NOW SEE THIS NOVEMBER 06, 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.
The Great Escape Look, whether you want to or not, you should periodically check in on election coverage on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, wherever. This stuff is important, and pretending it isn't happening won't help. But after you've done that, here are some good recent offerings that I'm going to remind you again to watch: There's Netflix's smart and nuanced period chess drama The Queen's Gambit. There's HBO's endearingly odd documentary/comedy How To with John Wilson. There's HBO Max's format-busting Equal and Netflix's trashier-than-you're-expecting (in a good way) Deaf U. There's always Baby Yoda and the new season of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. I've been telling you to watch Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil for months and if you've covered that, follow Padma Lakshmi to Taste the Nation on Hulu. Seriously, whatever your flavor of self-care happens to be, empower yourself to carve out time for it. Substitute Your Lies for Fact Most of the week's early new premieres reminded me of earlier shows I liked better, so feel free to accept these substitutes. HBO's Industry isn't bad at all, but it reminded me of a naughtier version of The Bold Type, which is streamable on Hulu. Showtime's Moonbase 8 just made me want to go back co-creator/director Jonathan Krisel's Baskets on Hulu or co-creator/co-star Tim Heidecker's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on HBO Max. And it's a two-way street, because HBO Max's Two Weeks to Live sent my mind to Netflix's better dark comedy The End of the F***ing World. On the other hand, THR's Inkoo Kang liked FX on Hulu's A Teacher, premiering Tuesday, more than the movie it was based on — but maybe you want to watch the movie on Hulu ahead of the limited series' Tuesday premiere, just to prepare. Gimme the Loot It's an eclectic class for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which airs its induction ceremony on Saturday night. Really, there's something for everybody, or at least everybody who likes Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Whitney Houston and, best of all for my money, The Notorious B.I.G., whose place in this class proves that, well, things done changed. Enlisted Next Wednesday is Veterans Day, and not to sound like a commercial for HBO Max, but the streaming service has you taken care of with the Tom Hanks-produced World War II double bill of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, as well as David Simon, Ed Burns and Evan Wright's Generation Kill. Those three miniseries should keep you busy, but if you want something that isn't HBO Max? Well, Hulu has 11 seasons of M*A*S*H available to stream, which is more than we can say about China Beach, one of the great semi-lost (to streaming, at least) shows of all-time. (Sadly, the Fox sitcom Enlisted also isn't available for free streaming.) Honoring Sean Connery Chances are good that you paid some tribute to the late, great Sean Connery last weekend, but that doesn't mean you can't still be checking out which parts of his oeuvre are easily available on streaming. My favorite of his James Bond films, Goldfinger and Dr. No, are only rentals, but From Russia with Love and Thunderball are among several on Amazon and Hulu. You can target The Rock, still Michael Bay's best film, on Hulu, Highlander on Peacock, The Untouchables if you have Starz OnDemand and Time Bandits on HBO Max. This Week's THR Staff Pick Deputy Editorial Director Jeanie Pyun writes, "Except for this past week, when I’ve given completely given over to doomscrolling COVID updates and election news, I’ve been offsetting incredibly engaging and deeply moving awards films with Netflix’s Blood of Zeus for a pure hit of escapist, gory, animated, superpowered mythology. I tell myself it’s a bit of education on Gigantomachy, but it may just be cathartic to see beautifully drawn titanic creatures scheme, rage and battle in a completely fantastical (non-impactful, irrelevant-to-democracy) way."
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