What's on TV this week—Constellation and Avatar: The Last Airbender premiere
Plus, Mike Epps' comedy special, the People's Choice Awards, and more
Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, February 18 to Thursday, February 22. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]
The biggies
Constellation (Apple TV+, Wednesday, 12:01 a.m.)
Constellation explores what happens to astronaut Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) after she returns home from an accident on the International Space Station. The show, which is a part-conspiracy thriller and part-emotional drama, co-stars Jonathan Banks, James D’Arcy, and Rosie and Davina Coleman. Here’s a bit from The A.V. Club’s review:
The show uses an epic scope—the cosmos!—to pin down the nitty-gritty horrors of isolation and grief. And at the very least, Constellation deserves merit for its ambitious attempt to balance the contradictory vastness of space with the astronauts’ claustrophobia and inner turmoil.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Nickelodeon’s acclaimed 2005 anime Avatar: The Last Airbender finally gets a live-action adaptation. Set in a war-torn world, the Netflix series follows Aang (Gordon Cormier), the last living Airbender. Aang, who can bend all four elements and is responsible for balancing peace in the world, is being pursued by the exiled prince Zuko (Dallas Liu), who wants to capture the Airbender to regain power. The ensemble cast of this epic saga includes Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Elizabeth Yu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Leung, Danny Pudi, Amber Midthunder, Arden Cho, and Utkarsh Ambudkar. Look for The A.V. Club’s review and other coverage on the show this week.
Hidden gems
Mike Epps: Ready To Sell Out (Netflix, Tuesday, 3:01 a.m.)