PASADENA, Calif. — History’s “Sons of Liberty” (9-11 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) plays like a contemporary action movie, complete with modern profanity, a rooftop chase and scruffy sexy Sam Adams (Ben Barnes, “The Chronicles of Narnia”) as its swashbuckling hero.
Viewers looking for talking heads or historical accuracy need not tune in.
In its first episode, “Sons of Liberty” is entertaining enough as it depicts the fomenting American Revolution that is to come.
For a production featuring powdered wigs, “Sons of Liberty” does a particularly good job of introducing its large cast of characters and making them distinct.
In Sunday’s first episode, tax collector Sam Adams inadvertently instigates a mob that loots the governor’s mansion with one colonist urinating on a painting of the King of England. Sam’s cousin, John Adams (Henry Thomas, “E.T.”), says he should turn himself in, but John Hancock (Rafe Spall) intervenes.
Monday’s episode includes the British Tea Party, leading the Brits to send a ruthless general (Marton Csokas) whose wife was born in New Jersey. George Washington (Jason O’Mara, “Dinotopia”) arrives in the miniseries in time for night three’s battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill.
“Sons of Liberty” seems to get the broader strokes of history correct, but viewers who see the devil in the details will howl with laughter.
In the first night alone there are at least two uses of the profanity for “bull hockey,” a term etymology sources suggest dates to 1915, 150 years after the events depicted in “Sons of Liberty.” So consider this an action film that liberates the American Revolution from the shackles of history.
‘Galavant’ calls it a season
It has been a short season for ABC's musical comedy "Galavant" (8 and 8:30 p.m. Sunday, WTAE), which is what happens when a network orders just eight episodes and plays two a week. The series will wrap its first season on Sunday Jan. 25 and while ratings have not been spectacular, they have been better than what ABC aired in the time slot a year ago. And the show has some buzz, too.
Last week Rutger Hauer began a three-episode arc as King Richard’s evil brother.
Timothy Omundson, who plays King Richard, teased that fans can expect the unexpected.
“Episodes seven and eight are so silly but also some of the most emotional stuff I’ve ever done,” he said. “Go figure, it’s not just falling down and fart jokes. The relationships turn out to be most important. It certainly surprised me.”
British actor Joshua Sasse, who stars as the dashing title character, promises viewers will be left wanting more.
“Let’s say it’s a cliffhanger. Let’s say the pairings that come out are different,” he said. “There’s another journey coming up.”
Mr. Sasse said he was recently in New York and he had people singing “Galavant” at him from across the street.
Series creator and showrunner Dan Fogelman says there will be a fight to the death, but it sounds like there’s not too much to worry about.
“One of our [characters] will die,” he says. “It will be our hero, who the show is named after; the scene-stealing king; or the movie star who signed on for a three-episode arc."
Farewell, ‘Parks’
NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” returned Jan. 13 and will continue airing back-to-back episodes 8 p.m. Tuesday until it concludes its run Feb. 24. It’s a bittersweet end because “Parks” is the last remaining series from NBC’s now-dismantled Thursday night comedy lineup.
The show launched in 2009 and never found a huge audience, but it did find a small-but-loyal, dedicated fan base for its smart humor.
The show’s ending wasn’t plotted until last May’s time jump that now has the show set in 2017, although in season two the show’s writers thought it could end with dim-witted Andy (Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”) becoming mayor.
“There’s certain things that happen this season that will be a lot more enjoyable for people who have been watching closely,” said executive producer Mike Schur. “But it’s important to keep those things in the margins a little and make those a little hidden rather than more to the center of the show. The goal is always to make a good, funny half-hour of television that is relatable.”
Star Amy Poehler said some peripheral Pawnee characters will get farewells — or meet the Grim Reaper — during the final run of episodes. But for the finale, Mr. Schur said, “Everyone is there at the end. I haven’t edited the episode, but the last moment of the show is everybody in the same place at the same time.”
‘Naked Speed’ on Velocity
Pittsburgher Mike Seate’s Velocity cable network series “Cafe Racer” returns for its fifth season at 10 p.m. Wednesday [1-28] with a new title, “Naked Speed.”
The new season features six one-hour shows and includes guests Lance Armstrong and Olympic bobsledder Kallie Humphries.
Mr. Seate will co-host the show this year with Bryan Fuller, who previously hosted “Two Guys Garage” on the Speed Channel.
Channel surfing
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer hosts the holocaust documentary “Voices of Auschwitz” (9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, CNN) * on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp. … “Brady Bunch” star Barry Williams stars in Great American Country’s latest celeb-reality show, “A Very Barry Branson” (9 p.m. Feb. 5). … Next week Fox Business Network debuts “Strange Inheritance” (9 p.m. Monday), about unusual circumstances of inheritance, and the Feb. 3 episode features Pittsburgher Pascal Brooks, who at age 8 inherited his father’s winery.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Shark Tank,” “Longmire” and WEPA. This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “The Comedians,” “Empire,” “Wayward Pines,” “Poldark” on “Masterpiece” and more. Read online-only TV content at post-gazette.com/tv.
This week’s podcast includes conversation about new midseason programming on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW from the TV critics winter press tour. Subscribe or listen at http://old.post-gazette.com/podcast.
* CNN changed the date from Jan. 27 to Jan. 28 after publication.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.
First Published: January 23, 2015, 5:00 a.m.