Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, July 26. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Ice Sharks (Syfy, 9 p.m.): Syfy is in the middle of the run up to the latest Sharknado movie, which means every other shark-themed B-movie is airing this week. And, yes, they are pretty much all terrible, and most of them in a way that isn’t even enjoyably terrible. But! Whatever their deficiencies as actual, tangible works of entertainment, they can still be a lot of fun as titles and synopses, because then you can just go ahead and imagine the wildest, most absurd version of the film, which is more fun anyway. So then, let’s hear it for Ice Sharks: “An interdisciplinary team of scientists is sent to the Arctic Ocean to study the effects of climate change on marine life under the ice. Suddenly, a new breed of aggressive, ravenous sharks, with the ability to pierce ice (à la Tremors), crack the frozen floor and begin devouring all who fall through. As the ice breaks apart and the research station sinks into the frigid waters, they must fashion whatever weapons are available before they are all eaten alive.” We appreciate the mad braggadocio of just straight-up inviting that Tremors comparison.
Bermuda Triangle: Science Of The Abyss (Science, 9 p.m.): Hey, here’s a fun question: Which is going to have more hard science in it, a Syfy movie called Ice Sharks or a documentary about the Bermuda Triangle? We’d certainly hope it’s the latter, but unless this thing is basically an hour of people saying, “Yeah, there’s really nothing to this, though we can sort of understand why people might think there is, we guess,” it’s going to be closer than it ought to be.
Democratic National Convention Coverage (PBS, 8 p.m./CBS, ABC, and NBC, 10 p.m.): The highlight of day two is a speech from former president and potential future first gentleman Bill Clinton. He figures to talk about whatever he damn well pleases for however long he damn well wants, assuming his nearly hour-long epic from the 2012 convention is any indication. Hell, he may try to go 80 minutes, just to one-up Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.
Premieres and finales
MADtv (The CW, 9 p.m.): Presumably building off January’s well-received 20th anniversary special, MADtv returns to the airwaves for the first time since 2009 with an eight-episode 15th season. We can’t honestly pretend we’re familiar with new cast members Carlie Craig, Chelsea Davison, Jeremy D. Howard, Amir K., Lyric Lewis, Piotr Michael, Michelle Ortiz, Adam Ray, but that may not be a bad thing. After all, MADtv has built up what in retrospect is a damn good track record of identifying people who would become stars in five or so years.