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.

Berf, Wind & Fire

As generally acclaimed shows go, The Bear is one of the more contentious, albeit usually for reasons unrelated to its quality. Comedy or drama? Binge or weekly? This season, which finds Carmy pushed to emotional extremes by his quest for culinary perfection, might spark even more debate. As I said in my review , I think that episode-for-episode, the third season is every bit as good as the first two. But overall? Well, I understand people who find the storytelling a little choppier, the show's normally confident momentum a little more stuck in a rut. I'd argue this is intentional. The characters are plagued by frustration and indecisiveness, and the season is structured to match, setting up a more dynamic fourth season. If you prefer your bears a bit more broadly comic and fictitiously historical, though…

Tudor Fast, Tudor Furious

Wanna try something that's The Tudors meets Dickinson meets Manimal? Head over to Amazon for My Lady Jane, adapted by Gemma Burgess. It's a reimagining of the tragic story of Lady Jane Grey in which the 16^th -century nine-day monarch wasn't executed and, instead, attempted to reconcile England's conflict between ordinary mortals and shapeshifters who can take the form of birds, puppies and, yes, one surly bear. I wish it were funnier — the cheeky voiceover is especially dreadful — and smarter, but the cast is just wonderful, starting with Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel, who are surrounded by veterans like Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Rob Brydon and Anna Chancellor. If you want your supernaturally infused feminism more contemporary, though…

A Witch in Your Giddy-Up

BBC Three's Domino Day has had its title amended to Domino Day: Lone Witch for its Sundance Now/AMC+ run, presumably out of fear that American audiences will think it's yet another annual celebration of tile-based competition, no different from St. Mahjong's Day or the Feast of Rummikub. Some have already said Domino Day is Buffy the Vampire Slayer only with witches, which is a bit ridiculous because: A) It pretends the 2006 drama Hex — co-starring Michael Fassbender — didn't exist. B) It's mostly humorless and Buffy was, well, hilarious. C) It's aimed at a much older target demo. Those differences aside, Domino Day , created by Lauren Sequeira and starring a very solid Siena Kelly as an out-of-control witch who feeds off the energy of men she picks up on dating apps, is intense and fairly sexy, when it isn't overwhelmed by low-budget silliness. The Manchester setting and the diversity of the central covens add distinctiveness and make the six-part drama a decent companion for…

'Supa' Karate Monkey Death Car

If my equation for My Lady Jane confused you, how about if I told you Netflix's Supacell was Heroes meets Attack the Block meets Hulu's Queenie? It's about ordinary people suddenly discovering they have superpowers, but this epidemic is localized among Black youths in South London. Created by the mononymous "Rapman," Supacell  has a voice and setting and characters all its own and a plot you've seen a thousand times in recent years. It finally feels like it's getting going after six episodes of steady build-up. Please watch, so that I can get a second season.

'Fancy Dance' and Pants to Match

Who ordered a reunion of the stars of The Paperboy? Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman are back in Netflix's A Family Affair. Our Angie Han praised its charm, despite the Richard LaGravenese-directed romantic-comedy never settling on a tone. We were more enthusiastic about Apple TV+'s Fancy Dance, which premiered at Sundance in 2023 and featured a pre-Killers of the Flower Moon  Lily Gladstone. Writer-director Erica Tremblay's credits including  Dark Winds and Reservation Dogs — she wrote the wonderful "Decolonativization" and directed the hilarious "Send It" — which is all I need to know. 

Honoring Bill Cobbs

Movies and television didn't always give the late Bill Cobbs a lot to do, but Bill Cobbs invariably gave everything he had to even the smallest role. Look at Air Bud (streaming on Disney+). It's not, empirically, a great movie. But playing a former NBA star whose life is given new purpose by the chance to coach a middling junior high team fronted by a golden retriever? Cobbs brought dramatic heft far beyond what the property otherwise deserved. While you're on Disney+, see also the first Night at the Museum film. Or check out the short-lived Matthew Perry ensemble comedy Go On , which is streaming on Peacock and gave the perpetual guest star a rare series regular gig. I haven't seen Dino Dana, streaming on Amazon, but Cobbs won a Daytime Emmy for the kids series.