Yet another super short week so let's get to it already:
Wednesday - August 25
Netflix / Clickbait (limited series). Adrian Grenier (The Devil Wears Prada) and Zoë Kazan (What If) star in this thriller about a man who gets kidnapped and held for ransom online. Or does he? Maybe Vincent Chase is just making a sequel to Medellín. Yes, I used a photo from Entourage. No, reviews are not good. Trailer here.
FX + Hulu / American Horror Story: Double Feature, S10. Notable return. Ryan Murphy's anthology series returns for a 10th season - albeit delayed thanks to ovid-cay - and unites series regulars Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, and Billie Lourde with newcomers Neal McDonough (Captain America) and Macaulay Culkin (My Girl). Available initially on FX on Wednesdays, each episode will be on Hulu the following day. Which is Thursday.
FXX + Hulu / Archer, S12. Notable return. This will be the final season featuring the voice work of Jessica Walter who passed away earlier this year. Guest stars this season include Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Bruce Campbell (Bubba Ho-Tep), and Kayvan Novak (What We Do In The Shadows). Same deal as above: FXX tonight and then Hulu tomorrow. Which: still a Thursday.
Netflix / Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed (documentary). While I adore any title that includes a semicolon and an ampersand, I'm troubled that the marketing around this Melissa McCarthy-Ben Falcone-produced doc relies on a vague threat that painter Bob Ross might not be worthy of our blissed-out, proto-ASMR adoration. From Netflix's own description: 'Beyond the iconic hair, soothing voice, and nostalgic paintings lies a mystery that many have yet to discover.' Update: this is apparently about the folks who own Bob Ross's assets and who are very litigious about it. Just look at these happy little attorneys' fees. Trailer here.
Hulu / The Unusual Suspects, S1. Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings) stars in this Australian series about a disparate group of women who come together after the theft of a $16 million necklace. Are they insurance adjusters? Tune in to find out! (Seriously, tune in because I have no idea as this dropped on Hulu today without any notice.)
Thursday - August 26
discovery+ / Lily Topples the World (documentary). Lily Hevesh is one of the world's most successful domino topplers and this Best Documentary winner at Sundance follows her over three years as she pursues her passion for this sport-slash-art form. Trailer here.
Netflix / Edens Zero, S1 (anime). A lonely boy who can control gravity (but not apostrophes, apparently) travels through space. (Aren't we all traveling through space though?) Trailer here.
Returning - HBO, The Other Two; Netflix, Family Reunion
Friday - August 27
Hulu / Vacation Friends (movie). When a straitlaced couple befriends a wildly uninhibited couple on vacation in Mexico, they decide to go for it, indulging in a weekend of unbridled debauchery with their new pals. The trouble starts when their vacation friends show up uninvited at their wedding. Stars John Cena (The Suicide Squad) and Meredith Hagner (Search Party) as Team Chaos and Lil Rel Howry (Free Guy) and Yvonne Orji (Insecure) as Team High Fiber. Trailer here.
Hulu / PEN15, S2 (part 2). Notable return. Since production was halted due to you-know-what, the second half of this well-reviewed comedy returns with a Very Special Animated Episode. (At some point before the end of 2021, the season will return in earnest with the remaining six (non-animated) episodes.) Trailer here.
Netflix / She's All That (movie). This remake of the 1999 teen classic features Rachel Leigh Cook in a cameo. AS THE MOM. Excuse me while I ask the waitstaff to turn down the music and ask why they make the font on their menus so freaking small. Would it kill you to turn on some lights? Anyway: trailer here.
Returning - Apple TV+, See (Dave Bautista joins cast)
Sunday - August 29
Nat Geo + Hulu / 9/11: One Day in America (docuseries). This well-reviewed six-part docuseries retraces the events of September 11, 2001 through interviews with survivors, witnesses, and first responders, and features extensive footage, some of it rarely seen before. Produced in collaboration with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the series will be available on Nat Geo on four consecutive nights and also available on Hulu, starting Monday.
Returning - Paramount+, Evil (second half of season returns after month-long hiatus)
Monday - August 30
HBO Max / Laetitia (limited series). Scant details around this six-episode drama from France except that it's about the investigation of a missing teenage girl and is based on a true story.
Returning - Acorn TV, My Life Is Murder
Tuesday - August 31
Hulu / Only Murders In The Building, S1. Steve Martin (All of Me) co-created and co-stars in this charming, fizzy comedy about a trio of residents of a tony NYC apartment building who band together to solve a murder - and create a podcast about it. Also stars Martin Short (Clifford) and Selena Gomez (Selena + Chef), along with a stellar supporting cast that includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), Nathan Lane (The Birdcage), Sting (Dune), and Amy Ryan (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)). Reviews are raves: 'Prepare for these to become your new favorite weirdos, and Only Murders to become your new addiction.' The Hollywood Reporter notes that the best comic performance might surprise you: 'The funniest thing in Only Murders in the Building may be how a show built around certified legends Martin and Short is stolen by Gomez.' Um, she's a wizard?
Netflix / Sparking Joy With Marie Kondo, S1 (reality). Again with this lady.
And that's it for the week!
In Other News...
Another short news week. In renewals and cancellation news: HBO Max canceled delightful skate dramedy Betty after two seasons; Showtime renewed Flatbush Misdemeanors, Your Honor, and Desus and Mero; Freeform renewed Motherland: Fort Salem for a third and final season; and VH1 renewed all things RuPaul. || In casting news, Hank Azaria (Brockmire) will play Tim Cook in an upcoming Showtime series called Super Pumped about Uber founder Travis Kalanick (who will be played by Mr. Corman's Joseph Gordon-Hewitt). The series also stars Kerry Bishé (Halt and Catch Fire) and Kyle Chandler (Carol). || And finally: I think often of the critic Ego's line from Ratatouille: 'We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read' - because it is fun to read, and while The Guardian's Lucy Mangan's positive reviews are often delightfully exuberant, her negative reviews are... also delightfully exuberant, including this howler for the reboot of home makeover show, Changing Rooms, a series I somehow watched religiously when it first aired. Whither hast Thou gone, Handy Andy?
Have a great rest of the week and maybe head (run?) to the beach if you can.
Moira