Klepper Takes Another Angle at Political Comedy

The Comedy Central news-parody series The Opposition with Jordan Klepper premiered almost a year after Donald Trump was elected President. By then, the Trump phenomenon had already marked a milestone in televised political comedy, having radicalized shows like Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and even Jimmy Kimmel Live. It gave sharper focus to Late Night with Seth Meyers, sparked a political fervor on Saturday Night Live, and left more than a few good-time late night hosts (Jimmy Fallon, James Corden) found wanting. Comedians and writers like Larry Wilmore, Michelle Wolf, and Hasan Minhaj were suddenly front and center of a resistance movement.

The Opposition was a solid part of that wave. Just as Trevor Noah was brought in to take the handoff on The Daily Show, Klepper played a Colbert Report-esque exaggerated right-wing idealogue, giving an absurdist's read on the … well, the opposition. Here in Spring 2019, only a year and a half removed from The Opposition's premiere, most on those front lines seem to be looking for a second wind. And so Jordan Klepper returns to Comedy Central with a show that will send him out into the vastness of America, rolling up his sleeves and reporting from the front lines.  As evidenced from his recent sit-down with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Klepper's got a strong comedic mind and social awareness, so there's much cause for optimism.

SERIES PREMIERE: The premiere episode of Comedy Central's political-comedy-road-trip series Klepper promises a series that is leaving the Daily Show white-guy-behind-a-desk model well behind. Get ready for a while guy who's on the front lines with Americans trying to effect change in Trump's America, from Louisiana to New Mexico to Georgia and more.  10:30 PM ET on Comedy Central

SEASON FINALE: The sixth season of CBS's gem of a sitcom Mom wraps up with Christy (Ana Faris) unable to truly celebrate her sober birthday because her sponsor (guest star Yvette Nicole Brown) is moving away. It doesn't help that Christy also feels left out of Bonnie (Allison Janney) and Adam's (William Fichtner) surprise wedding. 9:00 PM ET on FOX

SERIES REVIVAL: For as long as television sendures as a medium, we are going to keep trying to make some version of Paradise Hotel happen. And no wonder, it's a solid premise: take a bunch of sexy singles, have them pair off periodically, and the odd one out gets sent home, replaced by another sexy single. The first American version aired on Fox in 2003, close enough to the initial post-Survivor reality boom that blockbuster success seemed possible. It never became The Bachelor, but it was a ton of trashy fun, especially once factions formed. The 2008 revival on Fox Reality never quite caught on, and so here we are, a decade later with a new revamped version and Kristin Cavillari as host. Bring it on. 8:00 PM ET on FOX

NEW EPISODE: Tonight's all new episode of The Twilight Zone boasts a great cast, including Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), and Ike Barinholz (Blockers), in an episode titled "Not All Men" that sounds ripe with opportunities to comment on the gender dynamic. But, you know, in a spooky way. Streaming on CBS All Access

ALSO TONIGHT

• RuPaul's Drag Race does their annual makeover challenge, only this time it's with the previously-eliminated queens. 9:00 PM ET on VH1
• Superstore airs back-to-back episodes, including a storyline with Amy (America Ferrera) and Jonah (Ben Feldman) trying to capitalize on a viral moment. 8:00 PM ET on NBC
• Grey's Anatomy sees Jo (Camilla Luddington) finally unloads her anxieties about her mother onto Meredith (Ellen Pompeo). 8:00 PM ET on ABC
• Law & Order: SVU welcomes a special guest start this week: Titus Welliver, star of our favorite comfort food TV series, Bosch. 10:00 PM ET on NBC

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.