Category Archives: DVDs

Jun 23 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

June 23 -June 29, 2023

A ‘Jaws’ marathon, a “new” national anthem & Idris Idra gets hijacked!

You may need a bigger boat (!) to watch the original Jaws and all its sequels!

FRIDAY, June 23
World’s Best
Hip-hop musical comedy adventure flick about a 12-year-old genius mathematician who discovers a surprising new talent as a rapping superstar (Disney+).

Cinammon
Original network film stars Hailey Kilgore (above) as a small-town gas attendant whose life is rocked after a fatal crime. With Damon Wayans and 1970s icon Pam Grier (Tubi).

SATURDAY, June 24
Keyshia Cole: This is My Story
The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter makes her acting debut portraying herself in this biopic about her life and career, which started in Oakland, Calif., and led her singing backup for M.C. Hammer, releasing five albums and starring in two TV reality series (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, June 25
Jaws Marathon
Time to get back in the water with the most a marathon of the iconic shark flick of all time and its sharp-toothed spawn, Jaws 2, Jaws 3 and Jaws the Revenge (begins 8;45 a.m., TNT). 

Mini Reni
Joanna Gaines (above) and her team downsize their scale and budgets to renovate three rooms in an outdated home in one week and for under $15,000 (9 p.m., Magnolia).

MONDAY, June 26
After Sherman
Filmmaker Jon-Sesrie Goff returns to the coastal South Carolina land his family purchased after emancipation in this exploration of Black experience, trauma and wisdom (check local listings, PBS).

Cannes Confidential
Six-part international crime series, shot on location in France, stars Lucie Lucas and Jamie Bamber about a no-nonsense detective and a charming conman (Acorn TV).

TUESDAY, June 27
Happiness for Beginners
Ellie Kempler (from The Office and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) stars in this new series (above) as a newly divorced woman who joins a back-country survival hike on the Appalachian Trail with a group of oddball strangers in hopes of learning how to live—and love—again (Netflix).

Casa Susanna
This PBS-produced documentary is about an underground 1960s network in the Catskills region of New York state for transgender women and cross-dressing men (9 p.m., PBS).

BRING IT HOME

Find out about the inspiring life and astonishing career of one of the greatest boxers of all time in Big George Foreman (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), a drama about his journey from an impoverished childhood to the title of world heavyweight champion, and then into the pulpit. Khris Davis (Judas and the Black Messiah) plays Foreman.

The hit horror franchise moves out of the woods and into the ‘hoods in Evil Dead Rise (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a terrifying tale of two estranged sisters (Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland) whose urban family reunion is undermined by flesh-eating demons.

WEDNESDAY, June 28
Anthem
What would happen if Grammy-winning producer and a film composer took a journey across America to create a “new” national anthem, one as if it had been written today? Find out in this probing documentary that rei-magines “The Star Spangled Banner” for a modern era (Hulu).

Hijack
Idris Elba is one unhappy air passenger in this new thriller series (above) about the passengers on a hijacked international airplane flight and people on the ground working to avert a disaster (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, June 29
Secret Chef
It sounds nuts, but here it is: Ten contestants from all walks of life are isolated in an underground kitchen labyrinth connected by a series of conveyor belts, where they perform various cooking challenges, guided by an animated “talking hat” on a retro TV screen. Yep (Hulu).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

When is a monster more than just a monster? That’s not a riddle, it’s the theme of Dark Dreams 2.0 (McFarland), in which author Charles Derry unpacks the real-world fears, tears and terrors that have shaped the evolution of horror movies for more than half a century—from anxieties over the atomic bomb to the Cold War, sexual liberation and other fear factors that have fueled the work of filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock, Brian de Palma, George Romero and many others.

Generation Gap
Kelly Ripa returns for season two of this game show (below) in which teams of older adults and their grandkids compete by answering pop-culture questions (9 p.m., ABC).

Jun 16 2023
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DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

June 16 – June 22

The time-traveling lovers of ‘Outlander,’ ‘Walking Dead’ bite into the Big Apple & Robert Downey Jr.’s auto obsession

FRIDAY, June 16
Outlander
The fan-favorite drama based on the historical-fiction novel series by Diana Gabaldon returns for season seven tonight (above), starring Catriona Balfe as a time-traveling WWII nurse who falls in love with a dashing Highland warrior (Sam Heughan) from another era (8 p.m., Starz).

Extraction 2
Chris Hemsworth is back in the slam-bam action franchise as Rake, a black ops mercenary tasked with another deadly mission—to rescue the family of a ruthless Soviet gangster (Netflix). 

The Righteous Gemstones
The profanely funny TV-evangelist family returns in this hell-aciously hilarious series starring Danny McBride, Edi Patterson, John Goodman and Adam Devine (HBO).

SATURDAY, June 17
John Early: Now More Than Ever
In his first comedy special, the comedian lays on the laughs in a spoof of rock documentaries, performs stand-up riffs and song covers from Britney Spears, Neil Young and more, and peels back the show-biz curtain on Spinal Tap-inspired backstage sketches (10 p.m., HBO).

Exposing Parchman
Documentary brings to light the dark history, deplorable conditions and distressing abuses at the Mississippi prison known as Parchman (8 p.m., A&E).

SUNDAY, June 18
Walking Dead: Dead City
It’s hard to fathom how a franchise built on anything dead can have so much life. Here’s the latest spinoff in the Walking Dead zombie-verse, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Laurie Cohen as survivalists fighting the undead in the decaying urban setting of an apocalyptic Manhattan (9 p.m., AMC).

Beachside Brawl
Cooks from the East and West meet on the sand to determine which ones—and which side of the country—does coastal food the best. Celebrity chef and restauranteur Antonia Lafosa hosts the new competition (10 p.m., Food Network).

MONDAY, June 19
Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom
Live concert event from the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, timed to the federal holiday commentating the official end of slavery in America, features an array of Black artists and performers (8 p.m., CNN and OWN).  

The Great American Recipe
Season two of the eight-part cooking competition (above)—with judges Leah Cohen, Graham Elliott, Tiffany Derry and Alejandra Ramos—celebrates the multiculturalism that makes American food unique and iconic (9 p.m., PBS)

TUESDAY, June 20
Mama Bears
Documentary about mothers of gay, trans and gender-fluid children, who fearlessly advocate for their kids (10 p.m., PBS).

WEDNESDAY, June 21
LA Fire & Rescue
New docuseries examines the inner workings of the Los Angeles County Fire Department as it works to protect the citizens and the property of an area containing 4 million residents and 59 different municipalities (NBC).

Secret Invasion
In the latest Avengers franchise flick (which is skipping theatrical release to go straight to streaming), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) leads a mission to save the Earth from extermination by a sneaky group of extraterrestrial shape-shifters. All in a day’s work in the world of Marvel (Disney+).

THURSDAY, June 22

The Bear
Get ready to roll up your sleeves and return to kitchen for season two of this acclaimed drama (above) about restaurant workers in Chicago trying to turn a greasy spoon into a golden goose (Hulu).

Downey’s Dream Cars
New streaming docuseries on Discovery’s new Max platform follows actor Robert Downey Jr., his passion for classic cars and his work to combat climate change by retro-fitting them to make them “cleaner” and more fuel efficient (Max).

May 26 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, May 26 – Thursday, June 1

Harlem gal pals plot to “Run the World.”

FRIDAY, May 26
Run the World
Three fiercely loyal best friends (Amber Stevens West, Andrea Bordeaux and Bresha Webb) in Harlem continue their plans for “world domination” for the new season of the acclaimed sitcom (9:30 p.m., Starz).

Influencer
A chilling tale of a social influencer who finds something truly scary when she goes off the grid on the other side of the world. With Riverdale’s Emily Tennant, below (Shudder).

SATURDAY, May 27
Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love
If you loved her in School of Rock, History of the World Part II or Crank Yankers, you’ll love this saucy stand-up comedy special from the Emmy-winning actress, writer, producer, podcaster and comedian, filmed at the Wilbur Theater in Boston (10:15 p.m., HBO).

SUNDAY, May 28
Silo’s Baking Competition
Home improvement queen Joanna Gaines hosts this new competition in which bakers from across the country come to the Texas site of the Magnolia network’s Silos Baking Company to try to impress their hostess (8 p.m., Magnolia).

Bama Rush
Docuseries uncovers the dark underside of Tik-Tok fueled “rushing” at the University of Alabama, following the trajectories of four young women who embark on the process of finding (and fitting into) a sorority (HBO Max).

Discover the dark side of the sorority pledging process in Bama Rush.

MONDAY, May 29
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace
Curious, indeed. Find out about the strange case of a young Ukrainian orphan adopted by an American couple who later suspected their “little girls” was actually an adult masquerading as a child—with a devious plan to harm them (9 p.m., ID).

Marriage
In this British series, a couple (played by Sean Bean and Nicola Walker) navigates continuing needs for love and companionship within their 30-year relationship (PBS Prime).

TUESDAY, May 30
The American Gladiators Documentary
Two-night event goes behind the scenes of the reality-competition TV series, which began in 1989 and became a pop-cultural phenomenon (ESPN).

BRING IT HOME

Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman star in A Good Person (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) about two people who bridge the generation gap to discover friendship, forgiveness and hope after a tragedy.

WEDNESDAY, May 31
Drag Me to Dinner
This 10-episode send-up of reality competition, below, features 40 drag queens vying to see who can throw the best, most outlandish dinner party for judges including Neil Patrick Harris and Elijah Wood (Hulu).

Ghost Adventures
Ready to be scared? Come along with paranormal investigator Zak Bagans and his crew as they stir up more haunted histories (10 p.m., Discovery).

THURSDAY, June 1

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Horror fans will flip over Hammer Complete (McFarland), a compendium of the fabled British movie studio that launched in the 1930s, becoming an icon of horror in the 1970s and ‘80s with pulpy titles like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and Prehistoric Women. But Hammer did more than blood-‘n’-guts flicks, as this lavishly detailed collection shows, along with all the films’ budgets, actors, directors, and more!

The Dead Files
Series returns as its NYPD homicide detective teams up with a medium to help solve paranormal-activity phenomena for homeowners across America (9 p.m. Travel Channel).

Eli Roth Presents: The Legion of Exorcists
The horror-movie maestro hosts this new series, examining tales of demonic possession and exorcists around the world who use their tools to address the situation (10 p.m., Travel Channel).

May 19 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, May 19 – Thursday, May 25

Church cover-ups, cross-cultural girl rock & something to ‘Cheer’ about

I’m diggin’ Donna Summer in Saturday’s new doc about the disco queen!

FRIDAY, May 19
The Secrets of Hillsong
Documentary explores the rise of the global megachurc, its precipitous fallout leading to the expulsion of its co-pastor husband-and-wife couple, and the patterns of cover-ups the organization used to protect itself (10 p.m., FX).

Spy Master
Six-part espionage drama stars Adina Sadeanu as secret agent for the KGB during the Cold War who makes a daring escape to the United States (HBO Max).

SATURDAY, May 20
Love to Love You, Donna Summer
An in-depth look at the life, career and music of the singer who helped define the so-called “disco era” with hits including “Last Dance,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “On the Radio” (8 p.m., HBO Max).

Cheers to Cheers
Thirty years ago tonight, Cheers (above) went off the air. Watch a commemorative marathon of the final season’s episodes, all revolving around TV-dom’s most famous watering hole—and toast by hoisting a sudsy beverage of your choice (Pluto TV).

SUNDAY, May 21
Ghosts of Beirut
An international cast circulates through this new limited series about a true-life espionage saga, the two-decade manhunt for an elusive Lebanese terrorist (10 p.m., Showtime).

American Idol
Who’ll be the new champ? Tune in tonight for the superstar-packed three-hour live season finale, featuring a singing square-off between the three finalists (8 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, May 22
Prehistoric Planet
The new season of the natural-history series uses groundbreaking research and high-tech visuals to take you deep into the past, to a time before time, when dinosaurs ruled the world (Apple TV+).

Fanny: The Right to Rock
Engrossing documentary about the first all-female rock band to release an LP with a major label—the Filipina-American sister act Fanny (above), which went on to make four more albums in five years during the 1970s (10 p.m., PBS).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Ever wanted to live on a boat? Or in a floating house? Indulge your fantasy with Making Waves (Thames & Hudson), author Portland Mitchell’s generously illustrated look at people who’ve pulled up their land stakes and now live “on the water.”

TUESDAY, May 23
Smartless: On the Road
New docuseries follows three actor friends (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes) on their cross-country, coast to coast podcast tour (HBO Max).

Reality
Sydney Sweeney (below, from season two of The White Lotus) stars as in this dramatization of a real incident—as a former American intelligence agent, Reality Winner, sentenced to prison for releasing confidential information about Russian interference in the 2016 elections. (10 p.m., HBO)

BRING IT HOME

Creed III (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) continues the Rocky spinoff franchise with the continuing saga of boxing champ Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan, who also directs) who faces off in the ring with an old friend (Jonathan Majors), now an ex-con with nothing to lose.

The fun-filled story of a teenager (Billy Batson) who finds out a magic word (Shazam!) turns him into a superhero (Zachary Levi) continues in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), which includes commentary by director David F. Sandberg.

WEDNESDAY, May 24
Born Chinese
If you loved this year’s big Oscar winner, Everything Everywhere All the Time, then check out this genre-hopping worlds-collide action comedy about a high school teen who becomes engaged in a battle between mythological Chinese gods. It features three of Everything’s  stars, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu (Disney+)

Platonic
New comedy series stars Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne (above) as two best friends approaching midlife who reconnect after a long rift (Apple TV+)

THURSDAY, May 25
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The broadcast TV premiere of the hit martial-arts movie based on Marvel comics and starring Simu Lee as a modern San Francisco resident who taps into an ancient power (8 p.m., ABC).

May 05 2023
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DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, May 5 – Thursday, May 11

Steve Harvey goes to court, Muppets Mayhem & a first for Garth Brooks

Padma Lakshmi gets her yum on.

FRIDAY, May 5
Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi
The renowned foodie returns for a new season of this series exploring America’s rich, electric regional cuisines (Hulu & Disney).

Silo
Gripping dystopian drama series unfolds the saga of the last people on earth, who live underground to protect themselves from the toxic and deadly world above. Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins and rapper-actor Common star (Apple TV+).

SUNDAY, May 7
Vice
Season four begins of the award-winning documentary series (above), which heads tonight into the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Syria, and also explores new groundbreaking developments in artificial intelligence (8 p.m., Showtime).

MTV Movie & TV Awards
Find out what’s popular with the “kids” these days on this show honoring the top things on screens of all sizes, with a special “Comedic Genius” trophy going to actress/comedienne Jennifer Coolidge. Previously announced host Drew Barrymore won’t be there, however, in a show of support for Hollywood’s writers’ strike. (8 p.m., MTV).

The 2010s
Docuseries examines culture, politics, personalities, music and lifestyle that defined the not-so-long-ago decade (9 p.m., CNN).

MONDAY, May 8
Horrible Bosses
It’s ribald and raunchy, yes, but wildly funny, and if you haven’t seen it—well, tune in to this 2011 comedy caper to see how the misguided plans of three guys (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) to get rid with their awful bosses take a turn toward the hilarious. With Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and future Royal Meghan Markle! (10 p.m., TruTV). 

Jeopardy Masters
Ken Jennings host this prime-time special-event edition of the iconic game show, featuring top-ranked returning contestants (8 p.m., ABC).

TUESDAY, May 9
Judge Steve Harvey
Court is once again in session as the host of TV’s Family Feud picks up the gavel and puts on the cloak in this unscripted comedy series, usong his life experiences and common sense to “rule” on a variety of small claims, friendship-taxing disagreements and neighborhood disputes (Hulu).

BRING IT HOME

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the Superman 1978-1987 5-Film Collection (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a superb collection of Man of Steel movies—Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Superman III and Superman IV. Not the most inventively titled flicks, they nonetheless re-established the Man of Steel for a whole new generation. Includes commentary, vintage featurettes and cartoons from the groundbreaking Fleischer Studios, dozens of deleted scenes, and more.

WEDNESDAY, May 10
Class of ’09
Brian Tyree and Kate Mara star in this new thriller series about a class of FBI agents grappling with immense changes as the criminal justice system is altered by artificial intelligence (Hulu).

The Muppets Mayhem
New streaming movie (above) follows the Muppet “act” the Electric Mayhem Band—with Dr. Teeth, Animal, Floyd, Zoot and Janice—on a mishap-py mission to record their first album. Voices by Llly Singh, Tahj Mowry and others (Disney+).

The Game Show Show
If you love game shows (and who doesn’t?!), you’ll love this new series, which takes a long, insightful look at the history and impact of game shows across eight decades of American culture (10 p.m., ABC).

THURSDAY, May 11
The Academy of Country Music Awards
I know, it’s a bit confusing. There’s the CMA Awards and the CMT Awards, and tonight it’s the ACM Awards, hosted this year by superstars Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks—marking his first time as an awards show host—and streaming live from Frisco, Texas (Prime Video).

Apr 28 2023
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, April 28 – Thursday, May 4, 2023

A new ‘Afterparty’ whodunnit, Star Wars shorts & a fem-centric spin on ‘Fatal Attraction’

FRIDAY, April 28
The Afterparty
Season two of the feisty murder-mystery whodunnit comedy series begins with returning cast members Tiffany Haddish (above), Sam Richardson and Zoe Chao, and new players including Elizabeth Perkins, Paul Walker Hauser, Ken Jeong, Jack Whitehall and others (Apple TV+).

Peter Pan and Wendy
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should—I really don’t see a reason for this remake of the classic childhood tale from Scotland’s J.M. Barre, but Peter Pan has become one of Disney’s most enduring characters. He’s even the host of his own attraction, Peter Pan’s Flight, in most Disney parks. And hey, it’s a kick to see Jude Law as Capt. Hook (Disney+).

SATURDAY, April 29
Moonage Daydream
Acclaimed 2022 doc about the music and life of glitter rocker David Bowie comes to TV (8 p.m., HBO).

SUNDAY, April 30
Tom Jones on Masterpiece
Four-part new adaptation (above) of one of the great novels in the English language, with a new twist to its tale of a young man’s love for a wealthy heiress (9 p.m., PBS).

Fatal Attraction
This new series spin on the 1980s psychosexual classic (stewed rabbit, anyone?) stars Joshua Jackson, Lizzy Caplan, Amanda Peet and Toby Huss in a torrid tale of forbidden love and infidelity through a contemporary prism of strong women, personality disorders and dangerously tangled webs (Paramount+).

MONDAY, May 1
A Small Light
Bel Powley, Joe Cole and Live Schreiber star in this new limited series based on the inspiring true story of the women who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam (9 p.m., National Geographic).

Undercover Underage
Reality series focuses on a nonprofit working with decoys to entrap would-be predators (9 p.m., ID).

TUESDAY, May 2
Thalia’s Mixtape
Docuseries about the young Latin global superstar and her musical influences (Paramount+).

King Charles: The Boy Who Walked Alone
Royals alert: Longtime friends, school chums and Buckingham Palace staffers offer up recollections of Britain’s new monarch ahead of his coronation in this new 90-minute documentary (above) sure to delight fans of all things Brit-ty (Paramount+).

Bring It Home

Woody Harrelson stars in Champions (Universal Home Entertainment) as a former basketball coach who finds new purpose in his life when he’s court-ordered to take on a team with intellectual disabilities. With Cheech Marin, Ernie Hudson and Kaitlin Olson. 

WEDNESDAY, May 3
Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All
How did a young stuttering British child grow up to become a global superstar? Find out in this new musical documentary that examines the life and career of the London-born singer-songwriter (Disney+).

Pete Davidson stars in ‘Bupkis,’ based on his own life.

THURSDAY, May 4
Bupkis
Pete Davidson stars in this new half-hour live action comedy with a fictionalized spin on his life (Peacock). 

Star Wars: Visions
Second installment of the popular streaming series, pushing the Star Wars mythos into new realms of storytelling with animated shorts from studios around the world (Disney+).

Apr 14 2023
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Books, DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, April 14 – Thursday, April 20

Jennifer Garner hunts for her husband, Betty Gilpin plays a streetwise nun & Kerri Russell stars as ‘The Diplomat’

Jennifer Garner searches for her missing husband in ‘The Last Thing He Told Me.’


FRIDAY, April 14
The Last Thing He Told Me
Jennifer Garner stars in this gripping new drama series based on the New York Times No. 1 bestselling novel, about a woman who must form an alliance with her teenage stepdaughter (Angourie Rice) in order to solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearance (Apple TV+).   

Jane
New kids-focused series, inspired by the life of pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, stars Ava Louise Murchison as young environmentalist (also named Jane) on a quest to save endangered animals (Apple TV+).

SUNDAY, April 16
The Phantom of the Opera
It’s leaving Broadway after a run of more than 25 years. But now you can watch from your home with this performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical stage production filmed live at the Royal Albert Hall (BroadwayHD).

Ciao House
Chow down on some fine Italian cuisine in this new cooking competition in Tuscany, the epicenter of Italian life, hosted by Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabriele Bertaccini (9 p.m., Food Network and Discovery+).

MONDAY, April 17
The Weakest Link
Jane Lynch hosts the season three return of the quick-witted game show in which contestants must work together to bank prize money—and eliminate the “weakest” among them (8 p.m., NBC)

Live with Kelly and Mark
Actor Mark Consuelos comes aboard officially to join his wife, Kelly Ripa, after the departure of long-time co-host Ryan Seacrest from daytime’s longest-running talk show (7 a.m., ABC).

BRING IT HOME


Channing Tatum returns to the role he created over a decade ago in Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment). He’s Mike Lane, a former male stripper now returning to the stage for a last hurrah with a new group of male exotic dancers. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, who also directed the original MM, and Salma Hayek hops aboard as a wealthy patron who can afford a $60,000 lap dance. Right!

If a bear toots cocaine in the forest, and there’s no one around to see it… This isn’t a riddle, it’s Cocaine Bear (Universal Home Entertainment), a rip-roaring comedy—yes, a comedy—based on a true story. With Keri Russell and Margo Martindale, and marking one of the final film appearances of Ray Liotta. If you’re up for some offbeat, snarling fun, it’s grrrrrrrr-eat!

Author Raymond Chandler’s iconic noir detective gets an update in Marlowe (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), as the classic gumshoe gets a new star, Liam Neeson, and a new mission. With femme fatale support from Jessica Lange and Diane Kruger.

TUESDAY, April 18
Longest Third Date
Romantic sparks fly when a couple, Matt and Kahani, meet online. But when they fly on a wild whim to Costa Rica for date number three, they get stuck there as the world shuts down for the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 (Netflix).

Deadliest Catch
Let’s go crabbin’! Tonight’s two-hour premiere kicks off a new season of this reality series about competing groups of net-casters hoping to cash in on Alaskan Crab (8 p.m., Discovery).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Which President played so most golf, he had a putting green installed at the White House? Which one ran a horseshoe league from the Oval Office? What really went down when Barack O’Bama played a pickup game of hoops with the North Carolina Tarheels…and later won the state by .3 percent of the vote? Find out in Power Players (Twelve) by former CNN reporter Chris Zilla, which offers an enlightening looks at U.S. presidents and their sports passions, from the spectator sidelines to the playing field. 

Most fans know the Three Stooges mostly by their “shorts,” the 190 short films they made for Columbia Pictures in the 1930s thru the ‘50s. Now A Tour de Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road, by Gary Lassin, is the first-ever compendium of the iconic trio’s five decades of taking their show on the road, with appearances in theaters and auditoriums, on military bases, at circuses and for hospital patients. With hundreds of never-before-published photos, tour documents and local reviews, it’s a delightfully detailed flashback to a “lost” chapter in the career of one of pop culture’s most enduring comedy teams.

WEDNESDAY, April 19
Niagara Falls  
Learn all about the world’s fastest-moving waterfall (and its second largest) and the wide variety of wildlife that call this geological wonder home. P.S., bring your own barrel! (8 p.m., PBS).

Let’s Make a Deal
Grammy nominee Jordan Sparks helps celebrate the U.S. military in tonight’s first in a run of prime-time special editions of the popular daytime game show hosted by Wayne Brady (9 p.m., CBS).

Pretty Stoned
New comedy series about, yes, attractive stoners who run afoul of a female drug lord (above). It’s got a mostly female cast, including Pretty Vee, Paris Berelc and Kandi Burruss-Tucker (8 p.m., MTV).

Betty Gilpin is a nun who fights ‘Mrs. Davis.’

THURSDAY, April 20
Mrs. Davis
Betty Gilpin (of GLOW) stars in new drama series as a streetwise nun who goes to battle with an all-powerful artificial intelligence known as “Mrs. Davis,” forcing the sister (and us) to re-examine the systems and institutions in which we put our faith (Peacock).

Keri Russell stars as a harried ambassador in ‘The Diplomat.’

The Diplomat
If you liked The West Wing and Homeland, you’ll love this new series (from the same creative team) starring Keri Russell as a U.S. foreign ambassador trying to hold her marriage together as her political world is threatening to fall apart (Netflix).

Apr 07 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, April 7 – Thursday, April 13

Dennis Quaid flies high, Katryn Hahn tries to keep it together & stars sing the Beach Boys

FRIDAY, April 7
On a Wing and a Prayer
Dennis Quaid (above) and Heather Graham star in this gripping drama based on a true story, about an airplane passenger who takes over the controls after the unexpected death of the pilot (Prime Video).


The New York Times Presents: The Legacy of J. Dilla
Documentary about the late James DeWitt Lancey, a Detroit kid who grew up to become a visionary rapper and music producer, working with such diverse artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes and Erykah Badu (10 p.m., FX). 

Tiny Beautiful Things
Kathryn Hahn was terrific in Glass Onion, and in this new limited series (above), she stars as an advice columnist whose own life is falling apart. Based on the best-selling book series by Cheryl Strayed (Hulu).

On a Wing and a Prayer
Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham star in this gripping drama based on a true story, about an airplane passenger who takes over the controls after the unexpected death of the pilot in mid-flight (Prime Video).

SATURDAY, April 8
Pride: A Seven Deadly Sins Story
The popular anthology series continues with a story inspired by true events, about a successful bakery owner (Stephanie Mills) whose past secrets threaten everything she’s achieved. Executive produced by T.D. Jakes, it follows previous installments on Lust, Envy, Wrath and Greed (8 p.m., Lifetime).

The Portable Door
In this streaming sci-fi flick, an eager young man (Patrick Gibson) lands an internship at a mysterious London firm where the CEO (Christoph Waltz) wants to disrupt the ancient magical realm with a bit of modern-day corporate meddling (MGM+).

SUNDAY, April 9
Catching Lightning
He was a ferocious mixed martial arts fighter who played a role in one of the largest cash heists in history. How did that happen? Find out in this documentary about “Lightning” Lee Murray, and how he was convicted of masterminding a 2006 robbery of nearly $100 million in British bank notes (8 p.m., Showtime).

A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys
New network television special honors the music and career of one of America’s most enduring vocal groups with performances of the Beach Boys’ classic hits by Beck, Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Hanson, Little Big Town and Weezer, alongside group members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnson (8 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, April 10
American Idol
Sure, they can sing. But can tonight’s finalists sing with a live band? That’s what we’ll find out as they try to impress the judges and pass to next week’s round (8 p.m., ABC).

The Neighborhood
In tonight’s milestone 100th episode of the hit sitcom series, Calvin (Cedric the Entertainer) shops for a birthday gift, while Gemma (Beth Behrs) works a connection to Jerry O’Connell get VIP tickets to the Emmy-winning daytime talk show The Talk as a prize for her school’s fundraiser (8 p.m., CBS).

TUESDAY, April 11
My Grandparents’ War
Explore the impact of war on the families of four international actors—Kit Harington, Kiera Knightly, Emeli Sande and Toby Jones (9 p.m., PBS).

Icons Unearthed
Geek alert! Tonight, insiders and experts reveal things you didn’t know about Marvel’s Avengers, including a detailed look at building the franchise’s intricate superhero world (9 p.m., Vice).

BRING IT HOME

Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, Living (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) stars Bill Nighy in an acclaimed, Oscar-nominated leading performance as a British civil servant searching for new meaning in the limited life he believes he has remaining.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12
Single Drunk Female
Second season of the critically acclaimed comedy series begins tonight, starring Sofia Black-D-Elia, Ally Sheedy and Ian Gomez in the continuing tale of a woman trying to maintain her sobriety in a crazy world (Disney and Hulu). 

Best Food Ever
Take a tour of the “cheesiest” spots on America’s menu, from super cheesy cheeseburgers to a cheesy pizza pot pie (10 p.m., Cooking Channel).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Lying has become somewhat de rigueur, especially in politics. Author Alexandra Petri takes truth-stretching to hilariously inventive extremes in her US History: Important Documents (I Made Up) (WW Norton), a fun, free-wheeling intermingling of fact, fiction, the past and today’s pop culture. If only real history, that we had to study in school, was as entertaining as reading about Emily Dickenson on Family Feud, the Sesame Street gang storming the beaches on D-Day, or Walt Whitman going all Village People and extolling the merits of the YMCA.

THURSDAY, April 13
From Black
A young mother, paralyzed by guilt after the disappearance of her young child five years ago, is presented a bizarre offer to learn the truth and set things right. But how far is she willing to go? Starring Anna Camp, Jennifer Lafleur and John Ales (AMC+).

Celebrity Prank Wars
Hosts Kevin Hart and Nick Cannon are the joke-masters of ceremony for this hilarious series fanning the funny flames of escalating prank wars between celebs, and tonight it’s Taraji P. Henson vs. the singer-actor known as Fantasia (10 p.m., E).

Mar 24 2023
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Books, DVDs, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

March 24 – March 30

Looking for the next big country star, investigating space aliens & celebrating a ‘Young & Restless’ milestone

Reese Witherspoon & Kacey Musgraves are looking for new country stars in “My Kind of Country.”

FRIDAY, March 24
Up Here
Romcom musical series (from Steven Levenson, who wrote Dear Evan Hansen and tick, tick…BOOM!) stars Mae (Good Girls) Whitman and Carlos (Gaslit) Valdes as young couple reevaluating their relationship, along with their hopes, dreams, fears and fantasies (Hulu).

My Kind of Country
Talent-scout country artists Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen and Orville Peck hunt for the next big country star in this new unscripted competition series from executive-producer big shots Reese Witherspoon (a Nashville native!) and Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves (Apple TV+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT


Can you believe it’s been half a century since Pink Floyd’s iconic album first hit the charts? Now a lavish coffee-table book, Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (Thames & Hudson) celebrates the musical milestone with rare and previously unseen photos of the British band on tour, documentation of tour dates, and a visual chronicle of the enigmatic artwork that would become the emblem for one of the most celebrated rock albums of all time.

SATURDAY, March 25
Unexplained: Caught on Camera
Experts attempt to explain unexplainable events, including twin brothers who swear they were abducted by visitors from another world, and an hunter who gets more than any eyeful when he sets up a camera in the Montana wilderness (9 a.m., Travel Channel).

SUNDAY, March 26
Great Expectations
My sixth-grade reading assignment lives on! This new adaptation stars Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, plus a wide cast of others playing characters first presented on the page in Charles Dickens’ coming-of-age classic, which first appeared in 1860 as a serialized magazine story (Hulu).

Rabbit Hole
Nothing is what it seems to be in this new thriller streaming series, in which a master of corporate espionage (24‘s Kiefer Sutherland) is framed for murder by powerful forces with the ability to influence entire populations (Paramount+).

Searching for Mexico
And gee, I thought I already knew where it was… In this six-episode series, actress/producer/director Eva Longoria (right) retraces her cultural and culinary roots south of the border. Produced by Stanley Tucci (10 p.m., CNN).

Succession
The Emmy-winning drama-dark comedy series returns tonight to begin its fourth season, further exploring the power struggle between media magnate Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his four grown children. Alexander Skarsgård returns as a tech visionary (9 p.m., HBO).

Yellowjackets
The hit drama—about a young soccer team that splinters into brutal clans of survivalists after an airplane crash—kicks off season two tonight. Hang on: It’s gonna be another wild ride!  (9 p.m., Showtime).

MONDAY, March 27
Like a Girl
New six-part streaming series profiles championship women in sports—females who turn the derogatory phrase “Like a girl” inside out, including swimmers, volleyball players, soccer stars and basketballers (Fuse).

The Young and the Restless 50th Anniversary Celebration
Has it really been half a century since this iconic daytime soap started stirring up the suds? Yep, and this primetime special commemorates the TV milestone with cast interviews, highlights and a deep dive into the show’s storylines of romance, feuds, rivalries, weddings and wardrobe (8 p.m., CBS).

TUESDAY, March 28
The Movement and The Madman
Find out about this little-remembered chapter of the 1960s, when President Richard Nixon and the antiwar movement came to a tense showdown (9 p.m., PBS).

FBI True
There are certainly a lot of “true crime” shows on TV. But this one is different, taking a gritty look at the real-life pressures faced by agents, in their own words, after events like the Waco standoff and a Manhattan bombing (Paramount+).

BRING IT HOME


A stylish remake of one of the classic anti-war films of all time from 1930, the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front depicts the horrors of World War I from the perspective of young German soldiers who endure the hellishness of battle (Capelight/Netflix). 

WEDNESDAY, March 29
The Big Door Prize
Chris O’Dowd stars in this new comedy series about a small town forever changed with the arrival of a mysterious machine that appears to reveal everyone’s true potential, causing people to re-evaluate their life choices (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, March 30
Rapcaviar Presents
It’s kind of a weird name, but this new documentary series looks at some of today’s most provocative issues through hip-hop artists and newcomers exploring current events and other topics with their music (Hulu). 

Unstable
Rob Lowe stars in this new eight-episode series comedy as a biotech entrepreneur working to make the world a better place while trying to reconcile with his estranged son (Netflix).

Feb 17 2023
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Books, DVDs, Photography, Pop Culture

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 17 – Feb. 23

‘Idol’ returns, Billy Crudup sells timeshares on the moon & Monopoly’s twisted roots

Who’ll hit the jackpot on the new season of “American Idol”?

FRIDAY, Feb. 17
Hello Tomorrow
Ten-episode dramady stars Billy Crudup (from The Morning Show) as a traveling salesman in a future world offering timeshares on the moon. Far out! (Apple TV+).

Carnival Row
Second half of the final season of the fantasy drama, set in a world where humans and creatures clash and starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, starts tonight (Prime Video).

The 12th Victim
True-crime four-part docuseries sheds startling new light on an infamous 1958 case of Charlie Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, a teenage couple charged and convicted of brutally killing 11 victims at random (8 p.m., Showtime).

SATURDAY, FEB. 18
A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story
Christell Stause, Colin Egglefield and Laura Ramsey star in this TV adaptation of a best-selling novel by true-crime author Ann Rule, about a notorious serial wife-killer and the fearless woman who final brings him to justice (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Two contestants survey their surroundings in new episodes of “Naked and Afraid.”

SUNDAY, Feb. 19
Naked and Afraid
Cue the naked bums and the pixels—it’s a new season of the ultimate survival series, which puts contestants in all kinds of inhospitable places wearing nothing but their birthday suits. Who’ll endure, and who’ll “tap out,” in Mexico’s notorious Devil’s Canyon, or the brutal jungles of Guyana? (8 p.m., Discovery Channel).

Magnum: P.I.
Re-filling the sand-filled shoes originally worn by Tom Selleck, Jay Hernandez returns for a new season of this reboot to the role of the Oahu private eye now solving crimes in the same TV universe as Hawaii Five-0 (9 p.m., NBC).

American Idol
The show that pioneered TV’s musical competition genre returns for season 21 with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie leading the search for America’s next singing sensation (8 p.m., ABC).

Biography: WWE Legends
In this corner… Explore the careers and private lives of wrestling superstars in this new docuseries (8 p.m., A&E).

Tournament of Champions IV
Who’s tough enough to chew their way to the top? You’ll find out in this new season of Guy Fieri’s food-competition series, in which chefs from across America clash in a series of high-stakes challenges (8 p.m., Food Network and Discovery).

MONDAY, Feb. 20
American Experience: Ruthless—Monopoly’s Secret History
And you thought the popular, iconic board game was just about moving little tokens around a square, gobbling up property deeds, buying houses and hotels and collecting rent. But the story of how it came to be, as told in this insightful documentary, is one of theft, deception and corporate double-dealing. Should we be surprised? (9 p.m., PBS).

Secrets of Spain
Where are the best stops to pause for a nosh in a trek across Spain. Siblings Giaconda and George Scott, who grew up there, take viewers on a guided tour of great places to dig into the cuisine (and the culture) of the region off the beaten tourist track (10 p.m., Cooking Channel).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Just ahead of this year’s 95th annual Academy Awards, Red Carpet Oscars (Thames & Hudson) is a lavish, photo-packed coffee-table treasury of some nine decades of fashions at the entertainment world’s biggest, most culturally impactive annual event. Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett wrote the foreword.

“Get Back” to the heyday of mop-top mania in this lavish, luminous re-release of Harry Benson’s The Beatles (Taschen), a coffee-table compendium of images (some classics, others rarely seen) by the esteemed Scotland-born photog who chronicled most of the Fab Four’s tours, TV appearances, press conferences, play times and movie productions.

TUESDAY, Feb. 21
Bodycam: On the Scene
Tonight’s episode, “Miracle Escapes,” follows officers as a suspect suddenly pulls off, with a policeman wedged half-inside, half-outside of the car, and then other officers rescue a man perilously stuck on a train track (10 p.m., Investigation Discovery).

Snowfall
Tune in for the beginning of the sixth and final season of the gritty drama series about the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic in California, and various lives it directly affected (FX and Hulu).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal
True-story documentary series about a prominent South Carolina family whose lives start to unravel after the death of a teenager in a boating accident (Netflix).

Breaking Ground
Documentary about a Kansas neighborhood working to restore their community—and trying to “break ground” by rebuilding other Black and brown communities across the country (streaming on PBS Voices on YouTube).

THURSDAY, Feb. 23
Outer Banks
The adventure continues in tonight’s kickoff of season three of the teen mystery drama, set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, as the scrappy group known as the Pogues—washed ashore on an idyllic island—face more obstacles in tracking down the legendary treasure (Netflix).

Jabari Banks as Will as Olly Sholotan as Carlton in “Bel-Aire”

Bel-Aire
Season two of the Fresh Prince “reimagined” spinoff series begins tonight, with Jabari Banks as young Will Smith, who journeys from the mean streets of Philadelphia to the gilded, gated mansions of Hollywood (Peacock).

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