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.

Turkey

Disney+'s Hawkeye is the second November premiere for stars Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) and Jeremy Renner (The Mayor of Kingstown ) and it caps an extraordinarily busy year of Marvel properties from Disney+. Our Angie Han called the holiday-themed action-comedy "refreshingly low-key" and writes that Steinfeld's Kate Bishop is sure to become a new fan favorite. I thought the show was a little more meandering than I'd have hoped for, but it's definitely yet another great showcase for Steinfeld, who is funny and works hard to bring out Renner's more charming traits. If you enjoy these first Hawkeye episodes and haven't watched the anachronistic delight that is Apple TV+'s Dickinson, carve out some time for that one. 

Stuffing

Speaking of Disney+, the service rolls out Peter Jackson's eight-hour documentary Get Back in three parts on November 25, 26 and 27. The project, which Jackson once thought he could trim into a feature-length doc, is primarily culled from more than 60 hours of largely unseen footage filmed over 21 days in 1969 when the Beatles were attempting to write the original songs that would later be featured on Abbey Road and Let It Be . Our Sheri Linden praises the three-part series' cumulative power, though she notes that for some, it "might perhaps be too much of a good thing." Given that the film took Jackson three years to assemble, it would probably be churlish for me to point out that A Hard Day's Night is only 87 minutes, can be found on HBO Max and is one of my all-time favorite films.

Canned Cranberry Sauce

Netflix's True Story isn't very good. Kevin Hart is a perfectly serviceable dramatic lead, but the thriller aspects of the plot take a backseat to Hart's character complaining for seven episodes about the challenges of celebrity. However, Wesley Snipes is fantastic as Hart's ne'er-do-well brother, offering a reminder that Wesley Snipes should be in more things. To that end, maybe skip True Story and watch some Snipes cinematic highlights streaming. Unfortunately, you'd have to pay a few bucks to watch New Jack City, Sugar Hill or The Waterdance. Blade , however, is on Peacock, while White Men Can't Jump and To Wong Foo are both on Starz OnDemand, Mo' Better Blues is on Tubi (with Jungle Fever nowhere to be found), Wildcats is on HBO Max and Snipes steals every scene in Netflix's Dolemite Is My Name and Amazon's Coming 2 America.

Green Bean Casserole

My favorite show premiering this week is HBO's How To with John Wilson. The oddball mixture of documentary collage, memoir, essay and comedy made my Top 5 for last year in large part because its finale was a spectacular look at New York City on the eve of COVID and a solid instruction manual on preparing risotto. Nothing in the second season quite hits that level, but Wilson has become more confident offering How To -style looks at recycling batteries, remembering your dreams, learning to appreciate wine and, in the premiere, investing in real estate. In the vein of Nathan For You (now on Hulu) and Joe Pera Talks with You (streaming on HBO Max), it's a show that will make you laugh and feel like you aren't alone in our weird world.

Pumpkin Pie

If that's not enough for you, there are a few movie-type options. Showtime gets into the day-and-date movie game with The Humans, Stephen Karam's adaptation of his Tony-winning play, which our Frank Scheck called "a remarkably insightful and powerful portrait of the human condition." Our Stephen Farber was less enthusiastic about Halle Berry's MMA-themed directing debut, Netflix’s Bruised , praising its fight choreography, performances and overall ambition, but not its basic craftsmanship. You can also check out HBO and HBO Max's latest Music Box documentary DMX: Don't Try to Understand, a harrowing if not always enlightening look at the rapper's time between his release from prison in 2019 and his death in 2021. It's powerful and raw and uncomfortable, like you're getting a glimpse at a very public person's very private life that maybe should have stayed private.

Leftovers

For this week's THR Staff Pick, our new deputy awards editor Beatrice Verhoeven — Welcome, Beatrice! — has been doing a little catchup homework on HBO Max. She explains, "I never watched Sex and the City when I was younger, but I constantly heard people self-identify as a Carrie or a Miranda, never really understanding what that meant. With the reboot coming soon, I decided to give it a try now that I, myself, am in my 30s, the same age the women are in the show. And I’m glad I waited, because I feel I can relate to the complexities of female friendships and love in a way I couldn’t have as a teenager. And if you are wondering: I’m a Miranda."