What to Watch - September 16, 2020
In which I spend maybe too much time looking up irrelevant historical facts.
I just looked up whether there was such a thing as the ides of September so that tells you where my head's at right now. (Turns out there is, they did a whole thing with grapes (and grapes clearly = Roman for wine), and they also did some nail-driving ritual which seems like a terrible idea both with or without the wine.)
But hey - enough history. It's a somewhat busier week than last so let's get to it already:
Wednesday - September 16
Hulu / Staged (miniseries). This charming and well-reviewed miniseries features old friends Michael Sheen and David Tennant (or is it David Tennant and Michael Sheen?) and a barely-there plot about a play they were meant to do which got postponed due to the pandemic that Tennant is keen to rehearse via Zoom while Sheen is content to paint and eat charcuterie (#teamsheen). Originally aired on BBC, all six episodes are available on Hulu now. Trailer here.
Netflix / Challenger: The Final Flight (miniseries). This four-part miniseries examines the 1986 Challenger disaster that killed the most diverse shuttle crew in NASA's history at the time including the first private citizen in space, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Reviews are positive. Trailer here.
Netflix / The Devil All the Time (movie). Based on Donald Ray Pollock's novel of the same name, this Southern Gothic set in 1950's Appalachia features an impressive international cast including Tom Holland (Spiderman), Robert Pattinson (Batman), and Bill Skårsgard (It). Reviews are middling to negative (and you might want to consult doesthedogdie.com before diving in). Trailer here.
CBS / Academy of Country Music Awards (special). Keith Urban hosts from Nashville.
Netflix / Sing On!, S1. This singing competition already has a few foreign versions so this marks the franchise's US premiere and for what it's worth, Variety adored it. Hosted by Kimmy Schmidt's Tituss Burgess.
Returning - FX and FX on Hulu, Archer; Netflix, Criminal (this season's alleged criminals are played by Kit Harrington, Sharon Horgan, and Sophie Okonedo CBE (trailer here)
Thursday - September 17
Peacock / Departure (miniseries). Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) and Christopher Plummer (All the Money In the World) star in this joint Canadian-UK-produced thriller about a commercial flight that suddenly disappears from the sky, leaving behind a sole survivor. Reviews are fairly positive, citing the occasionally implausible plotting but praising Panjabi and Plummer's strong performances. I would totally watch a crime show called Panjabi & Plummer, FYI. Trailer here.
HBO Max / Mo Willems: Don't Let the Pigeon Do Storytime! (special). Filmed pre-COVID at the Kennedy Center, Willems is joined by an all-star cast as they read/perform children's stories to an audience full of kids and their parents. Presumably, the dog lives in this one. Trailer here.
Netflix / Residue (movie). Winner of the 2020 Slamdance audience award, this stunning debut by D.C. native Merawi Gerima follows his alter ego who returns to his Northeast Washington neighborhood to make a film about his childhood friends but finds them gone and his home unrecognizable due to the forces of gentrification. Reviews are raves ('a delicately layered depiction of the dance between alienation and belonging'). Trailer here.
E! / The Bradshaw Bunch, S1 (reality). NFL legend Terry Bradshaw yuks it up with his family. You may yuk it up somewhere else. Trailer here and first full episode here.
Returning - E!, Keeping Up With the Kardashians
Friday - September 18, 2020
Apple TV+ / The Long Way Up (limited series). After the success of 2004's A Long Way Round (London heading east to New York) and 2007's A Long Way Down (Scotland to South Africa), best mates Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) and Charley Boorman (Hope and Glory) reunite for another motorcycle adventure, this time an epic 13,000 mile ride on electric Harley-Davidson motorbikes starting at southernmost tip of South America and heading all the way to Los Angeles. The first three episodes will be available on Friday with subsequent episodes released weekly. Trailer here.
All In: The Fight for Democracy (documentary). Stacey Abrams co-produced and stars in this urgent and well-reviewed documentary about the ongoing fight for voting rights and the battle over voter suppression. Trailer here.
Netflix / Rached, S1. Already renewed for a second season, the latest Ryan Murphy-Sarah Paulson collaboration examines the origin story of Nurse Rached from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Also stars Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City). Reviews are middling: 'frustratingly opaque, gratuitously unpleasant' though praising Paulson's go-for-it performance. Extremely dramatic trailer here.
Disney+ / Becoming, S1. Produced by LeBron James, Becoming interviews various stars in entertainment and in sports about their paths to success. Trailer here.
iTunes Movies / Antebellum (movie). Another theatrical release thwarted by COVID-19, Antebellum features Janelle Monáe in a dual role in this horror-thriller that unpacks the atrocities of slavery, with nods to both Gone with the Wind and Get Out. Reviews are wildly mixed, from Variety's rave ('lands like an explosive mortar — a potent, politically charged cross between “The Handmaid’s Tale” and an M. Night Shyamalan movie') to The New York Times' pan. Trailer here.
Returning - Hulu, PEN15
Sunday - September 20, 2020
ABC / The 72nd Annual Emmy Awards (special). Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and expected to feature over 130 live feeds from nominees' homes (or wherever they're waiting out this thing).
Returning - PBS, Last Tango in Halifax (this four-part limited season picks up after a two year hiatus)
Monday - September 21, 2020
First things first. It's the 21st night of September. You know what to do.
ABC / Filthy Rich, S1. Kim Cattrall (Mannequin) and Gerald McRaney (This Is Us) star in this soapy dramedy about a wealthy Southern family who own a lucrative Christian television network. When the family patriarch dies in a plane crash, the family is shocked, shocked, shocked to learn he's got some illegitimate affiliates, I mean, children. Trailer here.
FOX / L.A.'s Finest, S1 and CBS / Manhunt: Deadly Games, S2. Both of these series originally debuted on Spectrum's own network but now they're making them available on broadcast. Fun!
And that's it for the week!
In Other News…
If you're watching The Vow on HBO Max, this is a must-read: Nxivm Had a Cult Leader Made for the Internet. || I can't wait for Showtime's Good Lord Bird premiering October 4 so in the meantime I was just reading my latest issue of Garden & Gun and was delighted to find this interview with its star, Ethan Hawke. || South Park is planning an hourlong pandemic special on September 30. || Norman Lear, Seth MacFarlane, and our very own Steph Curry are jointly producing an animated reboot of Lear's 1970's classic sitcom Good Times. This is an interesting trio of producers and are also three people who will never be in my kitchen. || CBS All Access will be rebranded as Paramount+ sometime in early 2021. That + is really getting a workout. || Disney+ (lol) released the trailer for the second season of its space western, The Mandalorian which premieres October 30. || Related, Disney+ just launched in more countries including Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Belgium and Luxembourg. || I don't know about you but this last week, with a few notable exceptions (looking at you, Lovecraft Country,Ted Lasso, and The Social Dilemma), the best things I watched were on YouTube, Apple Music, and Twitter, starting with these appreciations of Zoom teachers, hereand here; Dave Grohl's round two effort in his epic drumming competition with tiny human Nandi Bushell (hey, is it just me or does he kind of look like the drummer from Nirvana?); Apple Music's Verzuz exceeding expectations with its Patti LaBelle/Gladys Knight matchup (and Miss Patti herself confirming what I already knew: unless you're Gladys Knight, you may start Midnight Train to Georgia as Gladys but you will always finish that song as a Pip. Whoo-whoo!); and a live reading of The Princess Bride that delighted the internet's 100K+ viewers/donors.
Have a great rest of the week!
Moira