Samantha Bee breaks into an all-boys club

By Kevin McDonough

The only late night talk show hosted by a non-man, "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" (10:30 p.m., TBS, TV-MA) is getting some help from its friends, premiering on nearly every Turner network, including TNT, Adult Swim, TruTV and HLN. I guess the folks at Turner Classic Movies are too committed to their Oscars-only schedule of movies to join the hive.
Like CBS' Stephen Colbert, Bee is a veteran of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and shares that series' TV news parody approach. In interviews leading up to tonight's debut, Bee has said that "Frontal" will avoid the emphasis on "gotcha" stories about mere hypocrisy and focus instead on underreported accounts of injustice.
So in a way, this fake-news comedy approach will pick up the old journalistic goal, "to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." Will it be funny?
We have at least five ways of finding out tonight.
• "Independent Lens" presents "A Ballerina's Tale" (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings), a profile of dancer Misty Copeland and her rise to become the first black female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
Along the way it discusses a number of important issues, including race, culture and the female form. For decades, ABT's most famous choreographer George Balanchine insisted on a slight female figure that many considered unhealthy, if not anorexic. With the ABT's choice of Copeland, it is clearly making a pointed statement about a new direction, in the apparent hope of finding a new audience.
Watching this film, one wonders if it's actually about Copeland or about a major cultural institution patting itself on the back. It's certainly an interesting discussion of classical artistry in the age of celebrity and "branding."
It's also curious that a film about a breakthrough for a black ballet dancer avoids much discussion of the tradition of black ballet companies. Arthur Mitchell and the prestigious Dance Theatre of Harlem is mentioned once, and only to say that it's just not up to the level of ABT. As Copeland mentions early on in the film, the dance world can be rather cruel — catty, even.
• Rebecca goes into panic mode after mistakenly sending an embarrassing text on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14). How many sitcoms from the 1980s and '90s used an old analog telephone answering machine for the same gag? Technology changes. Comedy endures.
• The documentary "Homegrown: The Counter-Terror Dilemma" (9 p.m., HBO) looks at efforts to prevent acts of religious-inspired violence and investigate possible perpetrators. It also examines how such efforts may actually aid in radicalizing the disaffected.

TONIGHT'S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• An alien ensnares Kara in a tangle of fantasy on "Supergirl" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
• The gang bonds during an all-nighter on "Superstore" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
• A city official's murder seems literally inhuman on "The X-Files" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
• "Antiques Roadshow" (8 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) visits Little Rock, Arkansas.
• Prison seems to have improved Mimi's husband on "Telenovela" (8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
• Catastrophe looms after an earthquake ruptures a gas line on "Scorpion" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
• A quarterback needs to make a problem disappear on "Lucifer" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
• Maddie gets a wake-up call on "Recovery Road" (9 p.m., ABC Family, TV-14).
• Quentin wakes up in an asylum on "The Magicians" (9 p.m., Syfy, TV-14).

CULT CHOICE

A businessman (Karl Malden) becomes unhinged when his untouched teen bride (Carroll Baker) flirts with his rival (Eli Wallach) in "Baby Doll" (8 p.m., TCM), director Elia Kazan's adaptation of a peculiar dark comedy written by Tennessee Williams.

SERIES NOTES

A trip to the Bahamas on "The Bachelor" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14) * Tears on the treadmill on "The Biggest Loser" (9 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) * Jane finds the man of her dreams on "Jane the Virgin" (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) * Under cover of night on "NCIS: Los Angeles" (10 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) * Harmonies to die for on "Castle" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

LATE NIGHT

Gillian Jacobs is booked on "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" (11 p.m., Comedy Central) * Ray Romano, PewDiePie and Dulce Sloan appear on "Conan" (11 p.m., TBS) * Bill O'Reilly, Eddie George and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are booked on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (11:35 p.m., CBS) * Jimmy Fallon welcomes Ben Stiller, Morena Baccarin and Dan White on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC) * Rebel Wilson, Fred Savage and Parson James visit "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (12:35 a.m., NBC) * Charlie Puth appears on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS).

© 2016, United Feature Syndicate