Your weekly guide to TV’s best and worst one-hour shows.
Mama checks in with three dramas that prove great TV can hide amid the usual late-summer mediocrity. The good news is you still have time to catch up:
“The White Queen” (Saturday, 9 p.m., Starz)
When this 10-episode series premiered, Mama feared for the worst as it took us day by day through the courtship of Elizabeth (Rebecca Ferguson) and King Edward (Max Irons). But like kids who suddenly realize they have to write a 500-word book report and they spent half of their word count on the introductions, the series sped through episode two’s action at lightning speed: Elizabeth’s coronation, the birth of a baby girl and the overthrow of Edward left the regal Elizabeth with barely enough time to adjust her crown before she was fighting for it. The speed fits them well, as spending too much time on political machinations is typically what drags down these period dramas. Not this one: Jump on board now if you want to enjoy a quick history lesson.
“The Bridge”(Wednesday, 10 p.m., FX)
Spoiler alert if you didn’t watch last night’s episode: The team kinda, sorta got their man — except in the new normal for detective dramas, he’s working for someone else — but not before he shot Sonya (Diane Kruger) right in the bullet-proof vest she was obviously wearing. Now that the show has backed off of relying on Sonya’s Asperger syndrome and learned how to make her simply weird, she fits in much better with this interesting group of characters, who don’t need a disease to make each of them a little unwell.
“Broadchurch”(Wednesday, 10 p.m., BBC America)
Last week’s boat fire was just the latest disruption to this English community, whose small-town ethics — and gossiping — has made the murder of a young boy that much more of an intimate experience for us as viewers. Even if everyone is a suspect, it feels icky to suspect our neighbors, although outsider Hardy (David Tennant) hasn’t made it easy on them.
“American Horror Story: Asylum”(Friday, 10 p.m., FX)
Here’s your chance to catch up with this creeptastic horror series. The first half airs Friday, starting at 10 p.m., with the back half of the season starting Saturday at 11 p.m. — the perfect time to scare yourself silly. If there isn’t enough room on your DVR , at least record episode 10 so you can enjoy the fantastic Jessica Lange perform Sister Jude’s hallucination-induced “The Name Game.”