What to Watch This Week: March 11 to 16

From a talent show’s return to a furry friend’s reboot, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Bob’s Burgers – Sunday, March 11, 7:30 p.m., City & Fox

A new game has taken the playground of Wagstaff School? by storm, roping in students of? all stripes and totally reshaping the popularity landscape in the process; Gene is less than pleased. Meanwhile, his mom Linda brings her A-game when she fills in as the library’s storyteller.

2. Canadian Screen Awards – Sunday, March 11, 8 p.m., CBC

The Beaverton anchor Emma Hunter and Murdoch Mysteries‘ Jonny Harris co-host the latest edition of this gala celebrating ?the tops in Canadian-made film, TV and digital media. Nominees include such acclaimed offerings as Alias Grace, Mary Kills People and Schitt’s Creek. Meanwhile, newsman Peter Mansbridge and author Margaret Atwood are set to receive special honours.

3. American Idol – Sunday, March 11, 8 p.m., CTV2 & ABC | Season Premiere

American Idol was arguably the most important show of the 2000s, dominating ratings for years and launching countless copycats. That kind of legacy places a lot of pressure on this new iteration to deliver similar success to the network that won a heated bidding war to bring it back.

The new Idol will also arrive with a hefty pricetag given the rumoured salaries of ?the stars involved (Katy Perry is said to be raking in $25 million for the season, while Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie are reportedly earning $7 mil apiece; returning host Ryan Seacrest is rumoured to be taking home $15 million). But will these highly paid stars be enough to attract viewers to a format that, frankly, seemed pretty tired and played out by the time the original Idol went off the air in 2015?

That’s a question that will be answered when the ratings are tallied, which will prove that reviving Idol was either a brilliant gamble or an expensive boondoggle.

4. Timeless – Sunday, March 11, 10 p.m., Global & NBC | Season Premiere

Lucy, Rufus and Wyatt are back for a second season of time-jumping adventures. In this week’s premiere, the crew lands in the middle of the First World War, where we’ll meet the latest recurring character, Nicholas Keynes (Michael Rady), an injured soldier who isn’t quite as helpless as he initially seems.

5. The Fosters – Tuesday, March 13, 8 p.m. & 11 p.m., ABC Spark | Series Finale

The acclaimed drama wraps its run, as Lena, Stef and their eclectic array of kids bid farewell… well, kinda. While this week marks the end of the series proper, U.S. network Freeform has ordered a three-episode event series to air this summer, setting the stage for an eventual spinoff centred around foster siblings Mariana and Callie starting a new life in L.A.

6. For the People – Tuesday, March 13, 10 p.m., CTV & ABC | Series Premiere

Television mega-producer Shonda Rhimes has told tales about the law through her breakout hit How to Get Away With Murder, but now she’s coming at them from a different angle.

Here Rhimes, along with series creator, executive producer and former litigator Paul William Davies, follows young lawyers on opposing sides of federal cases. Public defenders (played by Britt Robertson, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Wesam Keesh) and prosecutors (Ben Rappaport, Regé-Jean Page, Susannah Flood) clash regularly in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York… also known as “The Mother Court.” Beyond battling in court, these attorneys also, as you might expect? from the producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, have deeply complicated personal and romantic lives, which are further complicated by liaisons with their courtroom competitors.

7. Rise – Tuesday, March 13, 10:01 p.m., Global & NBC | Series Premiere

From producers of Parenthood and Hamilton comes a drama that combines broad strokes of Glee with Friday Night Lights. In the blue collar town of Stanton, Pennsylvania, English teacher Lou Mazzuchelli (How I Met Your Mother‘s Josh Radnor) decides to take over the high school drama department, breathing new life into the program and its participants by putting on the stirring musical Spring Awakening. Aside from Mazzuchelli and his assistant director Tracey Wolfe, played by Rosie Perez, the series focuses on Lilette Suarez (Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Disney’s Moana), a teenage girl who has feelings for football star-turned-musical lead Robbie Thorne (newcomer Damon J. Gillespie). As the teenagers in Spring Awakening struggle with their sexuality and coming of age, so do the characters on Rise.

8. How to Get Away With Murder – Thursday, March 15, 10 p.m., CTV & ABC | Season Finale

Annalise Keating has gotten herself into some sticky situations over the years, but this season of the unpredictable legal drama has taken the cake, what with baby kidnappings, more shocking deaths and an appearance by the incomparable Olivia Pope. It all comes to head in tonight’s fourth-season finale.

9. Benji – Friday, March 16, Netflix

One of cinema’s most iconic four-legged heroes gets a Netflix-funded reboot. Like the 1974 original, this New Orleans-set family film centres on two mischievous kids who make friends with a scruffy li’l street dog. When those kids find themselves kidnapped by robbers, it’s Benji to the rescue!

10. Take Your Pills – Friday, March 16, Netflix

Take Your Pills explores the way prescription stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse have gradually infiltrated various facets? of American life to a disconcerting degree, as myriad people (many of whom don’t actually suffer from a legitimate ailment) rely upon the resulting increase in dopamine and adrenaline levels to enhance their daily experience and performance. In turn, these stimulants have become a $13 billion industry in America, and director Alison Klayman explores what that means for the nation’s future.