Invisible Touched, Yeah! The old theory about there being no such thing as bad publicity definitely gets put to the test with this week's big new TV release. Just days after Ray Fisher finally broke his partial silence on his discontent with Joss Whedon's Justice League reshoots, and weeks after Charisma Carpenter's accusations against the Buffy the Vampire Slayer auteur, HBO has a new Joss Whedon drama to half-promote. The Nevers focuses on Victorians with special powers — they're called "touched" — fighting both evil adversaries and repressive societal forces. I thought it was full of standout elements, but utterly flawed in its structure and tone, so viewers will have to want to give Whedon the benefit of the doubt going forward on a show he's already departed. Straight Into Compton A Black family leaves the South in the Great Migration of the 1950s and moves into the middle-class white enclave of… East Compton in Little Marvin's Amazon anthology series Them, which blends racial allegory and horror with some visceral impact, but less wild inspiration than HBO's very similar Lovecraft Country. THR's new arts and culture critic Lovia Gyarkye — welcome to the team, Lovia! — calls the show "alluring but vexing," saying Them bites off more than it can chew. As a complementary text, the 2016 A&E documentary Streets of Compton is available to stream on Amazon. Featuring The Game, Anthony Anderson and other Compton residents, it traces a different version of the neighborhood's history. [NOTE: The 1954 giant ant drama Them! seems to only be available as a rental.] More Than Just 'Okay' If The Nevers sounds too problematic for you and Them too scary, maybe you should spend some of your weekend on the appealing blend of cringe-y and nurturing that is Freeform’s Everything's Gonna Be Okay. The second season of the Josh Thomas-created half-hour premiered on Thursday and the first two new episodes (and entire first season) are on Hulu. The premiere is one of my favorite depictions of COVID quarantine stir-craziness to date and features great work as usual from Kayla Cromer and Maeve Press, while the second episode is more of a showcase for Adam Faison's Alex, the show's only character I haven't really warmed to yet. It's an odd, funny and moving series that more people should talk about! 'Thunder' Struck-Out Good news: Melissa McCarthy has a new movie on Netflix! Bad news: It's written and directed by husband Ben Falcone. Might I note how many of the Oscar nominees for documentary feature are available for easy streaming? All of them! So maybe skip Thunder Force and head over to Hulu for Collective and The Mole Agent and then to Netflix for Crip Camp and My Octopus Teacher and finally to Amazon for Time. Trust me, you'll feel better about yourself. Honoring Anne Beatts Anne Beatts, who died this week at 74, was a comedy icon. She was the first female editor at National Lampoon magazine when that meant something. She was a five-time Emmy nominee as part of the early Saturday Night Live creative team. She created Square Pegs! Sadly, Square Pegs isn't available on any streaming platform at the moment, but Saturday Night Live is on Peacock. Pay close attention to characters including Todd and Lisa Lupner, Uncle Roy, Laraine Newman’s Child Psychiatrist, Irwin Mainway, and Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute. Beatts was also an EP on the first season of A Different World, which is streaming on Amazon. This Week's THR Staff Pick A fan of Netflix's Shtisel, editor-at-large Kim Masters weighs in on the new season. She writes, "Overall the new season maintains the standard of a much-loved series that offers a fascinating look inside a closed world. It is impossible not to be gripped by the compelling characters. Much as I love Shtisel I have an overarching reservation: While the show sometimes powerfully illustrates the heavy consequences of living inside the prison of belief, there are times when it dodges the issue. I think it’s a strength that the creators don’t editorialize but this season there was a central plot point where the writers chose the pat, cheesy and not-very credible-option and I found that disappointing. "
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