies”), Emilia Jones (“Utopia”) and Jackson Robert Scott (“The Prodigy,” 2019) star as the three Locke siblings — Tyler, Kinsey and Bode — in this new series premiering Friday, Feb. 7. When their father is brutally murdered, the children move to Massachusetts with their mother, Nina (Darby Stanchfield, “Scandal”), and into her family home, Keyhouse. Once there, they discover the house is filled with magical keys that have an unknown connection to their father’s death. As they explore the magic of the different keys, a vicious demon is released that wants the power of the keys for itself. This series is based on the popular graphic novel series created by Joe Hill, and you won’t want to miss the thrills it has to offer.

“My Holo

Love”

This futuristic Korean drama makes its debut on Friday, Feb. 7, on Netflix. “My Holo Love” follows Han So-yeon (Ko Sung-hee, “Ms. Ma. Nemesis”), a woman who has become a recluse due to a face blindness disorder. Her life suddenly changes when she begins to use an artificial intelligence program called Holo, a human-like hologram. As Han So-yeon interacts with Holo, growing more and more attached to the AI, its human counterpart and creator Go Nan-do (Yoon Hyun-min, “Witch’s Court”) begins to fall in love with her. But while Holo looks exactly like Go Nan-do, their personalities couldn’t be more different. Holo is warm and kind and everything Go Nan-do is not. Can he find a way to make Han So-yeon love him? Find out when “My Holo Love” premieres.

WHAT’S NEW ON DISNEY PLUS

tary”). Believing himself to be the best detective in town, Timmy runs his own agency (Total Failure Inc.), solving cases with the help of his sidekick, Rollo Tookus (newcomer Kei), and his partner, Total, who is a 1,500-pound polar bear. Much to the dismay of his mother and his therapist (Craig Robinson, “The Office”), Timmy gets into all sorts of antics as he takes on his newest case: the theft of the Failure Mobile (a Segway Patty won at a church raffle). Join in on this heartwarming adventure that proves Timmy Failure’s name is truly misleading.

WHAT’S NEW ON APPLE TV PLUS “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet”

WHAT’S NEW ON CBS ALL ACCESS “Interrogation”

shocking truth: he is the latest in a long line of “Grimms,” descendants of the Brothers Grimm who have the ability to see creatures he has only heard about in fairytales. Now he must maintain the balance as the creatures live among humans. His two worlds quickly overlap as his police cases begin to involve more and more of these creatures. Unable to talk to Juliette or his work partner, Hank (Russell Hornsby, “Proven Innocent”), without sounding insane, he befriends a reformed werewolf named Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell, “Prison Break”), who reluctantly becomes his confidant. Follow Nick as he faces all manner of beasts that will change everything you thought you knew about fairytales in all six seasons of this drama, available now.

BINGE ON HULU “Will & Grace”

“Timmy

Failure: Mistakes Were Made”

If you enjoy the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books and movies, you won’t want to miss the new film “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made,” which was inspired by the series, when it comes to Disney Plus on Friday, Feb. 7. The show is based on the series of novels of the same name by Stephan Pastis, and follows Timmy Failure (Winslow Fegley, “Fast Layne”), an 11-year-old boy living in the shadow of the water tower in Portland, Oregon, with his mother, Patty (Ophelia Lovibond, “Elemen-

From Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day — the creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” — comes this new workplace comedy set to premiere Friday, Feb. 7, on Apple TV Plus. McElhenney also stars in the series, which follows a group of video game developers as they handle the day-to-day of managing a popular video game. The cast is rounded out by David Hornsby (“Good Girls”), Jessie Ennis (“Better Call Saul”), Charlotte Nicdao (“The Strange Chores”), Danny Pudi (“Community”), Ashly Burch (“Attack on Titan”), Imani Hakim (“Everybody Hates Chris”) and Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham (“Homeland”).

On Thursday, Feb. 6, follow a 30year investigation in this new true crime series that lets viewers take the reins. Based on the real-life case of a man who was charged with the vicious murder of his mother, showrunners used the real case files to create nine episodes, each focusing on different interrogations that took place throughout the investigation, and Peter Sarsgaard (“The Looming Tower”) stars as the lead detective. With the first nine episodes being released all at once, the series is intended to be watched in no particular order, creating the feel of an actual investigation and putting viewers in the position of detective by choosing which interrogation to watch next. Choose your own adventure as you follow this thrilling case with the dramatic finale premiering at a later date.

BINGE ON PRIME VIDEO “Grimm”

In this supernatural drama, available in full on Prime, Det. Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli, “A Million Little Things”) lives an average life in Portland, Oregon, with his girlfriend, Juliette (Elizabeth Tulloch, “Supergirl”). But when he begins having visions of normal people momentarily turning into monsters, his life changes. After a visit to his only living relative, he discovers a

There are many extremely popular New York City-based sitcoms, but few were as groudbreaking and beloved as the critically acclaimed series “Will & Grace.” The series focuses on the two eponymous characters: Grace Adler (Debra Messing, “Smash”) is a neurotic and emotional interior designer, who is balanced out perfectly by her gay best friend and roommate, Will Truman (Eric McCormack, “Travelers”), a levelheaded lawyer. The two are joined by their friends Karen Walker (Megan Mullally, “Childrens Hospital”), Grace’s rich, alcoholic assistant, and Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes, “Sean Saves the World”), a flamboyantly gay actor, as they face the ups and downs of life, from various romantic relationships to dealing with work, family, friends and stereotypes. This hilarious series is known for having shone a positive light on the LGBT community in the early aughts and for using comedy to touch on difficult, topical themes. Eleven years after its 2006 finale, the cast reunited to urge the American public to vote, and that video resulted in the series being picked up for a four-season reboot. All eight original seasons of “Will & Grace” are available to binge now.

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