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Primetime Picks… 1/20/20

Jan 20, 2020 Posted by in Features | Comments

Tonight National Geographic Channel is rebooting its popular science TV series Brain Games, with a new format, new host, and lots of celebrity guests. I really enjoyed the first iteration of this series—each week, the series took a look at some aspect of how the human brain thinks and works. Viewers were presented with logic puzzles, social dilemmas, magical sleight of hand demonstrations and more to test their knowledge and unknown biases/assumptions, and to teach us a little about how our minds work. The show was a lot of fun, and I’m glad to see that it’s coming back. For this latest season, funnyman Keegan-Michael Key takes over as host, and each episode will feature celebrity guests, who will participate in all new demonstrations of the amazing way in which our minds work.

Last month NatGeo aired a 10 minute preview of tonight’s premiere, and it made me even more excited to see this new version of the show. The series feels quite different, with the host and guests appearing before an audience—before the show was a little more intimate, with animated demonstrations, and regular folks being approached on the street to partake in a lesson. However, Keegan-Michael Key makes a really fun host, and the lineup of special guests looks fantastic—guests this season include Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Rebel Wilson, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Megan Trainor, Ted Danson, Tiffany Haddish, Mark Cuban, and Drew Brees. Tonight, Kristen Bell (The Good Place) and husband Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) show up, and the result is hilarious—one of the things they experience on tonight’s episode is amazing. I can’t wait to see the rest of tonight’s premiere, and what else is in store this season.

In tonight’s premiere, “Male Brain vs. Female Brain”, actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard face off in a series of Battle of the Sexes games designed to illustrate the differences between female and male brains.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording The Good Doctor, All Rise, Manifest, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Prodigal Son, Spy Games, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, Carter, and The New Pope.