TV picks for March 19: 'Mental Samurai,' 'The Trial of Ratko Mladic,' 'The Village'

March 18, 2019 at 5:52PM
MENTAL SAMURAI: Rob Lowe. MENTAL SAMURAI debuts Tuesday, March 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). ©2019 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Ray Mickshaw/FOX
Rob Lowe hosts the new competition show “Mental Samurai.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Going mental

"Mental Samurai" initially seems like such an elementary game show that it needs to strap contestants into an amusement-park ride to draw viewers in. But host Rob Lowe's breezy manner and picture rounds are simply playing mind games with you. The questions turn out to be more compelling than you might imagine; same goes for the series.

8 p.m. KMSP, Ch. 9

Law & Order: Bosnia

"The Trial of Ratko Mladic" takes you behind the scenes in The Hague as the "Butcher of Bosnia" faced accusations of genocide and other war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. You don't have to be a fervent follower of international news to get engrossed in this courtroom drama — it's all too real and all too harrowing.

8 p.m. TPT, Ch. 2

Welcome mat

The quest to find the next "This Is Us" continues with "The Village," in which the friendliest apartment complex in New York City provides comfort to a police officer, a pregnant teenager, a disabled war veteran, an illegal immigrant and a bunch of other folks the characters from "Friends" never seemed to run across. Despite its open arms, the series is not nearly as inviting as the megahit it aspires to be.

9 p.m. KARE, Ch. 11

Neal Justin

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