What to Watch / August 30, 2023
In which I think it might be time to revisit the gang at the 4077
Another slow week for reasons I think you know (rhymes with trike) so enough with the chit-chat: let's get on with it already -
Wednesday - August 30
Netflix / Heart of Invictus (docuseries). This limited series, part of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 5 year, $100 million production deal with Netflix, follows a group of service members wounded in combat and who prepare to compete in the 2022 Invictus Games, overcoming their injuries both physical and mental. Reviews are mixed, lamenting Harry’s distracting and unnecessary remarks about his family while also acknowledging the unifying nature of a great sports story - which this is. Trailer here.
FX+Hulu / Archer, S14. Alas, it's the 14th and final season of the ribald animated comedy about a dysfunctional group of secret agents. Trailer here.
Netflix / Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (limited series). Author Dan Buettner visits 5 so-called 'blue zones' - areas around the world where people are most longevous which is a fancy way of saying they've lived long enough to know what longevous means. Just kidding - it means they walk a lot, are active in their communities, and also, according to one interviewee, drink a lot of wine. Huh. Trailer here.
Thursday - August 31
Netflix / Choose Love (movie). Don’t say ‘Choose your own adventure’ or your Netflix subscription will go up another dollar but this ‘interactive movie’ about two people who can’t quite overcome their seemingly highly surmountable conflicts to get together will put you in the unenviable position of making decisions on behalf of the would-be lovebirds. Trailer here.
Netflix / One Piece, S1. A live-action adaptation of the legendary (and legendarily goofy) manga series by Eiichiro Oda follows a magical group of ragtag pirates in search of the One Piece, the ultimate booty. (Hey, I don't make up pirate jargon.) If One Piece doesn't ring a bell, to describe it in very American terms, it's the most valuable IP you've (probably) never heard of: it launched an animated series that still runs after a jaw-dropping 1000 episodes, was the basis for a theme park as well as over 40 video games, and as recently as last year spawned a feature film - One Piece Film: Red - that outsold Top Gun: Maverick in Japan. All that and I still led today's entry with an interactive rom-com. Sorry, Luffy. Trailer here.
Hulu / Spellbound, S1. This Disney-on-Hulu production follows a 15 year old American who moves to Paris to study at the Paris Opera Ballet School - and who somehow then also learns that she's a witch. So, Charmed but... en pointe?
Max / Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, S1 (animated). The spin-off of the beloved Cartoon Network series follows Fionna and Cake, the alternate reality versions of the original Adventure Time leads, Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. Features voicework by original series veterans Tom Kenny, Roz Ryan, and Madeleine Martin, along with Donald Glover (The Martian) and Andrew Rannells (Smash). Trailer here.
Returning - AMC+, The Pact
Friday - September 1
Shudder / Perpetrator (movie). This horror described - winningly - as David Lynch meets John Hughes - follows a high schooler (Kiah McKirnan, Mare of Easttown) who discovers she might not be like the other girls when, on her 18th birthday, she undergoes a bloody transformation that may enable her to stop a town killer. This gore-fest may not be for everyone but as the New York Times puts it: 'Screwy and strange, Perpetrator is gleefully unsubtle, but its ensanguinated excess is part of the fun.' Also stars Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) and Christopher Lowell (GLOW). Trailer here.
Amazon Freevee / God. Family. Football. (limited series). A Shreveport, LA school called Evangel has won 14 state championships in the last 20 years but is fighting back after its worst year in school history. Touted as a comeback tale, the real story may be how deeply a small town's identity is wrapped up in the fortunes of its football team. Trailer here.
Returning - Prime Video, The Wheel of Time; Starz, Power Book IV: Force; Netflix, Disenchantment and Love Is Blind: After the Altar
Monday - September 4
Comedy Central / Office Race (movie). Joel McHale (The Bear) may be the office bully but he's also a super fit office bully, a fact that goads his flabby, out of shape colleague (Beck Bennett, SNL) into committing to a marathon. The kind you actually run in. Also stars Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Shasheer Zamata (SNL), JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and, somehow, Kelsey Grammer (Cheers). Trailer here.
Returning - TBS, American Dad!
Tuesday - September 5
Returning - Bravo/Peacock, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City; The CW, Inside the NFL
And that's it for the week! Really! As previously suggested, maybe it's time to catch up on some classics? See you next week!
Moira