NOW SEE THIS FEBRUARY 05, 2021
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.
Hail to the Chiefs or The Bucs Stop Here Assuming that a barber with COVID hasn't rendered the entire Kansas City Chiefs franchise unable to play, Sunday marks the annual Big Game, as the defending Super Bowl champions head down to Tampa Bay to face the GOAT, Tom Brady. You can base your rooting interest on which team's QB once had a MAGA hat in his locker (Brady) or which team's big-name wide receiver has been accused of violent crimes against women (Trick question: Both!). Or you can just tune in for the commercials or the halftime show featuring The Weeknd. Either way, Super Bowl LV is surely the biggest thing on the TV calendar. After the Game The last time CBS aired the Super Bowl, the network wasted the postgame time slot on the series premiere of The World's Best, a reality show I completely forgot existed. In fact, CBS hasn't used this slot, with the biggest built-in TV audience of the year, for a new scripted show since Grand Slam in 1990. That series aired six episodes. I would expect The Equalizer, a thoroughly average formulaic drama that happens to boast a wonderful cast led by Queen Latifah, to air more than six episodes. And for more on the post-Super Bowl slot and the strategy that goes into it, check out this week's TV's Top 5 podcast with broadcast TV scheduling legend Preston Beckman. Well, Clarice? Have the Lambs Stopped Streaming? Speaking of CBS brand-name dramas, the Clarice Starling-centric drama Clarice premieres next week. I thought it had some interesting ideas about Clarice and her trauma, but it's very hung up on past events in Thomas Harris' psychological thriller franchise. So you may want to catch up on Silence of the Lambs, which is available on several platforms if you're a Showtime subscriber. Ditto with Ridley Scott's Hannibal, a less successful Clarice Starling vehicle with a couple recurring characters. And it never hurts to check out NBC’s Hannibal, which is spectacular and available on Netflix. Coel Minders Oughta Watch Chewing Gum! Netflix had the bad timing to lose its exclusive window on Michaela Coel's first series as creator-star just as HBO was about to premiere her far more serious breakout I May Destroy You. Golden Globe voters appear not to have bothered with I May Destroy You, which was my No. 1 show of 2020, but it's all on HBO Max and as of this week you can now watch Chewing Gum on that streaming platform as well. Good Morning, Miss 'Bliss' If you're a streaming subscriber who loves new releases with mixed critical reviews, this is your kind of weekend! Another Earth director Mike Cahill hasn't done one of his trippy semi-sci-fi dramas for a while, but his new film Bliss is now up on Amazon and THR's Frank Scheck calls it "undeniably ambitious" but overreaching. THR chief film critic David Rooney was more enthusiastic about Netflix's Zendaya/John David Washington two-hander Malcolm & Marie, raving about the black-and-white photography and Zendaya’s performance. Finally, THR’s Michael Rechtshaffen laments that Studio Ghibli's first foray into computer animation, HBO Max's Earwig and the Witch, "falls short of the usual expectations." Honoring Hal Holbrook Emmy and Tony winner Hal Holbrook, who died this week, had such a varied and unique career that it's hard to single out a few easy streaming options, plus it's not like there are great versions of his Mark Twain shows available. You can always watch All the President's Men on HBO Max for five minutes of Holbrook greatness. Holbrook's lone Oscar nomination was for Into the Wild, which is on Netflix. While Evening Shade isn't streaming anywhere, perhaps head over to Hulu to check out Designing Women, where Holbrook had a guest role opposite wife Dixie Carter and directed several episodes. This Week's THR Staff Pick Senior writer Michael O'Connell gushes, "Among the multitudes overlooked by awards shows this week, one was even snubbed by snubs lists: HBO Max import I Hate Suzie. The dramedy is not easily explained, but what transpires onscreen is exhilarating, thoughtful and, like most everything from actress Billie Piper (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) and writer Lucy Prebble (Succession), painfully funny. The only thing to dislike about I Hate Suzie is how few people seem to have seen it."
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