TV review: ‘The Bear’ dishes out more love to restaurants in Season Three

There’s a lot of roaring on “The Bear.” If you’re going to do a series about a high-end restaurant, it can’t be helped. Anyone who has spent time in a professional kitchen knows they can be as boisterous as a third grader’s birthday party.

But the dramedy, which cleaned up at the Emmys earlier this year, is at its finest when it turns down the volume and quietly observes chefs honing their craft. The first episode of Season Three, now streaming on Hulu, has very little dialogue. Instead, creator Christopher Storer focuses on Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) re-energizing himself after his mental breakdown by revisiting chefs who initially inspired him. Watching him meticulously shell peas is more fascinating than listening to him scream expletives at his staff.

Those who watch primarily for the verbal fireworks won’t get shafted; neither will viewers who tune in for the high-profile cameos. I don’t want to give away surprises but will say this year’s guest list includes two Oscar winners, an action star and an actor with Minnesota roots.

But it’s the foodies who crave a backstage pass at Michelin-star restaurants that will be the most richly rewarded. “The Bear” might not convince them to enroll in cooking school, but they’ll probably drop a fatter tip the next time they dine out.

Eva Longoria, in her juiciest role since “Desperate Housewives,” plays a mom who flees to Spain after mobsters threaten her family. The hit men are fairly inept — and not in an amusing way — but her affair with a vineyard owner goes down as smoothly as a well-aged Rioja. The flirting is mostly in Spanish, but the language of love knows no boundaries. Apple+

Teri Hatcher, Longoria’s “Desperate” co-star, has been relegated to low-budget cable movies, projects that rarely show off her gift for comedy. In the latest, she plays a Kansas stiff who splits her time between baking muffins and waiting for breathy calls from the killer in “Scream.” The story is based on a bizarre case that actually happened in the 1970s, but the true inspiration seems to be the women-in-peril formula that Lifetime just can’t quit. 7 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime

In this movie’s most amusing scene, a Special Forces commando (Jessica Alba) single-handedly destroys a gang of thugs using only items she yanks off shelves at a hardware store. Alba has churned out enough action movies that we accept moments like this without blinking an eye. What’s harder to believe is that an actor with her clout can’t find a more inventive script or a more worthy villain than Anthony Michael Hall, only slightly more menacing here than the detention supervisor in “The Breakfast Club.” Netflix

Donald Sutherland, who died last week, burst onto the scene playing eccentric characters in “M*A*S*H” and “Kelly’s Heroes.” But he could be straight-laced when the part called for it. In this 1971 thriller, he’s the stone-faced detective, ceding the spotlight to Jane Fonda, who won an Oscar for her role as a distressed hooker. Sutherland’s selfless approach might explain why he never received many awards, but it’s a big reason films like “Klute” still hold up. Tubi