NBA Finals Begin, Doctor Becomes Patient on ‘Brilliant Minds,’ Classic Disaster Movies, Elvis in Concert

NBA Finals

In a rematch for the ages, the New York Knicks return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, once again facing the San Antonio Spurs, who won that series in five games. With the towering Victor Wembanyama leading the Spurs and Jalen Brunson spurring on the Knicks, this clash of superstar talent should make for riveting TV. The first two games are played at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center before moving next week to Madison Square Garden for games 3 and 4.

Brilliant Minds

Doctors often make the worst patients, and Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) is no exception. In a pivotal episode of the final season directed by Quinto, we finally see Wolf’s point of view from inside the Hudson Oaks Behavioral Health Services facility, which had been teased all season. He’s been admitted as a reluctant client after his best friend, Dr. Carol Pierce (Tamberla Perry), discovered he was treating an imaginary patient. Still under the delusion that Sofia (Sarah Steele) is real, Wolf sees Hudson Oaks as a prison and its unctuous director, Amelia (Scandal‘s Bellamy Young), as his captor. While undergoing tortured soul-searching, Wolf still finds time to consult with his concerned interns on the case of a renowned chef whose senses and sensitivity to pain have gone haywire. Back at Bronx General, Wolf’s future at the hospital has never been more precarious.

Airport

Anticipating the summer blockbuster trend, 1970’s Oscar-winning airborne blockbuster leads off a monthlong series of classic disaster movies airing on Wednesdays. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, and Jacqueline Bisset lead the cast of a high-flying nailbiter set during a paralyzing snowstorm, where a suicide bomber (Van Heflin) aboard a Boeing 707 creates more havoc. Screen and stage legend Helen Hayes won a supporting actress Oscar as an elderly passenger. Followed by more peril-in-the-sky movies: 1975’s The Hindenburg (10:30/9:30c), about the ill-fated dirigible; 1957’s Zero Hour! (12:45 am/11:45c), said to be the inspiration for the hit parody Airplane!; 1960’s The Crowded Sky (2:15 am/1:15c) and 1972’s Skyjacked (4:15 am/3:15c). Look for genre icons The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and Earthquake in weeks to come.

EPiC: Elvis Presley

Following the success of his 2022 Elvis biopic, director Baz Luhrmann turned to the genuine article to compile a concert documentary that’s making its streaming debut. EPiC shows the King at his peak, featuring recently discovered footage from his Las Vegas residency in the 1970s and Elvis on Tour, plus 8mm film from the Graceland archive and rare audio recordings.

Widow’s Bay

Few shows have balanced the scream-to-laugh ratio better than this horror comedy, which pays homage to Halloween in a harrowing yet somehow hilarious half-hour. Turns out that Mayor Tom (Matthew Rhys), local lore expert Wyck (Stephen Root), and Tom’s misfit assistant Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) may be celebrating too soon after supposedly ridding the island town of its ancient curse. Someone has stolen a “Murderer’s Mask” from the town museum, and the notorious “Boogeyman” killer appears to be back in action. And just when Tom was hoping to take his son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick) off the island for the first time after coming clean about their dark family secrets.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• MasterChef: Gauntlet (8/7c, Fox): It’s a “World Cup Cookoff” as the home cooks don jerseys when the kitchen is transformed into a backyard barbecue.
• Southern Hospitality (9/8c, Bravo): The cast gathers for the first of a two-part reunion, spilling tea and no doubt stronger beverages as they rehash events of Season 4.
• One Day in My Body (9/8, TLC): The docuseries’ Season 1 finale checks in on subjects including Joe, the first survivor of a hands-and-face transplant, and Piyah, born with a body that stops at her waist, causing her to walk on her hands.

ON THE STREAM:

• Hoppers (streaming on Disney+): The animated Pixar comedy makes its streaming debut, featuring Piper Curda as animal-loving Mabel, who “hops” her consciousness into the frame of a robotic beaver to be able to talk to the local animals and save their habitat.
• The Other Bennet Sister (streaming on BritBox): Mary (Ella Bruccoleri) receives a most unusual proposal from Mr. Ryder (Laurie Davidson) that tests her loyalty to her hovering family and to Regency society’s rigid rules. Whatever she does, her awful mother (Ruth Jones) is there to remind her: “Why is everything with you so relentlessly disappointing?” We beg to differ.
• Michael Jackson: The Verdict (streaming on Netflix): A three-part docuseries revisits 2005’s high-profile child molestation trial of Michael Jackson, which ended in acquittal. Jurors, eyewitnesses, and members of the defense and prosecution teams are among those interviewed.
• The Legend of Vox Machina (streaming on Prime Video): The fourth season of the animated epic fantasy series reunites the heroes after a year apart to take on a new evil.
• Criminal Report (streaming on Apple TV): The suspenseful penultimate episode of the taut British crime drama finds June (Cush Jumbo) taking over the search for the bombs now that shady DCI Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) has been suspended. But both he and their prey, Cosmo (Dustin Demri-Burns), have more tricks up their sleeves. Also on Apple TV: a new episode of the comedic thriller Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which flashes back two years to Portland to reveal a disturbing incident that hastened the dissolution of Paula’s (Tatiana Maslany) marriage to Karl (Jake Johnson).