NOW SEE THIS

OCTOBER 30, 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.

Get Your 'Phil'

To understand the wonderful salve for the soul that is Phil Rosenthal's Somebody Feed Phil, one need watch only 20 minutes of the opener of the new season (the travel-and-food extravaganza's fourth on Netflix) in which the Everybody Loves Raymond creator sits down at a coffee shop/bakery in Rio de Janeiro. Initially, he's all alone, surrounded by every pastry in the house, but then he starts offering strangers bites of his desserts, and one after another people come to sample treats and hug Phil. In just minutes, you'd think this delightfully dorky American was the most popular man in Brazil. Every episode of this series, which also goes to San Francisco, Singapore and the Mississippi Delta this season, offers a moment or two like this. Come for the food, stay for the humor and heart. You might not know it yet, but this is the show we all need right now.

Mandalorian Against Nature. Mandalorian Against Self. Mandalorian Against Society. Mandalorian Against Mandalorian.

Baby Yoda's back, baby! And so is his armored sidekick. If you didn't stay up until midnight to watch the second season premiere on Disney+, you can look forward to the biggest (and longest) episode yet of The Mandalorian. The second season premiere was full of familiar creatures, Western tropes, desert panoramas and adorable moments from The Child. And it delivered at least one big fan-service twist. 

The Kids Are All Fright

It's Halloween weekend, so you may be looking for spooky options, and this year's new scary season programming choices are a mixed bag. Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor is more moody romance than edge-of-your-seat horror. Hulu's Helstrom is more edge-of-sleep dud than effective chiller, and Monsterland is, at best, hit-and-miss. Amazon's Truth Seekers is a little scary and a little funny, but not a lot of either. Better options? Certain episodes of HBO's Lovecraft Country — "Sundown," "Strange Case" and "Jig-a-Bobo" — will freak you out. HBO's Los Espookys, all on HBO, is a little creepy and a lot absurdist funny. For international flair, Netflix's Dark and Kingdom are among many options. And for lovers of classic scares, The Twilight Zone is on Netflix and CBS All Access, while Hulu has The X Files. Oh, and Disney+ has Coco for Dia de los Muertos viewing!

No Pun Here. Just Vote

The other scary thing on the horizon is, of course, the election, and the options for preparatory programming are myriad. Heck, you could spend your weekend watching Alex Gibney documentaries, between HBO's Agents of Chaos and the COVID-19 doc Totally Under Control, now on Hulu (or free through the Neon website). Steve James' City So Real is now also available on Hulu after a NatGeo premiere, if you're looking for something more non-partisan, emphasizing mostly the importance of the democratic process. There's always Borat Subsequent Moviefilm on Amazon and The Comey Rule OnDemand from Showtime, and I would say that Netflix's Immigration Nation should be mandatory viewing at this moment. Or you can just watch Dawson's Creek, which makes its Netflix debut this weekend, without political subtext or the original theme song. But mostly? Vote.

An Election Lasting Over Four Hours

And if you're making plans for your election night TV viewing, check out this week's TV's Top 5 podcast: Executive producer Chris Licht teases what to expect from Tuesday's Showtime special Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 and shares stories from the emotional 2016 special — including one featuring naked male models.

What Does the Fawkes Say?

I've mentioned Election Day, Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in this newsletter, so I'd be remiss in not mentioning that next Thursday is Guy Fawkes Day and V for Vendetta is streaming on HBO Max! 

This Week's THR Staff Pick

THR.com East Coast managing editor — and our resident Bachelor and Bachelorette expert — Jackie Strause has her eye on the ABC reality franchise's new season. She writes: "By the time Thursday at 8 p.m. rolls around, the 2020 presidential election may still be undecided. But there WILL be resolution to the spoiler drama on this season's Bachelorette! If you're looking for a two-hour escape — or a way to calm your angst about the future of our democracy — head over to ABC. The heavily teased moment is coming: Star Clare Crawley wraps her "journey" and former contestant Tayshia Adams arrives. It's like two Bachelorette seasons in one! Plus, some long overdue inclusion if Adams becomes only the second-ever Black Bachelorette."

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OCTOBER 30, 2020

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