TV Talk: ‘The Old Man’ returns, ‘Universal Basic Guys’ premieres

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming week.

PASADENA, Calif. — It’s been more than two years since the end of season one of “The Old Man” but the FX series returns at 10 p.m. Sept. 12 (next day on Hulu) with back-to-back episodes that give the show’s stars something they wanted more of in season one.

During FX’s portion of the Television Critics Association summer 2024 press tour in July, John Lithgow acknowledged frustration during the first season that he didn’t share enough scenes with star Jeff Bridges.

“I so (wanted) to work with Jeff, and there is an abundance of it in the second season, and we just had a fantastic time,” Lithgow said.

In season two, former CIA agent Dan Chase (Bridges) and former FBI assistant director Harold Harper (Lithgow) team up to save Dan’s daughter, Emily (Alia Shawkat), who’s been kidnapped by an Afghan tribal leader.

“As much as you guys wanted to work together, we wanted to see you together,” added executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg. “There’s a promise in the first season that it’s coming. In a way, it’s driving the show in the sense of what’s going to happen when these two guys are together. And it turns out it’s pretty great. It’s such a treat to be able to write scenes for these two and to know that they can do anything, the full spectrum, and know that it’s going to be just something you’re going to be proud of forever.”

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‘Universal Basic Guys’

Fox’s latest new Sunday night animated comedy, “Universal Basic Guys” (8 p.m. Sept. 8, WPGH-TV), begins with a premise that through its first two episodes goes totally unexplored.

The opening credits tell viewers South Jersey brothers Mark (voice of Devin Halliwell) and Hank (Adam Malamut) Hoagies lost their hot dog factory jobs to automation and now receive $3,000 per month in a new basic income program. But the first two episodes had nothing to do with that premise, so my assumption is creators/brothers Adam and Craig Malamut (“Game of Zones”) just wanted an excuse to refer to the characters as “basic,” which fits.

Mark is a blowhard know-it-all who’s often wrong; Hank is the sweeter and dimmer brother.

The first episode, well-timed after HBO’s “Chimp Crazy,” features Mark trying to one-up a birthday gift his wife received from her boss. Hank buys her a sick, elderly monkey that tears off his face, one of several shock-humor moments.

“It’s all about attitude,” a faceless Hank tells his wife. “You see two holes in my face; I see two mouths.”

Fans of Fox’s existing male-­skewing animated comedy lineup will likely welcome “UBG,” which offers a similar comedic point of view: dumb dudes doing dumb things designed to make viewers laugh.