What to Watch This Week: November 14 to 19

From pop music royalty to ’80s reboots, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Head of the Class – Crave (Stream)

This revival of the 1980s sitcom follows a new group of overachieving high school students under the tutelage of teacher Alicia Adams (Isabella Gomez, One Day at a Time). Robin Givens returns to reprise her role as ambitious and competitive former student Darlene Merriman, now a successful lawyer with a Stanford degree, who brings her type-A personality to her new gig as co-head of the Meadows Creek High Parents’ Association.

2. Adele One Night Only – Sunday, November 14, 8 p.m., Global & CBS

Hello, Adele. It’s us. Welcome back.The British songstress has been missing from our lives in recent years as she worked on new music and dealt with an array of personal ups and downs. But now, she’s finally on stage again, and we are here for it.

Filmed in late October, this much-buzzed event featured a celebrity-packed audience including the singer’s Canadian bestie Drake, as well as Lizzo, James Corden, Sarah Paulson, Gayle King and Ellen DeGeneres.

The 33-year-old chart-topper rocked the spotlight at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where she was introduced by none other than Oprah Winfrey. There, she belted out four tunes from her upcoming album, 30, including the smash “Easy On Me.”

Going far beyond the music, this two-hour special also features an intimate interview between Oprah and Adele, wherein the diva discusses, among other things, “the stories behind the songs, life after divorce, weight loss and raising her son.” All told, it should make for a rare portrait of a pop superstar baring her soul both on stage and on the couch of one of America’s top interviewers.

3. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman – Sunday, November 14, 9 p.m. & 11 p.m., History | Series Premiere

In this eight-episode series, Morgan Freeman guides viewers through history’s greatest escapes from some of the world’s most notorious prisons. Famous jailbreaks are the stuff of legend as their true stories are often untold, and this series separates fact from fiction.

4. The Flash – Tuesday, November 16, 8 p.m., The CW | Season Premiere

For a superhero who’s all about speed, Barry Allen sure has taken his sweet time getting back to our TV screens. Thankfully though, the wait is finally over. Like the aforementioned Riverdale, season eight of The Flash will get things started with a special five-part event, before the rest of the season arrives somewhere down the line (exact date TBD). Helping the Scarlet Speedster turn this into a true “event series,” expect appearances by other members of the Arrow-verse at large.

In the first episode, ominously titled “Armageddon,” Barry receives a mysterious message promising that his existence will end in just seven days’ time. Not only that, but everyone our hero knows and loves is in jeopardy as well. Could this new threat have to do with the incoming Big Bad, Despero (Tony Curran)—the mind-reading alien obsessed with planetary conquest? Given that Despero is a renowned Justice League antagonist, it seems quite likely, since the cryptic trailer for this season hints at Barry heading to the Hall of Justice to call on trusty allies like Atom, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Ryan Choi and Mia Smoke.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for more clues as to what might go down, some people are eyeing the 1991 “Armageddon 2001” storyline from the comic books. The main arc there involved a dark mystery in which one member in a group of superheroes turned on their friends in order to destroy them. And while it wasn’t a popular turn at the time (since the twist was rejigged at the last minute in order to deal with a leaked spoiler), it may fare better with viewers three decades later.

5. Riverdale – Tuesday, November 16, 9 p.m., The CW | Season Premiere

Expect big changes when Archie and friends return for season six this Tuesday—just a little over a month after the last season wrapped. For one, this chapter of the primetime soap is kicking off with a “five-episode event” before going on hiatus and then picking back up in a few months’ time.

Also, one of the show’s key players has left town… literally. Hiram Lodge, Veronica’s billionaire father and the conniving antagonist to many of our young heroes, was banished from Riverdale at gunpoint by Archie, Veronica et al.

And the biggest news of all: fans are finally getting that long-teased crossover with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as Kiernan Shipka reprises her role from the now-cancelled Netflix series. All signs point to the teen witch teaming up with someone whom we know to be out for blood. “It’s thrilling that this is finally happening, as part of our special event,” said showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to TVLine. “It’s also perfect that she shows up to help Cheryl Blossom during her hour of greatest need. Everyone on set lost their minds—I think fans will, too. It’s really fun and special.”

6. Tiger King 2 – Wednesday, November 17, Netflix | Season Premiere

After the unexpected success of the salacious docuseries in 2020, Tiger King 2 promises “newfound revelations” about imprisoned Joe Exotic, rival Carole Baskin and the cast of characters that made the original Tiger King the guiltiest of television pleasures.

7. The Sex Lives of College Girls – Thursday, November 18, 9 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Crave1 | Series Premiere

The latest comedy from series creator Mindy Kaling follows the exploits of four college roommates (Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renée Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott) as they arrive at New England’s prestigious Essex College. Hailing from different racial, socio-economic and educational backgrounds, the young women are a bundle of contradictions and hormones, equal parts lovable and infuriating as they embrace their new lives on campus.

8. Cowboy Bebop – Friday, November 19, Netflix – Series Premiere

The iconic anime series gets the live-action treatment this week, much to the joy of fans everywhere. Follow a ragtag crew of bounty hunters (led by Star Trek‘s John Cho) while they chase down the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy and save humanity from annihilation… for the right price, of course.

9. Hellbound – Friday, November 19, Netflix | Series Premiere

Hot off the unforeseen success of Squid Game comes another acclaimed TV thriller from South Korea, making its Netflix debut after racking up accolades at various international film festivals. Hellbound tells the story of supernatural beings who mysteriously appear out of nowhere to condemn individuals to hell. These otherworldly events result in mayhem overtaking society, while a shadowy religious group called The New Truth emerges from the chaos. The group’s leader, Jung Jinsu, becomes an influential force, claiming that only sinners are marked for condemnation and that these occurrences represent divine will to make humans righteous. A group of his followers with blind faith, the Arrowhead, take it upon themselves to punish those who go against this divine will, in the process transforming the world into a living hell. A few people, however, become suspicious about what this group is really up to, and begin investigating its involvement in these mysterious events and the true agenda of The New Truth.

10. Music Box – Friday, November 19, 10 p.m. & 2:55 a.m., HBO Canada

The second of HBO’s Music Box docs (following Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage), Jagged focuses on rocker Alanis Morissette, a Canadian-born child star and teen pop princess who transformed into the grand priestess of grunge thanks to the runaway success of her raw and raucous 1995 album Jagged Little Pill and its breakout single “You Oughta Know.” Featuring both backstage and performance footage, Jagged boasts interviews with the likes of producer-collaborator Glen Ballard, Maverick Records executive Guy Oseary, Garbage singer Shirley Manson and multiple members of Morissette’s touring band, led by future Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.