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TV This Week

Exploring the dark underworld of illicit trade

Also called the black market and the focus of a new series on Viceland

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

July 5, 2016

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The new channel Viceland, the cable offshoot of Vice, the media organization targeting young men on various platforms, aims to be hip and cool and edgy.

That comes across in the new show “Black Market,” a docu-series that debuts tonight at 10 p.m. The subject is illicit trade, and it’s hosted by Mike K. Williams, best known for playing a hip and cool and edgy drug dealer on “The Wire.”

The first episode of the program focuses on carjacking and the vehicles’ subsequent resales in Newark, where the criminal pattern has become an epidemic.

What’s interesting about “Market” is that it seems to offer sympathy to the criminals. At one point during tonight’s episode, the men perpetrating the carjackings are interviewed, and they imply that they’ve been driven to this means of survival because they’re not being given legitimate jobs.

It’s the fault of the people they’re carjacking, they appear to be saying. It’s certainly a bold thesis.

The show will explore other black market situations each week, such as the illicit trade of abalone in South Africa.

Whether it draws decent ratings is almost a secondary concern right now, as Viceland tries to establish its identity and gain the attention of potential viewers with bold programs such as “Market.” The network is currently in 70 million homes, which it inherited from H2, the network it replaced in late February.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, JULY 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 a.m.	Hulu	“The Mindy Project” (C)	“Mindy” ends her fourth season with an episode titled “Homewrecker.” And no, Ty Pennington is not a guest star.
7 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“Crashletes” (K)	Series premiere. New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski co-hosts this look at sports-related viral videos. Think of it as a G-rated (for “Gronk”) version of “Tosh.0”
9 p.m.	ABC	“Uncle Buck” (C)	How well these back-to-back season finale episodes perform could determine whether Buck is coming back next year or ABC executives cry “Uncle!”
10 p.m.	History	“Counting Cars” (R)	Season premiere. Danny must turn a famous DJ’s 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago into the ultimate manly car.
10 p.m.	Viceland	“Black Market” (N)	Series premiere. Actor Michael K. Williams (HBO’s “The Wire,” “12 Years a Slave”) hosts this series looking at illicit trade. First subject: Newark’s reputation as a car-stealing town.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Maya & Marty” (C)	The parade of guest stars for NBC’s latest variety series continues to impress. This week: Will Forte, Amy Poehler and Jerry Seinfeld drop by.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	“America’s Got Talent” (T)	NBC doubles up on “AGT” as it premieres a second night of auditions on Wednesday night.
8 p.m.	PBS	“SuperNature - Wild Flyers” (N)	Second of three episodes in PBS’s nature series exploring animals and mankind’s ability to master the ability to fly.
9 p.m.	A&E	“Duck Dynasty” (R)	For the show’s 10^th-season premiere, the Robertson clan throws Willie and Korie a 25^th-anniversary party.
10 p.m.	Discovery	“American Tarzan” (R)	Series premiere. Seven physically fit competitors take on a naturally made obstacle course on a Caribbean Island.
10 p.m.	Sundance	“Cleverman” (D)	Season finale. As the Containment Authority closes in, Koen must embrace his Cleverman persona and take a stand.
10 p.m.	USA	“Royal Pains” (D)	Series finale. Boris asks Hank to join him in leaving the Hamptons forever while Evan and Paige consider their own life-altering decision.
THURSDAY, JULY 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 a.m. (check local listings)	Syndication	“Live with Kelly” (T)	The cover model for this year’s ESPN The Magazine Body Issue, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, sits alongside Kelly Ripa as designated co-host. An audition for bigger/better things to come?
8 p.m.	Reelz	“Princess Diana: Case Closed” (N)	This retrospective about the events surrounding the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997 kicks off an evening of Diana-related programming.
8 p.m.	USA	“WWE SmackDown!” (T)	On a slow summer night, USA’s perennial magnet for young male viewers should suplex the competition.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Greatest Hits: 1995-2000” (T)	Hanson goes acoustic, John Legend performs and artists team up (Coolio/CeeLo Green, Jewel/Tori Kelly, LL Cool J/Wiz Khalifa, etc.).
10 p.m.	WE	“Match Made In Heaven” (R)	Stevie pulls a ring at the end of this second-season finale. Which of the three finalists in this reality dating show gets to wear it?
10 p.m.	Food Network	“Beat Bobby Flay” (R)	A prominent L.A. chef and a lifelong vegetarian chef take a shot at dressing Bobby down. New time slot for Food Network’s veteran series.
FRIDAY, JULY 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	“U.S. Olympic Trials” (S)	Three hours of live competition in track and field and women’s gymnastics continues to build anticipation for the upcoming Rio Olympics.
8 p.m.	Unimas	“Futbol MLS” (S)	It’s no Copa America Centenario, but a double-header in primetime between competitive MLS soccer teams should boost UniMas’ ratings on a slow night.
9 p.m.	History	“Ancient Aliens” (N)	The theory of an intergalactic council of nine celestial beings guiding humanity through their advice to ancient pharaohs, kings and emperors is discussed by experts.
10 p.m.	TLC	“Killer Women” (N)	Series premiere. Piers Morgan travels to American locales to interview notorious female criminals, their families and survivors of their crime sprees. First up: Erin Caffey, from Gatesville, Texas.
10 p.m.	Lifetime Movie Network	“Blue: A Secret Life” (M)	This short-form web series, starring Julia Stiles as a single mother hiding her escort side job from everyone she loves, is presented in its entirety as a two-hour movie. Eric Stoltz, Kathleen Quinlan and Jeanne Tripplehorn co-star.
11 p.m.	VH1	“The Amber Rose Show” (T)	Series premiere. Half-hour talk show hosted by model and outspoken personality Amber Rose. Expect, in Amber’s own words, “half Conan O’Brien, half a female version of Howard Stern.”
SATURDAY, JULY 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 a.m.	ESPN	“2016 Wimbledon Championship” (S)	The women’s final match, live from the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in (where else?) Wimbledon, England.
7 p.m.	Fox	“MLB Baseball Night in America” (S)	It’s either Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres taking a short drive over to the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Mets welcoming the Washington Nationals for this evening’s game of the week on Fox.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	“Hidden Truth” (M)	A woman tries to prove her brother wasn’t responsible for the death of a teenager, and in the process learns the true mettle of the people in the town where they live.
9 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“Legendary Dudas” (K)	Series premiere. On his first day in middle school, Sam discovers he’s moving up a grade and into his older brother’s homeroom.
9 p.m.	Starz	“Outlander” (D)	Season finale. Claire comes clean with daughter Brianna in the present while Jamie, still in the 18th century, gets sucked into the Battle of Culloden.
9 p.m.	OWN	“Flex & Shanice” (R)	Season premiere. Flex surprises Elijah with special VIP tickets; Crystal feels the urge to resurrect her old R&B group, Crystal Penny.
10 p.m.	AMC	“The American West” (D)	Billy the Kid shooting, Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse debating and Wyatt Earp’s zeal for the law are profiled (and re-enacted) in this installment of the Robert Redford-produced series.
SUNDAY, JULY 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 a.m.	ESPN	“2016 Wimbledon Championship” (S)	The men’s final match. Repeats at 3 p.m. on ABC.
3 p.m.	Fox	“U.S. Women’s Open” (S)	Four hours of final-round golf coverage, live from CordeValle in San Martin, CA.
6 p.m.	Univision	“Futbol Mexicano” (S)	Back-to-back championship matches for Liga MX’s Supercopa (Guadalajara vs. Veracruz) and Champion of Champions titles (Tigres vs. Pachuca) should make Univision competitive in primetime.
8 p.m.	Bravo	“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” (R)	During the show’s seventh-season premiere, Teresa returns from a stint in prison in time to celebrate the holidays while Melissa breaks ground on her new boutique, Envy.
9 p.m.	History	“D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?” (N)	Premiere of a four-hour documentary, airing over two consecutive nights, that purports to have new clues to the whereabouts and identity of the mysterious hijacker who disappeared in 1971 with a $200,000 heist loot.
9 p.m.	NatGeo	“Original Sin: Sex” (N)	Series premiere of new docu-drama exploring how technology has revolutionized the way people experience sex and/or relate to one another sexually. Because sex sells the more you mention sex, right? So yep, s-e-x … sex!
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.