What’s 0n TVInsecure 10:30 p.m. on
HBO. “Insecure” arrived in 2016 to almost immediate critical acclaim. The show, based on
Issa Rae’s web series, “
Awkward Black Girl,” follows two best friends, Issa (Ms. Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji), as they navigate work, love, sex and commitment. In his review for The New York Times, Mike Hale wrote that the show benefited from “Ms. Rae’s ear for dialogue of a kind of crystalline, pitch-perfect profanity.” In Season 3, Issa’s long-term relationship with Lawrence (Jay Ellis) has ended, and she is exploring life on her own. In this episode things shift in the women’s professional lives: Issa is inspired at a job fair and Molly starts her new job at a black-owned law firm.
WHO IS AMERICA? 10 p.m. on Showtime. In the vein of past gimmicks, Sacha Baron Cohen adopts different personas in this seven-episode series and dupes unsuspecting politicians, public figures and others. Some of Mr. Cohen’s subjects are considering litigation because he has captured them in a very unflattering light. They are unlikely to be successful, though, as Mr. Cohen usually has prospective subjects sign releases. Little information is available about who will be next in this season finale. Mr. Cohen’s previous work includes “Da Ali G Show,” and the film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”
What’s Streaming
ANNA KARENINA (2012) on Netflix. In this adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) embarks upon her famous and doomed affair, and the story’s other heroine, Kitty (Alicia Vikander), comes of age, experiences her first heartbreak and emerges with a more refined sense of what she wants and needs. Directed by Joe Wright, the film does not hew too closely to the novel itself, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A.O. Scott, who named the movie a Critic’s Pick, wrote in his review that the film succeeds because “it is risky and ambitious enough to count as an act of artistic hubris, and confident enough to triumph on its own slightly — wonderfully — crazy terms.” Jude Law earned plaudits for his performance as Anna’s dry, staid husband. Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley from Harry Potter) also does well as Kitty’s suitor, Levin.
THE IMITATION GAME (2014) on Netflix. This biopic of Alan Turing, directed by Morten Tyldum, follows Turing’s efforts to crack the Nazi code enigma. Turing, a brilliant mathematician, struggles with people, which at times hampers his efforts. A.O. Scott lauded Benedict Cumberbatch’s work as Turing, writing of “his curious ability to suggest cold detachment and acute sensitivity at the same time.” The film was nominated for several Academy Awards and the writer Graham Moore won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode also star.