What to Watch on Thursday: Life in Pieces and Star Trek: Discovery

EW Staff
Updated

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook Watch, and elsewhere. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play).

Life in Pieces

Ron P. Jaffe/CBS
Ron P. Jaffe/CBS

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on CBS

The best family comedies are the ones that celebrate the truth: Most of the time, families are an ordeal. CBS’ under-appreciated sitcom returns for a fourth season with two episodes: In the premiere, the Short clan heads to a subpar Mexican resort — think vampire bats and hole toilets — for Joan (Dianne Wiest) and John’s (James Brolin) 50th anniversary. (“You guys have got wall-to-wall floors?” marvels Dan Bakkedahl’s Tim.) And in “Demo Nosebreath Surgery Match,” a pregnant Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones, drier than James Bond’s martini) is revolted by pretty much everything her husband (Colin Hanks) does… even the way he pronounces the letter “s.” Cynical and silly, sweet and strange, Life in Pieces deserves more than its perennial bubble-show status. B+ — Kristen Baldwin

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Star Trek: Discovery

John Medland/CBS
John Medland/CBS

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on CBS All Access

“Prepare for battle,” orders Saru (Doug Jones) at the end of the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and a big battle versus Captain Leland’s (Alan van Sprang) fleet is exactly what fans can expect in the finale (April 18). “It’s one of the most exciting episodes of television I’ve seen,” declares co-EP Michelle Paradise (who’ll be co-showrunner for season 3). “It’s action, it’s character, it’s emotion — it’s the biggest episode we’ve done and everything we’ve been building to all season.” And there are also answers, with producers pledging to tackle burning questions, such as filling in the backstory of Spock’s (Ethan Peck) relationship with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). “We have a satisfying resolution to all of the mysteries throughout the season,” Paradise promises. And, then, of course, a cliff-hanger to get us hooked all over again.

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What Else to Watch:

8 p.m.
Supernatural — The CW
Superstore — NBC

9 p.m.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine — NBC
Station 19 — ABC

*times are ET and subject to change

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