Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Stars: Matt Oberg, Natasha Leggero, Kurt Metzger and Randy Pearlstein

The Big Idea: Ugly Americans is back with an entertaining hat tip to cult classic flick Wet Hot American Summer (just in time for Summer‘s ten year anniversary). Here, the earnest, clueless Mark Lilly becomes a pawn in a chess game he’s unaware is in play, courtesy of his half-demon succubus supervisor/booty call Callie Maggotbone, her father (The Devil) and his plans for world domination, and the terminal sloth of coworker/wizard Leonard Powers.

Leonard is retiring, and has joined with his fellow wizards and their replacements at the “Magic Mountain” fortress for the succession ceremony. The Devil senses an opportunity for demons to strike hard at their mortal wizard enemies, providing they can get inside the mountain.  Their way in is Mark, who is initially resistant at a trip to see Leonard, until it’s bundled with an offer to be head counselor at the non-existent Camp Friendship.

Cue 1980s-style road trip – van, assembled losers (Lt. Grimes, Koala Man, Fish Man, Eric the Robot) and some deft comedy jabs. Sex obsessed zombie Randall is in the driver’s seat, figuratively and literally, because, as he says, “If ’80s cinema has taught us anything, it’s that summer camp counselors are horny teen girls up for anything.” The pace of the premiere quickens significantly here, with homage paid to the quintessential ’80s teen movie scene and Wet Hot American Summer‘s battle versus a rival camp, and then comes to a satisfying conclusion with Leonard earning the “eggnancy” wages of sloth.

To Watch or Not to Watch: A parody of a parody of a self-parodying genre is ambitious, and. it turns out here, too much fun to miss.

TV Screener Tidbit: Funny guys John Mulaney and Nick Kroll helped shepherd Ugly Americans through its hilarious first season … as producers, not writers or voice artists.

Ugly Americans, season two, premieres Thursday, June 30, at 10:30PM ET on Comedy Central

— JE Maher

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(ALL TIMES ET)

9PM | E!
50 Super Epic TV Moments – A two-hour countdown of the 50 most outrageous TV moments since 2005 (Why 2005? Seems so random) includes the infamous smoking baby in Indonesia, Sandra Bullock‘s liplock with Scarlett Johansson at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and this year’s William & Kate royal wedding. Among the talking heads who chat about the “shocking” moments: NeNe Leakes and Jerry Springer.

9PM | USA
Burn Notice – Michael helps a woman who’s trying to locate her cousin, a victim of a human trafficking ring, but it becomes personal for him when Maddie gets involved in the case.

10PM | FOOD NETWORK – SERIES PREMIERE
Extreme Chef – A juiced up version of Dinner: Impossible finds groups of chefs competing in ever more challenging cooking contests each week. First up, the cheftestants are dropped off in a California neighborhood and tasked with whipping up dinner using unmarked canned goods. Their only resource for cooking gear: knocking on residents’ doors.

10PM | COMEDY CENTRAL
Futurama – Bender, dead?! Sorta.

10PM | BRAVO
Real Housewives of New York City – Jill and Kelly wig out about what they claim is strange behavior by Simon, and, of course, go running to Alex about their issues.

10PM | FX
Wilfred – Jenna needs to get Wilfred to the doggie doc, so, to get on her good side, Ryan volunteers to take him. But that requires tricking Wilfred, whose trust is not so easily re-earned.

10:30PM | FX
Louie – On the way to a “non-date,” Louie has an upsetting experience. But hey, it provides a good conversation starter.

10:30PM | COMEDY CENTRAL – 2ND SEASON PREMIERE
Ugly Americans – In an episode cleverly-titled “Wet Hot Demonic Summer,” Mark oversees the opening of a summer camp.

11:59PM | ADULT SWIM
Children’s Hospital – Dr. Von Sydow has a little mix-up in the maternity ward, and the hospital gets a new (pediatric) plastic surgeon.

Worth flipping to during commercials:
– Two of the final 16 are eliminated on tonight’s So You Think You Can Dance (8PM, Fox);
– The Mood Swing is in full swing on Wipeout (8PM, ABC);
– The 4th season of Wicked Attraction premieres on ID (9PM);
– On True Life (10PM, MTV), heartbroken people try to reunite with their first loves.

And the late-night line-up:
– Conan (11PM, TBS): Tom Hanks;
– The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (11PM, Comedy Central): Bill Kristol;
– The Colbert Report (11:30PM, Comedy Central): Timothy Garton Ash;
– The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS): Julia Roberts;
– The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35PM, NBC): Kirstie Alley (REPEAT);
– Lopez Tonight (Midnight, TBS): Patrick Dempsey and David Cook;
– Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05AM, ABC): Shia LaBeouf;
– Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35AM, NBC): Glenn Close (REPEAT);
– The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:37AM, CBS): Henry Winkler;
– Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35AM, NBC): Florence & the Machine.

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• Filed in Burn Notice, Cartoons, Late Night, Real Housewives
• Tags: 50 Super Epic TV Moments E! special, Burn Notice, Childrens Hospital, Extreme Chef premiere, Futurama, Louie, Real Housewives of New York City, Ugly Americans season 2, Wilfred