NOW SEE THIS

SEPTEMBER 04, 2020

Welcome to Now See This, THR chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg's weekly viewer guide newsletter dedicated to cutting through the daunting clutter of the broadcast, cable and streaming TV landscape! Comments and suggestions welcome at daniel.fienberg@thr.com.

'Nought' Great, Bob

There are a lot of new streaming options, covering a wide range of terrain, but nothing is great. I wrote that the new season of Amazon's The Boys is "explodier than ever," but if you found the first season a bit sour, that continues. THR’s Inkoo Kang didn't love Netflix's Hillary Swank mission-to-Mars vehicle Away. And although Peacock's Noughts + Crosses has an intriguing alt history/race-reversal premise, its central teenage romance is a dud.

To Paraphrase Snap: You've Got the 'Power Book II: Ghost'

Starz's smash hit Power ended its run back in February and while this extension of the brand has a slightly convoluted title, it picks up precisely where the original series left off, with most of the same characters — including Michael Rainey Jr.'s Tariq, now front-and-center — plus new characters played by Method Man and Mary J. Blige. For more on the Power expansion strategy — multiple additional spinoffs and prequels are on the way — check out Courtney Kemp's fantastic conversation on last week's TV's Top 5 podcast.

Turn Your Head and Kaufman

Again, depending on your locality you might be able to venture to the theater to see a big new release, but if you're looking for minimal risk of airborne virus contamination, plus all the popcorn you can pop yourself, Netflix presents I'm Thinking of Ending Things, another eccentric meditation on memory, depression and life itself from Charlie Kaufman. THR chief film critic David Rooney warns that it's Kaufman's bleakest film to date, but also notes that on many levels "it's a bold, brilliant work." Bleak AND brilliant? Count me in.

Going into Labor

Look, enjoy your day off on Monday and lament the end of summer, but never forget that Labor Day is a celebration of the American organized labor movement. Need help remembering what it's all about? Barbara Kopple's seminal coal miners documentary Harlan County, U.S.A. is on HBO Max, while Sally Field's Oscar-winning turn in Norma Rae is on Hulu. If you're a KQED Passport member, you can watch Dolores, Peter Bratt's doc about Dolores Huerta. Finally, though, if you'd prefer your union advocacy with a bit more levity, just watch the most recent season of NBC's Superstore on Hulu, perhaps TV's best current glimpse at the American workforce.

Assimilate to the 'Borgen'

For years, the acclaimed Danish political drama Borgen has been something of a viewership white whale for American audiences, available for pay or sometimes on seemingly random syndicated platforms. As of today, though, Adam Price's chronicle of the compromises and complexities in the rise of Birgitte Nybord Christensen (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is now on Netflix, easily its biggest domestic platform yet. Is Borgen the next Cobra Kai? Seems possible!

Honoring Chadwick Boseman, Deep Cuts

You may have spent some of last weekend watching Black Panther, Get on Up or 42 to honor Chadwick Boseman, who died last Friday at the age of 43. Looking to go deeper into the catalogue from Boseman's all-too-brief career? ABC Family's Lincoln Heights is all on Hulu, with Boseman joining the cast late in its run as the son to Russell Hornsby's Eddie. The Fox cult classic Fringe is available through Amazon and IMDBTV, and you can skip ahead to Boseman's performance in the season four episode "Subject 9." And Justified is all on Hulu; Boseman had a memorable guest turn in the "For Blood or Money" episode of the second season.

This Week's THR Staff Pick

Senior editor Katie Kilkenny writes, "I'm admittedly only two episodes into HBO's adaptation of Michelle McNamara's posthumously published book I'll Be Gone in the Dark, but I'm already a raving fan. Nonfiction book-to-documentary adaptations are tricky, particularly ones focusing on a subject so widely covered as The Golden State Killer. But what sets this docuseries apart is its focus on McNamara herself, not the monster she's hunting. I can predict I'll be a puddle on the floor by the end."

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SEPTEMBER 04, 2020

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