Hitch a ride to Moonbase 8

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, November 8. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Moonbase 8 (Showtime, 11 p.m., series premiere): “The original premise for Moonbase 8, a new comedy from John C. Reilly, Tim Heidecker, Fred Armisen, and Jonathan Krisel, was one rooted in the isolation horror of The Thing—a group of people stuck in a remote area, facing the unknown together. Like the creature in John Carpenter’s classic sci-fi film, that idea quickly took on a new form, eventually turning into a winning office comedy that laps other recent entrants in the ‘work-space’ genre.

Moonbase 8 stars Reilly, Heidecker, and Armisen as a trio of would-be astronauts training at one of a number of NASA lunar camps in the U.S. desert. Each member of the group primarily goes by a call name—Robert ‘Cap’ Caputo (Reilly), Dr. Michael ‘Skip’ Henai (Armisen), and Professor Scott ‘Rook’ Sloan (Heidecker)—save for Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end who throws his weight around like they’re already on the moon. They all come to NASA from different walks of life: Cap, a pilot for scenic helicopter tours, claims to be a military man, while Skip is following in his astronaut father’s footsteps, and Rook mostly wants to spread ‘the Gospel of Jesus Christ out into the universe.’ Kelce’s presence is tantamount to stunt casting (by NASA, not Showtime), but even he quickly finds himself out of his depth.” Click to read the rest of Danette Chavez’s pre-air review.