What to Watch / February 19, 2025
A shortish week so let's get to it:
Wednesday - February 19
Disney+ / Win or Lose, S1 (animated). Featuring voice work by Will Forte (MacGruber), this animated comedy described as 'one story told from 8 different perspectives' is the first series from Pixar, and probably definitely the first animated riff on Rashomon. (Just kidding: Pixar would never kill a samurai to satisfy the narrative arc. Bing Bong, sure, but a samurai? Never.) Astute Disney followers might recall that this series was in the trades last year when Disney announced it was pulling a transgender storyline from the series. Trailer here.
The CW / Good Cop/Bad Cop, S1. Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) stars in this extremely Canadian-looking series about a good cop (that'd be Leighton) whose dad (Clancy Brown, SpongeBob Squarepants) is the police chief and who assigns her a new partner - her brother (Luke Cook, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). In a twist, the District Attorney is their mom, the judge is their aunt, and yes, I am making that up but honestly who knows at this point. Trailer here.
Returning - Britbox, Death in Paradise
Thursday - February 20
Netflix / Zero Day (limited series). When there's a cyber attack against the US that results in chaos in the markets, train derailments, and plane crashes, a former president played by Robert De Niro (The Intern) is tasked by the current one (Angela Bassett, Strange Days) to find who's responsible before the next attack. This 6 episode thriller is De Niro's first TV role, if TV = episodes and not whatever endurance test the The Irishman was and features an absolutely stacked cast including Jesse Plemons (Civil War), Lizzy Caplan (Party Down), Joan Allen (Pleasantville), Connie Britton (Spin City), and Matthew Modine (Married to the Mob). Few reviews but they're positive(ish)? 'Preposterously entertaining' and 'pulpy good cheer.' Trailer here.
Hulu / Memes & Nightmares (documentary). From exec producers LeBron James (Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Maverick Carter comes this goofy - but thorough - documentary that follows social media guru Josiah Johnson as he attempts to uncover what happened to NBA Twitter's most popular meme, an image of J.R. Smith squinting. Features Smith himself along with Flavor Flav, Jalen Rose, Metta World Peace, Matt Barnes, Jemele Hill, the Kid Mero, and Ros Gold-Onwude, among others. Trailer here.
Returning - Prime Video, Reacher (first 3 episodes drop today)
Friday - February 21
Hulu (and on Disney+ outside the US) / A Thousand Blows, S1. From Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight comes this extremely well-reviewed period drama inspired by real historical figures about a bare-knuckles boxer, the leader of a notorious all-female gang of thieves, and an aspiring lion tamer in Victorian London. Stars Stephen Graham (This Is England), Malachi Kirby (Small Axe: Mangrove), and Erin Doherty (The Crown). All six episodes are available today. Trailer here.
Apple TV+ / Onside: Major League Soccer, S1. This 8 part docuseries produced by Formula 1: Drive to Survive producer Paul Martin tells the story of the 2024 MLS season and features unprecedented access to clubs, players, and staff -- including then-14 year old Cavan Sullivan who is the youngest player in league history to make his MLS debut(and may be the youngest in any North American professional sports league to make his debut). Trailer here.
Returning - Apple TV+, Surface (new cast members include Ted Lasso's Phil Dunster, Joely Richardson (The Turning), and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire); Netflix, Pantheon (this is a weird one as the series used to be on AMC but AMC canceled it before the already-completed second season was aired so here's season two for anyone still reading this insane explanation)
Sunday - February 23
NBC/Peacock / Suits L.A., S1. Well, I hope you're happy. The USA Network 'legal' series that suddenly got extremely popular when it was made available on Netflix in 2023 - four years after its original run ended - is getting a reboot. Now set in a glamorous LA entertainment law firm instead of a dumb New York corporate law firm, the new series features an entirely new cast with Gabriel Macht (Suits) as the only (currently announced) recurring character from the original series. Stars Stephen Amell (Arrow), Lex Scott Davis (L Word: Generation Q), and Bryan Greenberg (Prime), with guest stars including Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Enrico Colantoni (Galaxy Quest), Brian Baumgartner (The Office), and Maggie Grace (Taken). And in case this comes up at pub trivia, this is actually the second spinoff from the original series, with the Gina Torres-helmed Pearson being the first, and which was canceled after one season despite also starring national treasure Dulé Hill (Psych). Trailer here.
NBC/Peacock / Grosse Pointe Garden Society, S1. From Good Girls creators Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs comes this light drama about 4 members of a garden club who have green thumbs, secrets they're struggling to keep, and a body they've buried. Reviews are positive, if tentative: the series is clearly going for the frothy fun of Desperate Housewives but sometimes its tone feels off: 'While the show is consistently a fun, breezy watch in that classic network TV way, the overall narrative balance hasn’t quite gelled yet.' Nonetheless, the series features strong performances by its leads: AnnaSophia Robb (Because of Winn-Dixie), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Ben Rappaport (Mr. Robot), and Lessons in Chemistry's standout Aja Naomi King. Trailer here.
NBC/Peacock / The Americas (docuseries). Tom Hanks (Volunteers) narrates this nature series exploring the continents of North and South America with a score composed by Hans Zimmer (Dune). Trailer hereand yes NBC should have turned off the comments.
Nat Geo/Disney+/Hulu / No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski, S1 (reality). Queer Eye star Porowski hosts this interesting take on food travel series that seems to be a mash-up of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations with PBS's Finding Your Roots, in which he delves into the ancestry of his guests and visits the places that their families emigrated from. Features Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Nora Lum/Akwafina (The Farewell), Justin Theroux (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Issa Rae (Barbie), and James Marsden (Jury Duty). Trailer here.
Returning - Paramount+, 1923 and Bar Rescue (say what you will but Paramount+ has range)
Tuesday - February 25
Peacock / Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy (documentary). Few details about this one but it's essentially an overview of the current state of the investigations into the Friends' star's death. Trailer here.
HBO/MAX / Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest. This 6 part series follows the US civil rights movement between 1977 and 2015, and illuminates the stories of those who continue to work for equity and racial justice, and yes HBO should have also turned off the comments on the trailer, found here.
Returning - Netflix, Full Swing (trailer here)
And that's it for the week!
See? Told you it was short(ish). (But not as short as this pup.)
Moira