Category Archives: Books

Dec 15 2023
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Books, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Dec. 15 – Dec. 21

Mark Wahlberg in a killer role, Willie Nelson’s birthday bash & celebrating Dick Van Dyke

FRIDAY, Dec. 15

The Family Plan
Mark Wahlberg stars in this new action comedy (above) as a car salesman dad confronting his past—as an elite government assassin—without revealing his long-hidden identity. With Michelle Monaghan (Apple TV+)

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
New stop-motion animated comedy, a spinoff of the original 2000 tale of “fowl play,” features more tales from the coop with voices of Imelda Staunton, Thandie Newton, Zachary Levi and Miranda Richardson (Netflix).

The National Christmas Tree Lighting
Light up your holiday mood with this annual TV special with an all-star lineup of performers at President’s Park in Washington, D.C. (8 p.m., CBS).

SATURDAY, Dec. 16
Small Town Christmas
Inside Edition’s Megan Alexander hosts season three of this spotlight on the expressions of fun, decorations, entertainment and faith of community Christmas celebrations across America (2 p.m., Fox Business News).

Luminaire Christmas
John Blasucci, formerly of Mannheim Steamroller, leads a rocking evening of reimagined hits and new seasonal songs with performances by artists from American Idol, The Voice, Blue Man Group and more (7:30 p.m., AXS TV).

SUNDAY, Dec. 17
The Sound of Music
The hills are alive, again, this holiday season for the annual TV airing of the feel-good 1965 classic (above), based on the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer (7 p.m., ABC).

Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration
A host of stars come out to fete the iconic singer songwriter in this musical event, including The Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Keith Richards, George Strait and Chris Stapleton. Hosted by Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler, Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren and Owen Wilson (8:30 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, Dec. 18
Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas
Join the Scottish cook (above) in her homeland as she prepares iconic holiday dishes with her celebrity foodie friends (9 p.m., PBS).

TUESDAY, Dec. 19
The Price is Right: Holiday Heroes
Military heroes compete for cash and prizes in this special edition of the game show (8 p.m., CBS).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
New series, based on the best-selling books by Rick Riordan, launches tonight with a two-episode premier about a 12-year-old kid (Walker Scobell) who’s actually a demigod accused by Zeus of stealing a lightning bolt, causing chaos and disorder in Olympus. With Lin-Manuel Miranda, Megan Mullaly and Jay Duplass (Disney+)

Maestro
Bradley Cooper (above) gives an Oscar-worthy performance (and directs!) as iconic classical-music composer Leonard Bernstein in this tale of his lifelong love to his wife Felicia (Carey Mulligan). If you missed it in theaters, you can see it now streaming (Netflix).

BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star
Eight-part docuseries the roots, rise and phenomenal success of the South Korean boy band that’s been capturing young hearts and amassing worldwide fans since 1983 (Disney+).

THURSDAY, Dec. 21
iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capitol One
It’s a cumbersome title (duh, wonder who the sponsor is?) but this holiday musical special tight with with performances by Usher, Olivia Rodrigo, One Republic, Jelly Role and more (8 p.m., ABC).

Dr Death
Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramirez star in season two of this new series, based on the hit podcast about a charming young surgeon with deep secrets (Peacock).

Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic
This all-star tribute celebrates the acting icon’s milestone birthday as it time-travels back to the set of Van Dyke’s groundbreaking TV series of the 1960 with songs, special guests and lots of holiday magic and memories of his roles in Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and more (9 p.m., CBS).

READ ALL ABOUT IT


How did a raucous song from a festival all about drinking, gambling, fighting and sex become a cherished holiday classic? Pour yourself a cup of good cheer and find out in The 12 Days of Christmas: The Outlaw Carol That Wouldn’t Die (McFarland) by Harry Rand, a former Harvard prof who now works as a senior curator for the Smithsonian Institution.

BRING IT HOME


He was TV’s top cop a few decades ago, and now you own Columbo: The 1970s (KL Studio Classics), starring Peter Falk as the rumpled LA detective who made primetime a lot safer (and much more entertaining). This five-disc set includes seven full seasons of the show, with guest stars including Dick Van Dyke, William Shatner, Johnny Cash, Janet Leigh and Leonard Nimoy, and some episodes directed by Steven Spielberg!

Dec 08 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Dec. 8 – Dec. 14

Monk cracks a new case, Julia Roberts meets the end of the world & Neil Patrick Harris collides with Dr. Who!

FRIDAY, Dec. 8
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie
Tony Shalhoub returns to his fan-favorite TV role (above), 12 years later, in this feature-length film as his crime-solving OCD character returns to solve another case, this one involving his beloved stepdaughter, Molly (Melora Hardin), as she prepares for her wedding (Netflix).

Leave The World Behind
Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Chris Evans and Kevin Bacon are among the all-star cast of this drama about a family vacation that turns into an apocalyptic nightmare after a cyberattack (Netflix).

It’s the end of the world, and Julia Roberts knows it.

A Very Demi Holiday Special
Pop star Demi Levato hosts this all-star Christmas party (below) with celebrity friends including Tiffany Haddish, Paris Hilton and Rich Eisen (Roku Channel).

SATURDAY, Dec. 9
Byron Allen Presents Funny You Should Ask
The primetime special presentation of the hit game show features four half-hour episodes with comedians Adam Corolla, Whitney Cummings, Billy Gardell, Natasha Leggero, Jon Lovitz and others (8 p.m., CBS).

Dr. Who: The Giggle
TV’s 14th doctor (David Tennant, below) comes face-to-face with his most terrifying villain, the Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris) (Disney+).

SUNDAY, Dec. 10
A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop
Queen Latifah, Questlove, LL Cool J, Yo-Yo and many others help celebrate the milestone anniversary and the genre’s profound cultural impact in this two-hour tribute special (8 p.m., CBS).

Science Fair: The Series
Students work to solve the world’s most complex and pressing problems in this new docu-drama based on the most competitive science fair on the planet (National Geographic).

MONDAY, Dec. 11
How to Have an American Baby
An intimate look at an industry you likely didn’t even know about: “birth tourism” for Chinese women who want to have their babies born in the United States (check local listings, PBS).

The Billion Dollar Goal
How did soccer become such a big deal in America? This probing new docuseries traces the sport from its humble beginnings as an immigrants’ game to the historic moment in 1989 when an unforgettable goal ended a 40-year World Cup qualification drought, all against the backdrop of a nation that remained, for decades, skeptical about “European football” (Paramount+). 

TUESDAY, Dec. 12
Dark Harvest
In this horror thriller (above) directed by David Spade, teens confront a legendary supernatural specter that emerges from the cornfields of a small Midwest town every fall (8 p.m., MGM+).

Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only
New documentary follows the high-profile actor/comedians as they stir up new laughs together on a tour (Netflix).

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
It’s a holiday classic! Fred Astaire narrates this timeless 1970 animated tale about St. Nick (Mickey Rooney) as a young boy with an intense desire to do good things for others (8 p.m., ABC).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 13
Bart Starr: America’s Quarterback
This latest installment of the SEC Storied franchise focuses on one of the greatest QBs in the history of the sport (above), who led the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships then went on to coach them to victory in the first two Super Bowls (9 p.m., SEC network).

THURSDAY, Dec. 14
CMA Country Christmas
The 14th annual TV event, filmed in front of a live audience, features performances of Christmas classics by country stars including hosts Trisha Yearwood and Amy Grant, plus Lainey Wilson, Zach Williams, The War and Treaty and more (8 p.m., ABC).

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Rhony Legacy
Original “housewives” reunite for a new season and an epic adventure in the Caribbean (Peacock).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Spin (McFarland) by Bill Gruber takes a spin (get it?) through the world of things that spin—like the world, figure skaters, curve balls, drill bits, propellers, washing machines—and explains the engaging physics, science and philosophy behind them. It might even make your head spin!

BRING IT HOME

It’s a wild ride in Weird: The Weird Al Story (Shout! Factory), a “fictionalized” biopic of the zany song parodist and comedian starring Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson. And a big part of the fun is the long list of all-star cameo appearances!

A grassroots movement of videogamers turns the table on stock-market fat cats in Dumb Money (Sony Home Entertainment), a modern-day David-and-Goliath tale based on a true story and real-life characters, played by Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Nick Offeman, Pete Davidson, Shalilene Woodley and others.

Dec 01 2023
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Books, DVDs, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Dec. 1 – Dec. 7

Eddie Murphy gets the Christmas spirit, Archie and Jughead go to India & Geddy Lee is all about that bass

Eddie Murphy stars this week in the Netflix Christmas comedy ‘Candy Cane Lane.’

FRIDAY, Dec. 1
Candy Candy Lane
Eddie Murphy has made just about every kind of movie, except a Christmas holiday comedy. And now he’s done that too! In this bright blast of yule-y fun, he plays a man determined to win his neighborhood’s annual house-decoration contest, making a deal with a pesky elf (Jillian Belle) for some Christmas magic that takes a manic turn. With Tracee Ellis Ross, Nick Offerman and Ken Marino (Netflix).

The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd
The movie funnyman and SNL comedy pioneer (below) hosts this new docuseries, probing into some of history’s most unusual and bizarro mysteries—like the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, or a plague of killer dancing (10 p.m., History).

SATURDAY, Dec. 2
A Christmas Story Christmas
The recent movie sequel to the 1983 holiday classic comes now to TV, starring several of the original cast members in a modern-day update to the tale of a little boy who just wanted a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas (10 p.m., TBS).

Thriller 40
Has it really been four decades since Michael Jackson “thrilled” us with his 1983 hit single and album of the same name? This new documentary takes you behind the scenes of how a recording became a musical milestone for the ages (8 p.m., Showtime).

May December
Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton star in this new movie (above)—loosely based on the real-world tabloid scandal of convicted sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau—about a woman who committed a similar crime and the TV actress preparing to play her in a new movie (Netflix).

NOW HEAR THIS

The Queen of Soul reigns supreme in Aretha Franklin: A Portrait of the Queen 1970-1974, a lavish new box set of five of her classic albums from that era, plus session outtakes, B-sides and demos. Relive the funk and firepower of Aretha’s classic hits like “Son of a Preacherman,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I need to Get By,” plus deep cuts including the Queen’s takes on “Spanish Harlem,” “At Last,” “The Long and Winding Road” and The Band’s “The Weight.” 

SUNDAY, Dec. 3
Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen
British historian Lucy Worsley (below) travels the world in this new limited series that follows the footsteps and the secret life of the enigmatic writer who revolutionized the genre of detective fiction (8 p.m., PBS).

Chowchilla
Documentary about the chilling true story of one of the strangest kidnappings of all time, when three masked men boarded a school bus in 1976, taking 26 children and their driver—and burying them all in a remote underground chamber. Find out how they escaped, and how the event continues to haunt them (9 p.m., CNN). 

MONDAY, Dec. 4
The Big Bake
Contestant cooks capture the cuteness of the North Pole with goodies adorned with seasonal, winter-wonderland decorations (11 p.m., Food Network).

TUESDAY, Dec. 5
Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?
In this new musical docuseries, the Rush band member (and bass player!) powwows at home with some of musicdom’s most famous fellow bassists and digs into their groovy stories (Paramount+)

The Canterville Ghost
Huge Laurie, Freddie Highmore and Toby Jones are among the voices you’ll hear in this animated, family-friendly reimagining of the Oscar Wilde classic about a family who moves into a haunted house in England (VOD).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 6
Hollywood Houselift With Jeff Lewis
Lewis, who formerly hosted Bravo’s Flipping Out, returns for another season of this celebrity-digs redo series, with clients including Christina Ricci, Josh Duhamel and Regina Hall (Freevee).

THURSDAY, Dec. 7
We Live Here: The Midwest
Documentary spotlights families from America’s heartland who would love to stay but face challenges because of who they are, in the face of a rising tide of discrimination and hate in their churches, schools and neighborhoods (Hulu).

My Life with the Walter Boys
Heartwarming coming-of-age series (above, from the producers of The Kissing Booth) follows a teenage girl (Nikki Rodriguez) who relocates after a tragic accident from New York City to rural Colorado, where she develops feelings for two very different brothers (Netflix). 

Christmas at the Opry
Wynonna Judd hosts this festive, two-hour celebration of Christmas classics, holiday favorites and some of today’s biggest hits, from Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry House (8 p.m., NBC).

The Archies
The retro comic book characters (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, et al) get reimagined in this new live-action series (above) as 1960s teens in India in the fictional town of Riverdale—at least that hasn’t changed! (Netflix).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Sure, you know Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Batman and Tarzan. But what about Waku, Prince of the Bantu… Jann of the Jungle… or Mars, the God of War? They’re all here, along with hundreds of others in Lou Mougin’s excellent Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics (McFarland), a thorough (and thoroughly entertaining) scholarly rundown of lesser-known do-gooders from the 1930s through the ‘50s.

Hey, ol’ Scratch is is good company in the Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures (McFarland) by Theresa Bane. The author, a professional vampirologist, catalogues nearly 3,000 unholy terrors from the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and religion. A few of my personal faves: Abaddown, the demonic angel from the bottomless pit of Sheol; the Daitya-Yuga, with a track record for trouble stretching across more than 1.5 billion years; and Paymon, the host and emcee of hell. It’s a busy underworld out there! 

He was the Beatles’ loyal friend, longtime roadie and personal friend. Find all about Mal Evans and his world in the inner circle of the legendary British band in Kevin Womack’s Living with the Beatles (Dey Street), which sometimes included jumping into recording session and even helping the Fab Four write songs. It’s a fascinating glimpse behind the Beatles’ curtain.

BRING IT HOME

Ahead of the Christmas Day theatrical release of the new remake, now you can own director Steven Spielberg’s 1995 original. The Color Purple (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), was nominated for 11 Oscars and marked the acting debut of Oprah Winfrey and the movie breakthrough of Whoopi Goldberg. The new 4K HD set includes several special features, including a making-of doc.

Nov 24 2023
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Books, Movies, Photography, Pop Culture, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Nov. 24 – Nov. 30

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman reprise their 2008 roles in ‘Faraway Downs.’

FRIDAY, Nov. 24
The Greatest @HomeVideos
Laugh until…well, until you need to get another piece of pumpkin pie! Funnyman Cedric the Entertainer hosts this collection of holiday-themed mishaps and merriment, culled from around the globe (8 p.m., CBS).

Mickey’s Christmas Tales
Series of new stop-motion holiday shorts features beloved Disney characters (above) including Goofy, Donald and Daffy, Pluto…and, of course, Mickey House (Disney+).  

Elf
Jump in anywhere within a 24-hour period today and you’ll catch some of the marathon of the classic holiday comedy starring Will Ferrell as North Pole transplant Buddy the Elf (8 p.m., TBS).

SATURDAY, Nov. 25
Byron Allen Presents the Grio Awards
Sheryl Underwood from The Talk and comedian Roy Wood Jr. host this star-studded celebration of African American excellence in film, music, comedy, TV, sports, business, education and more, taped live at the Beverly Hilton in Hollywood (8 p.m., CBS).

SUNDAY, Nov. 26
Faraway Downs
Acclaimed Aussie director Baz Lehrmann’s six-part “reimagining” of his 2008 film Australia, this limited series reunites the stars (Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman) in a tale of a British aristocrat who travels halfway across the world to confront her wayward husband and unload a million-acre cattle ranch in the Australian Outback (Hulu).

The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration
The network holiday season staple returns for year eight with a spectacle of musical performances from Walt Disney World in Florida and Disney’s Aulani Resort and Spa in Hawaii (8 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, Nov. 27
Steeltown Murders
New drama series follows the hunt for a killer in a working-class community of Wales, and how the mystery was solved nearly 30 years after the crime (Acorn TV).

Holiday: Santa in Space
Blast off for this cooking-competition special, in which bakers vie to make over-the-top cake creations around the theme of Old Saint Nick going intergalactic (11 p.m., Food Network).

TUESDAY, Nov. 28
Verified Stand-Up
If you can’t find anything to laugh about in this cavalcade of comedy from a host of stand-up pros (including Asif Ali, Nimesh Patel, Robby Hoffman and Sabrina Wu), well, you’re a true sourpuss (Netflix).

South to Black Power
New streaming documentary is based on Charles Blow’s provocative book, which calls for a “reverse migration” of African America from the North back to the South to reclaim the land, political representation and the culture they left behind (10 p.m., HBO).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

So-called “cancel culture” is nothing new, as author Kliph Nesteroff posits in Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars (Abrams), which examines pushbacks through censorship, protests and advocacy across the years on the ongoing battlefield of popular culture. Turns out, somebody has been objecting to something in entertainment for almost two hundred years!

One of the Big Apple’s most acclaimed photogs gets a spotlight in Saul Leiter: The Centennial Retrospective (Thames & Hudson), an oversized look-book of his lifelong work as a photographer and painter known for his “street scenes” of life in New York City, his 1960s fashion work for Harper’s Bazaar, and (ahem) his “intimate” portraits of people at home, in various states of undress.

Why do we like listening to music, and how do we do it? Learn all about the fascinating world of sound and our relationship to the world through music in Michael Faber’s insightful and engaging Listen: On Music, Sound and Us (Harper Collins).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 29

The Artful Dodger
Find out about the “double life” of one of Charles Dickens’ famous prince-of-thieves pickpocket in this new series (above) from Australia starring David Thewlis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Mia Mitchell (Hulu).

Pretty Hard Cases
Tune in tonight for the third and final season of the drama series about a pair of female detectives (Meredith MacNeill and Kelly Duff) return for even more investigations the test both their professional relationship and their personal lives (Amazon Freevee).

Sex Sells
It’s a new season of AI sex toys, smutty costumes, surrogate partners, intimacy coaches, celebrity sex tapes and more in this series in which “sex positivity advocate” Weezy explores sex-related businesses and their impacts on people’s lives (10 p.m, Fuse).

THURSDAY, Nov. 30
Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays
Selena Gomez, the Only Murders in the Building star, joins culinary pros including Alex Guarnaschelli and Claudette Zepeda to whip up holiday dishes in her home kitchen (8 p.m., Food Network).

Family Switch
Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms and Rita Morena star in this new comedy (above) about a family mixup—when a rare astrological event causes a “body switch” between the parents and their kids. Wild, way out, 13-Going-on-30 fun, compounded into more than one body! (Netflix).

Nov 17 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Nov. 17 – Nov. 23

John Hamm is a bad hombre lawman in the new season of Fargo.

FRIDAY, Nov. 17
Please Don’t Destroy: The Legend of Foggy Mountain
Conan O’Brien and Bowen Yang make supporting appearances in this new Judd (Superbad) Apatow comedy romp about a trio of childhood friends fending off bears, a crazy cult leader and park rangers as they head into the wilderness in search of a fabled treasure (Peacock).

Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story
Documentary follows the actor/director (above) and movie mogul as it recounts the mother’s enduring love at the roots of his climb to the top of an industry that didn’t always want to include him (Prime).

Dashing Through the Snow
Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Madison Skye Validum and Lil Rey Howery star in this holiday family comedy about an Atlanta social worker and his Christmas Eve journey with his estranged daughter that helps him find the joy and magic of the holidays (Disney+).

Monarch: A Legacy of Monsters
Kurt Russell and his actor son, Wyatt, star in this generation-spanning series (with both Russells playing the same character, decades apart) based on the movie’s “Monsterverse,” where creatures like Godzilla and King Kong roar and rule (above) (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Nov. 18
Christmas Plus One
Emily Alatalo and Corey Seiver star in this holiday flick about an unmarried sister looking for her soulmate and the magazine writer who helps her Christmas wish come true (9 p.m., Lifetime).

Kennedy
Peter Coyote narrates this eight-part documentary about our 35th U.S. president, timed to the 60th anniversary of his assassination and featuring more than 70 new interviews with people who knew him, worked with him and admired him (8 p.m., History).  

SUNDAY, Nov. 19
The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown
New competition series finds Santa and his Scout Elves joining cake master Duff Goldman to challenge teams of sweet-centric bakers to make edible showpieces that capture the season (8 p.m., Food Network).

The Cunninghams wish you a Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry MeTV
Beginning tonight and continuing (off and on) until Christmas, watch holiday-themed episodes of your favorite retro TV shows, including The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Twilight Zone, Gilligan’s Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, Happy Days (above) and more (begins 12 noon, MeTV). 

MONDAY, Nov. 20
Spellbound
New teen fantasy series follows a vivacious 15 year old girl (Hailey Melody Romain) who relocates from America to study at the Paris Opera School in France, where she discovers a book of spells that changes her life and illuminates her surprising true identity (Hulu).

Wisdom Gone Wild
A filmmaker collaborates with her elderly mother as they confront the “wisdom” gleaned from the creeping shadows of dementia, in this moving documentary (check listings, PBS).

TUESDAY, Nov. 21
Fargo
Jon Hamm, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh are among the cast for the fifth installment of the juicy, award-winning progressive crime drama, this time set almost-contemporary Minnesota and the Dakotas. And tonight’s episode—and the whole new series, actually—has some cool “callbacks” to events in the iconic 1996 Coen Brothers movie that started it all (10 p.m., FX).

Leo
Adam Sandler, Jason Alexander, Cecily Strong, Bill Burr and other funny folks provide voices in this cute animated coming-of-age age tale (above) centered on a classroom pet, a 74-year-old lizard (Netflix).

Groundbreakers
Learn how Title IX—the game-changing legislation that guaranteed all people, regardless of gender, equal access to federally funded sports programs—shaped the lives of eight young woman who went on to excel in the fields of tennis, basketball, soccer, gymnastics and flag football (check local listings, PBS).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 22
Good Burger 2
New sequel to the ‘90s hit (based on a Nickelodeon comedy series) stars Kenan Thompson, Jillian Bell, Lil Rel Howery and Kel Mitchell as employees at a fast-food chain (Paramount+).

Squid Game: The Challenge
New spinoff of the streaming hit series as new challengers enter the competition in hopes of a nearly $5 million reward that would change their lives—if the “Challenge” doesn’t end them (Netflix).

Genie
Melissa McCarthy stars in this holiday fantasy (above) about an ancient genie summoned for an unlikely mission—to help a man (Paapa Essiedu) who’s lost sight of his marriage and his family (Peacock).

THURSDAY, Nov. 23
The Naughty Nine
Danny Glover stars as Santa in this movie comedy about a group of youngsters planning a heist of Santa’s North Pole village to get the presents they think they deserve (Disney+).

The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS
Kick off the holiday with this annual network coverage of one of New York City’s iconic celebrations, a festive process down Sixth Avenue with jolly old St. Nick himself bringing up the rear (9 p.m., CBS).

NOW HEAR THIS

Is there anything she can’t do? Dolly Parton tears it up with some of rock ‘n’ roll’s legendary artists for her latest album, Rockstar, including Sting (on “Every Breath You Take”), Ann Wilson of Heart (“Magic Man”), Peter Frampton (“Baby I Love Your Way”), Deborah Harry of Blondie (“Heart of Glass”), Paul McCartney (“Let It Be”), Pat Benetar (“Heartbreaker”), members of Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Free Bird”) and more on this 30-song collection, that proves why, Dolly, we will always love you.

BRING IT HOME

Now you soar with season one of the Apple TV+ sci-fi drama series For All Mankind (Sony Home Entertainment)—with Joel Kinnaman, Casey Johnson and Shantel VanStanten among the big ensemble cast—as rocket scientists and astronauts push the boundaries of space exploration.

The highly acclaimed movie about the man who invented the atomic bomb and unleashed it into the world comes to Blu-ray and DVD with Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), with more than three hours of special features.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

If you love Hollywood history, you’ll flip for George Hurrell’s Hollywood (Running Press), the newly updated edition of vintage Tinseltown portraits taken by the great Hollywood “glamour” photographer of the 1920s and ’30. Hurrell, who worked for many of the major studios, photo’d just about everyone across multiple decades, including icons like Bogart, Garbo, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford. Author Mark Viera ties some 400 eye-catching images together with words about Hurrell’s long-lasting influence and how his images shaped Hollywood’s visual history.

Christmas comes early for movie fans with Jeremy Arnold’s Christmas in the Movies (Running Press), a lavishly illustrated, freshly expanded examination of some of the most beloved holiday flicks of all time, including what makes them bona fide “Christmas movies.” You’ll love revisiting The Shop Around the Corner, It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Home Alone and—yes—Die Hard, among the 35 featured films.  

Nov 10 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Nov. 10 – Nov. 16

Emma Stone is cursed, NCIS goes Down Under & Blake ‘s ‘Barmageddon’ is back

THURSDAY, Nov. 10
The Curse
Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder (above) star in this new series with Rosemary’s Baby vibes about a newly married couple trying trying to conceive a child—and disturbed by something that sure feels like a curse (10 p.m., Paramount+ with Showtime).

For All Mankind
The acclaimed space-race drama blasts off tonight for season four, as a NASA flight director (Wrenn Schmidt, above) and other Mars colonists work on an asteroid mining operation that could change the future of everything on Earth (Apple TV+).

Salute to Service: A Veterans Day Celebration
Host Jon Stewart and the United States Army Field Band honor service members past and present alongside a star-studded lineup of musical guests, including country entertainer Mickey Guyton, singer/songwriter Amanda Shires and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez (9 p.m., PBS).

SATURDAY, Nov. 11
Legends of the Fork
Celebrity baker, chef and entrepreneur Buddy Valestro (below) visits restaurants across America to find the secrets of their success (9 p.m., A&E).

Devil on My Doorstep
Jenna Dewan—one of Lifetime’s “stock players”—and Steve Kazee star in this thriller about a delivery dispatcher obsessed with a homeowner, who becomes obsessed too. Enough obsession for a new Lifetime movie (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Nov. 12
Beacon 23
Sci-fi thriller love story set in the far reaches of the Milky Way involves a government agent (Lena Hedley, below) and an ex-military man (Stephan James) trapped together in a Beacon, a lighthouse for far-flung interplanetary travelers, with an AI whose motives aren’t initially clear (MGM+).

Good Cop, Bad Cop
New series recounts detectives pursing complicated murder cases with startling twists: The perps are fellow member of law enforcement (10 p.m., Investigation Discovery).

MONDAY, Nov. 13
NCIS: Sydney
Sit back and set sail for the first international edition of the hugely popular TV franchise, filmed on location Down Under and elsewhere as a new team of special agents is tasked with keeping criminal waves at low tide in one of the most contested region of ocean in the world. Starring Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance (10 p.m., CBS).

The Ladybird Diaries
New series tells the inside story of one of the most influential and least understood First Ladies in history, featuring audio from some 123 hours of personal and revealing diaries Lady Bird Johnson began recording after the assassination of JFK in 1963 and continuing through her husband’s turbulent administration (Hulu).

Barmageddon
Hosts Blake Shelton, Carson Daly and Nikki Garcia return for season two of the “bar games” fun (below) as celebrity guest compete in drunken axe throwing, air cannon cornhole, keg curling and more (11 p.m., USA Network).

TUESDAY, Nov. 14
A Murder at the End of the World
Murder series about a tech-savvy, Gen Z amateur sleuth (Emma Corwin) who becomes part of something deadly and sinister as a part of a group invited to a remote retreat by a reclusive billionaire (Clive Owen) (Hulu).

Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen
Chef competitors put their expertise to the test in this five-part TV tournament with the grand prize of a Julia Child-themed trip to France (8 p.m., Food Network).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 15
CMT Smashing Glass
New musical special spotlights trailblazing and groundbreaking artists, including honorees Tanya Tucker and Patti LaBelle, with performances and tributes from many others (8 p.m., CMT).

The Battle to Beat Malaria
Oh, great: Something else to worry about—the return of this mosquito-borne mega-threat that continues to plague the globe (9 p.m., PBS). 

THURSDAY, Nov. 16
Best. Christmas. Ever!
Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood and Jason Biggs star in this new holiday movie (above) about a couple of old friends brought together again by fate in the Christmas season (Netflix).

Terror Lake Drive
The anthology series returns for season three as a new South Georgia family mysteriously inherits a luxury vacation home that lures them into the troubled lakeside grounds that so horrified other characters previously (ALLBLK). 

Julia
Eight-episode second season of the original dramatic series about the iconic food star as Julia Child grapples with her rising celebrity, host her own TV cooking show and returns home to France, to find that her success has changed everything (Max).

BRING IT HOME

Get some post-Halloween terror tingles early with The Nun II (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), the sequel to the 2018 horror hit in the Conjuring universe, as a demon nun wrecks more horrifying havoc in 1956 France. Starring Taissa Farmiga.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Dogs bark, birds chirp and cows moo. But only humans “talk,” and sometimes, well, we say a real mouthful!  Jason Travis Ott’s Grandiloquent Words (Countryman Press) presents a marvelous look at unusual verbiage, antiquated phrases and fancy-schmantzy, high-falootin’ argot that have festooned our language for centuries.

Find out all about one of the world’s most famous fashionistas in The World According to Yves Saint Laurent (Thames and Hudson), which corrals the visionary couture icon’s maxims and musings on style, elegance, women, models, color, accessories and much more. A fascinating first-person look into the French-born designer who ultimately launched an eponymous fashion empire.

NOW HEAR THIS!

Beatles fans will flip their wigs over the fantastic new reissue of the career-spanning “Red” and “Blue” anthhology albums, available in both CD and vinyl, with all the band’s singles and B-sides from 1962 to 1970, plus new tracks—and the supergroup’s “last” song, “Now and Then,” a John Lennon original given finishing touches by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

Nov 03 2023
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Books, DVDs, History, Movies, Photography, Pop Culture

The Entertainment Forecast

Nov. 3 – Nov. 10

Annette Bening’s in deep, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ushers in new members, saddle up with an historic Black lawman & Tim Allen ho-ho-ho-ho’s once more!

FRIDAY, Nov. 3
NYAD
Annette Bening (above) stars in the real-life story of athlete Diana Nyad, a world-class swimmer who gave up the water in exchange for a career as a sportscaster—but, at the age of 60, decides to compete again in a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. Spurring her on: her coach, played played by two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster. It’s a tale of tenacity, friendship and the triumph of the human spirit (Netflix).

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction 2023
Sheryl Crowe, Willie Nelson, Bernie Taupin, Link Wray and The Spinners are among the musical elite coming into rock music’s hallowed space, tonight, ushed in with tribute performances by Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Dave Matthews, H.E.R. and others (Disney+).

SATURDAY, Nov. 4
Mulan
Watch the 2020 live-action remake (below) of the 1998 animated Disney tale of an adventurous Chinese girl (Yifei Liu) who grows up to become a champion warrior in the Imperial Army. It was nominated for two Oscars (8:05 p.m., Freeform).

You’re Not Supposed to Be Here
New thriller drama flick stars Chrishell Stause and Diora Baird as a same-sex couple who don’t exactly feel welcome when they arrive at their getaway cabin in a remote mountain town (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Nov. 5
JFK: One Day in America
Three-part documentary takes viewers through every moment of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 60 years ago, with first-person accounts from those who were there (8 p.m., Nat Geo).

Lawmen: Bass Reeves
David Oyelowo (above) stars in this new streaming series about one of the most legendary lawmen of the Old West, who rose from enslavement to become the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi, arresting more than 3,000 outlaws. With Barry Pepper, Donald Sutherland and Dennis Quaid (Paramount+).

First Lady of BMF: Tonesa Welch Story
Michelle Mitchenor stars in this new series about a middle-class Detroit woman in the 1980s who launched a notorious drug empire (BET+).

Lost Women of Highway 20
Producer Octavia Spencer (above) explores the trail of missing and murdered women along a ghostly stretch of Oregon roadway in this true-crime docuseries (9 p.m., ID).

MONDAY, Nov. 6
3-Day Weekend
Take virtual tour—or learn what to see in person—in one the Southeast’s most lovely college towns, Chapel Hill, N.C. (9:30 p.m., ACC). 

Three Chaplains
Documentary about Muslim chaplains in the U.S. military, fighting to maintain a balanced devotion to Islam, the Constitution and the American military (10 p.m., PBS).

TUESDAY, Nov. 7
The Curse of Oak Island
The buried treasure hunt deepens in season 11, as the team of excavators continues to dig on the Nova Scotia island for clues to a 200-year-old mystery, encountering some surprising new evidence that confirms earlier rumors about its source (9 p.m., History).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 8
The Buccaneers
Set in 1870s London, this new series follows a group of American girls who burst onto the tightly corseted scene, kicking off an Anglo-American culture clash and rattling stiff upper lips. Starring Kristine Frøseth, Alisha Boe and Josie Totah (Apple TV+).

The Santa Clauses
Tim Allen continues (above) in the role he launched back in 1994 with season two of this TV-series spinoff, in which his character’s plans to “retire” from saving Christmas are complicated when he can’t find a suitable successor for the job (Disney+).

THURSDAY, Nov. 9
Colin From Accounts
Hit Aussie comedy series starts streaming in the U.S., with stars Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall as two people brought together by a nipple flash, a car accident and an injured dog (Paramount+)

READ ALL ABOUT IT

How did streaming services gobble up eyeballs from “traditional” TV? Find out in Pandora’s Box (William Morrow), author Peter Biskind’s thoroughly engaging breakdown of the “revolution” by which TV supplanted movies as the leading format of entertainment, beginning with HBO’s The Sopranos.

What do “ancient” doodads have to do with the modern world’s colossal engineering feats? A lot! That’s what you’ll learn in Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (WW Norton), by Roma Agrawal, an award-winning structural engineer notes how seven teeny-tiny things have been instrumental in the way we now work and live.

Long live the Queen! The royal legacy certainly lives on in Cecil Beaton: The Royal Portraits (Thames & Hudson), an illustrated examination of how the British photographer’s work with the royal family shaped the public face of the House of Windsor across five decades. 

NOW HEAR THIS

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but you can get in the mood for the holiday season with Chicago Christmas Complete (Rhino), which pulls from all three of the iconic rock band’s Yuletime albums of yore for this 3-CD collection of classics, including “My Favorite Things,” “O Christmas Tree,” “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Wonderful Christmas Time,” which features Dolly Parton.

Have a very Cher Christmas (Warner Records) with the iconic pop diva’s first-ever holiday album, featuring some all-star guests (Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bublè) on a super slate of seasonal songs, including “Run Run Rudloph,” “Please Come Home for Christmas,” “Santa Baby” and four new originals.

BRING IT HOME

Now that the new season of Fargo is about to start (Nov. 11), you can revisit the movie that started it all. Fargo (Shout! Studios)—which was nominated for seven Oscars (and won two) after its release in 1996—is now available in a hi-def 4K edition, with loads of bonus features, including a rolled poster of original theatrical art, a limited edition glass snow globe, commentary by director of photography Roger Deakins, interviews with the Coen Brothers and their star, Frances McDormand, and more!  

Get in the holiday mood with the Lifetime 12-Movie Collection, Vol. 5 (Lionsgate), a ho-ho-ho-romantic roundup of a dozen of the network’s Christmas-themed romances, featuring such all-stars as Jodie Sweetin, Maria Menouos and Patti Labelle.

Hop in the hot rod for the new American Graffiti 50th Anniversary edition (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), which marks the cinematic milestone with its first release in 4K Ultra HD. The 1973 classic marked beginnings and breakthroughs of the movie careers of Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers and Richard Dreyfuss, plus director George Lucas, who would (of course!) go on to make Star Wars.

Break out the eggnog for The Office: Complete Christmas Collection (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), and ho-ho-ho along with Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) and the other Dunder Mifflin gang in seven holiday classics, including “A Benihaha Christmas,” in which an off-site lunch turns into seasonal shenanigans.

And you better watch out! In Violent Night (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), Santa Claus is coming to town, and he’s not taking any sh*t from anyone when he tumbles down the chimney and into a home that’s in the process of being invaded and robbed. David Harbour is terrific as a St. Nick with a few bones to pick—and break.

Oct 27 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Photography, Pop Culture, Television, TV, Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

Oct. 27 – Nov. 2

Emily Blunt hustles pain, a marathon of ‘Beetlejuice,’ a killer kid & heavy metal Halloween

FRIDAY, Oct. 27
Pain Hustlers
Emily Blunt stars in this new twisty movie (coming off its limited theatrical run tonight and onto streaming) as a jobless blue-collar mom who finds a lifeline—and more drama than she bargained for—when she meets a pharma sales rep (Chris Evans) and his boss (Andy Garcia) and finds herself in middle of a dangerous racketeering scheme, below (Netflix).

Shorsey
Jared Kelso stars in this new comedy series about a Canadian hockey team determined to never lose again (Hulu).

SATURDAY, Oct. 28
Beetlejuice
In the spirit of Halloween fun and a gonzo performance by Michael Keaton, settle in for 24 hours of the 1998 horror comedy costarring Geena Davis, Winona Ryder and Alec Baldwin (3 p.m., TBS).

Would You Kill For Me? The Mary Bailey Story
Melissa Joan Hart stars in this movie (above) based on the true story of an 11-year-old girl coaxed into killing her abusive stepfather by her mother and grandmother (8 p.m., Lifetime).
Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Oct. 29
The Guilded Age
Season two begins of the ornate period drama from Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes, about high life in the late 1800s. Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Jack Gilpin, Nathan Lane and Audra McDonald are among the sprawling cast, above (Max).

Hocus Pocus
Thirty years ago, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy starred in this now-classic Disney Halloween film as a trio of Salem witches who stir up a cauldron of trouble. Now you can re-watch it on its anniversary (8 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, Oct. 30
Mayflies
British dramatic series about life, love, dying and the passage of time stars Martin Compston and Tony Curran, in a touching story adapted from a novel by Andrew O’Hagan (Acorn TV).

Hellhouse LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
Horror flick about a group of young cold case investigators who dare to stay overnight at a place where a series of grisly and unsolved murders occurred in the 1980s (Shudder/AMC+).

TUESDAY, Oct. 31
Heavy Metal Halloween
In addition to other spooky-entertainment programming throughout the day, tonight brings a trio of musical rock docs all in the spirit of the season: Songs about the devil, songs about murder and songs about magic. Happy Halloween! (AXS TV).

Live With Kelly and Mark
The daytime hosts put on their creative costumes and usher in a bunch of celebrity guests for this Halloween special (syndicated, check local listings).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1
Ancient Earth: Humans
How did we get here? Using cutting-edge animation, this eye-opening new documentary traces the history, evolution and spread of the planets’s most advanced mammals, the upright humanoids (9 p.m, PBS) 

Black Cake
Based on a bestselling novel by Charmaine Wilkinson, this new streaming drama series follows about a pair of modern-day siblings as they discover the legacy of the mother, who disappeared off the coast of Jamaica in the 1960s under suspicion of murder (Hulu)

Ryan Ashley is a judge on the tattoo competition series ‘Ink Masters.’

Ink Master
New season of the tattoo competition series begins tonight with host Joel Madden, the lead singer of the band Good Charlotte, returning to host more epic ink battles (Paramount+).

THURSDAY, Nov. 2
All the Light We Cannot See
Mark Ruffalo, Ari Mia Loberti and Hugh Laurie lead the cast of this limited series (below), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a blind French girl and her father fleeing German-occupied Paris with a legendary diamond to keep it from falling into the hands of Nazis (Netflix).

Kingdom Business
Season two of the drama series further explores the lives of fictional gospel music characters in a state of chaos after lust, love and denial have created a rift in the “kingdom.” With Yolanda Adams, Michael Jai White, Loretta Devine, Louis Gossett Jr. and Michelle Williams (BET+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

One of the most storied songwriters in all of music, Willie Nelson, tells all in Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs (William Morrow), in which the “Red Headed Stranger” digs into the details of 160 of his tunes, plus his superstar collaborators and friends, his extended musical “family” and the themes that have inspired him. It’s a must-have for Willie-philes!

BRING IT HOME

DC’s Blue Beetle, about a young man (Xolo Maridueña) gifted with extraordinary powers who decides to become a superhero, comes to DVD after its short theatrical run.

It’s bigger, fatter and Greek-er than ever. It’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, writer/director Nia Vardolos’ latest installment of her quasi-autobiographical romcom trilogy, which comes to DVD loaded with bonus content, including commentary and behind-the-scenes features about making the picture on location in (where else?) Greece.

NOW HEAR THIS

Beatles fans will groove to the super new 2023 editions of the band’s career-spanning albums, 1962-1966 and 1967-70 (known as the “Red” and “Blue” LPs), which contain all the hits—plus, now, one last Beatles song, “Now and Then,” written and sung by John Lennon with contributions from Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and finally finished as a post-Beatles single, 40 years later, by McCarthy and Starr. The Apple Corps/Capitol/UME release is available on CD and vinyl.

Oct 20 2023
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Books, DVDs, Humor, Movies, Pop Culture, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Oct. 20 – Oct. 26

Funny ‘Dads,’ serious ‘Bosch’ & a Wonder Woman two-fer

Bokeem Woodbine, Bobby Cannavale and Bill Burr are “Old Dads.”

FRIDAY, Oct. 20
Everyone Else Burns
Simon Bird and Kate O’Flynn star in this new British-based sitcom series about a puritanical family preparing for a big move—away from the woes of Earth, avoiding the fires of hell and basking in blissful eternity. Can they “save” themselves, and anyone else who’ll listen? (9:30 p.m., The CW).

Old Dads
Bill Burr, Bobby Canavale and Bookeem Woodbine star in this new comedy flick as a trio of guys who become fathers later in life and have a steep learning curve with school principals, millennial CEOs and a world that’s changed a bit since the 1980s (Netflix).

Bosch: Legacy
Titus Welliver returns (above) to the role of the former homicide detective, based on the lead character of crime novels by Michael Connelly, in season two of the hit procedural series as he seeks out a killer before he finds him first. With Mimi Rogers (Freevee).

SATURDAY, Oct. 21
NFL Icons
Season three of the pigskin docuseries profiles Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Charles Woodson, Bill Cowher and Mike Singletary (MGM+).

Wonder Woman Day
Stretch out with your golden lasso and enjoy Gal Godot (above) in her two standalone films as the warrior princess, back to back in Wonder Woman and its sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (12:45 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Oct. 22
Fear the Walking Dead
In season eight, Madison (Kim Dickens) goes about making the old Stadium a safe haven, but it attracts some unwanted attention—of the walking dead kind! (9 p.m., AMC).

WB 100th Anniversary Movie Monster Marathon
Pick yous favorite monster and watch ‘em go in this all-day slate of three Godzillas, a Kong, one Meg and Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage (10:45 a.m., TNT)

Godzilla roars in three movies this Sunday.

AKA Mr. Chow
Find out how a lad from Shanghai would eventually triumph over childhood trauma, personal loss and systemic prejudice to forge a new identity and open the first of what would become his franchise of iconic Chinese restaurants (9 p.m., HBO)

MONDAY, Oct. 23
The Royals: A New Era
New documentary examines the state and future of the monarchy in the modern world a year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, featuring interviews with palace confidants and royal experts (9 p.m, The CW).

Rembember Milli Vanilli (above)? Find out what happened to the lip-synching pop duo in a new documentary.

TUESDAY, Oct. 24
Milli Vanilli
Girl, you know it’s true. This documentary tells the story of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, two childhood friends who became superstars in the late-‘80s duo Milli Vanilli—before a career-ending lip-synching incident led to their downfall (Paramount+).

Help! I’m in a Secret Relationship!
Well, it won’t be secret much longer now that you’re disclosing it on season two of this reality show, in which people who think they’ve found the loves of their lives discover it’s really only a pack of lies (9 p.m., MTV).

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 25
Spy in the Ocean, A Nature Miniseries
Go deep into the seas and discover what it’s like to dive with sharks, leap high above the water with a dolphin or swim like an octopus in this new series, which uses high-tech cameras designed and disguised to look like marine animals (8 p.m., PBS).

Life on Our Planet
New documentary series shows the battle for adaptability and survival that has shaped our planet since the beginning of time (Netflix). 

THURSDAY, Oct. 26
American Horror Story
The bloody-good horror anthology returns for the fall with a four-episode “Huluween” event (Hulu). 

The Vanishing Triangle
New original psychological thriller series (above) is inspired by true events that shook Ireland in the 1990s, when several women disappeared, never to be seen again. With India Mullen and Allen Leech (Sundance Now).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Fans of ‘80s rock will groove to Police Diaries (Rocket88), drummer Stewart Copeland’s firsthand account of the early days of The Police, the British trio that took over the charts with “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and many more hits. Packed with photos from Copeland’s deep personal archive, “it’s a big, noisy book about one heckuva ride.”

It’s the fuel that keeps us going, but some of our food is disappearing. In Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods (WW Norton), food historian author Sarah Lohman points out the growing list of local comestibles in danger of extinction and the urgent efforts by farmers, shepherds and fishers to save them.

Afterlife is big business and a deep-set cultural touchstone, and author Greg Melville unearths the details in Over My Dead Body (Abrams), a colorful history of cemeteries, interment customs and other practices of saying our final goodbyes.

BRING IT HOME

You’re gonna need a MUCH bigger boat for Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) in which Jason Statham returns to face an even bigger fin foe—and other monstrous creatures—from the deepest depths of the ocean.

Dracula hitches a ride on a merchant ship and makes his way from the Old World toward England in The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), the latest bloody adventure of novelist Bram Stoker’s iconic blood-sucker. Features include an alternate opening, commentary, and a look in the filmmaking process of conjuring up a nautical nightmare for the screen.

Oct 13 2023
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Books, History, Movies, Photography, Pop Culture, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Oct. 13 – Oct. 19

Brie Larson cooks up science, a new ‘Goosebumps,,’ Disney turns 100, Frasier returns and ‘Barbie’ on DVD!

FRIDAY, Oct. 13
Lessons in Chemistry
Brie Larson stars in this new series (above) as a young woman in the 1950s who becomes the host of a cooking show, where she puts her dream of becoming a scientist to work in the kitchen (Apple TV+).

Raid the Cage
Damon Wayans Jr. hosts this new game show in which players compete to correctly answer questions and grab prizes from “the Cage” before time runs out and the doors close. (9 p.m., CBS)

Goosebumps
Inspired by R.L. Stein’s best-selling Scholastic books, this new series (above) follows a group of high schoolers investigating the death of a teenager and unearthing scary secrets along the way. With Justin Long, Zack Morris, Isa Briones and Will Price (Disney+).

SATURDAY, Oct. 14
The Murdaugh Murders
Bill Pullman stars in this two-part network movie (below) based on the highly publicized real-life details of the prominent South Carolina family at the center of a sordid murder mystery (Netflix).

Pets & Pickers
Catch up in season two with the workers at the Regional Animal Protection Society, motivated by their extraordinary compassion and their feeling that all animals deserve treatment (9 p.m., Animal Planet).

SUNDAY, Oct. 15
100 Years of Disney
Kelly Ripa hosts this blowout two-and-a-half-hour event celebrating the House of Mouse milestone, with previews of upcoming projects, the world premiere of a new short film and a full screening of the award-winning animated feature film Encanto (8 p.m., ABC).

Hotel Portofino
Season two of the glamorous period drama, about an English hotel in Italy in the 1920s—set against the rise of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime—stars Natascha McElone, Oliver Dench and Louise Binder (8 p.m., PBS).

Billy the Kid
Season two (above) continues the tale of America’s most infamous outlaw as William “Billy” Bounty (Tom Blyth) and his allies square off against the corrupt oil barons of the Sante Fe Ring, which erupts into the bloody Lincoln County War (MGM+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Go inside the glitzy world of Hollywood in Vanity Fair: Oscar Night Sessions (Abrams), with exquisite portraits over the years by photographer Mark Seliger at one of the most exclusive events following the star-studded Academy awards.

What’s goin’ on down there? Stephen Ellcock’s marvelous Underworlds (Thames & Hudson) digs deep into the fact, folklore, legends and other flights of fancy about the many things beneath our feet—from graves to caves, subterranean worlds, animal lairs, secret bunkers, fallout shelters, gemstones and sinkholes…and places of our deepest dreams and id wanderings, like hell itself! Packed with artwork and illustrations, it’s a glorious guided tour of the many things underground, real and imagined.

Architectural and industrial photographer Chris Payne’s Made in America (Abrams) is a vibrant journey into the heart of things created and manufactured in in the good ol’ USA, with techniques ranging from hi-tech to handmade.

MONDAY, Oct. 16
The Chase
This new dramatic series centers on a British veterinary practice where dogs bark, sparks fly and dark secrets come to light (Acorn TV).

The American Buffalo
Master filmmaker Ken Burns presents his latest project, a four-hour, two-part series, taking viewers on a 10,000-year trek across North America and tracing the history and heritage of the iconic Great Plains (8 p.m., PBS).

TUESDAY, Oct. 17
Frasier
Yes, Frasier. Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as psychiatrist Frasier Crane in this new—yes, new—comedy series (below) that picks up where the old one left off, some two decades ago. Watch the first two episodes back to back tonight (9:15 p.m., CBS).

The Devil on Trial
With firsthand accounts and a shocking crime, this new doc explores the first (and only) time a defense of “demonic possession” has be used in a U.S. murder trial (Netflix)

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18
Living for the Dead
New series from the producers of Queer Eye and narrated by Kristen Stewart follows five fab queer ghost hunters helping the living by calming the dead in places of paranormal activity (Hulu).

Nature
The iconic everything-outdoors series opens its 42nd season opens with the true story of a Tasmanian man who makes friends with a platypus, tapping experts to learn all he can about the unusual egg-laying mammal’s secret world and protect it from urban encroachment (8 p.m., PBS). 

BRING IT HOME

Maybe you heard about this little movie called Barbie, which became the world’s highest grossing film of the summer. Now you can own it on DVD, Blu-Ray and 4k (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), starring Margo Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and her guy friend Ken as two of the most iconic toys ever, who leave Barbieland and find a life-changing existential crisis in the “real world.” Includes five bonus featurettes!

THURSDAY, Oct. 19
Wolf Like Me
Season two kicks off tonight as Mary (Isla Fisher) and Gary (Josh Gadd) contemplate her pregnancy—will their offspring be a human, or a wolf? And will what happened in the outback come back to haunt them? (Peacock).

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