Category Archives: DVDs

Jul 21 2023
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Books, DVDs, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, July 21 – Thursday, July 27

Nicole K roars like a lioness, hot dogs in Cali, dystopian drivers & a Zoey reunion!

Nicole Kidman stars in the new terrorism thriller ‘Special Ops: Lioness’

FRIDAY, July 21
Praise Petey
Animated series about a New York City “it” girl who attempts to modernize her father’s small-town cult. With voices by Annie Murphy, John Cho, Stephen Root, Amy Hill and Christine Baranski (10 p.m., Freeform).

Minx
Season two begins tonight of the L.A.-based workplace comedy, in which a young feminist (Ophelia Lovibond) aligns with a scrappy adult-magazine publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women in the ’70s (9 p.m., Starz).

Jake Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond star in season two of ‘Minx,’ inspired by the rise in the 1970s of fem-centric magazines like ‘Playgirl’ and ‘Cosmopolitan.’

SATURDAY, July 22
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators
Jo Joyner (who plays Lu Shakespeare) and Mark Benton (as Frank Hathaway) wrap up season one tonight with double episodes of this lively BBC crime-solving drama about a hard-boiled detective and his rookie sidekick poking around crimes and misdemeanors in Stratford-Upon-Avon (Ovation).

SUNDAY, July 23
Special Ops: Lioness
Espionage thriller stars Zoe Saldana as a CIA operative trying to prevent the next terrorist attack on America. With Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman (Paramount+).

Carnival Eats
In tonight’s episode, “Some Like It Hot Dog,” host Noah Cappe travels the country to sample more fair food, including the Devil Dog at the OC Winterfest in Costa Mesa, Calif., and other goodies in Tucson and West Palm Beach (9 p.m., Cooking Channel).

Shark Week!
Who better to host than the guy who lives under the sea? Jason Momoa (he plays Aquaman in DC movies) hosts this week-long dive into all stuff shark-y (Discovery).

MONDAY, July 24
Futurama
After a decade-long hiatus, the satirical animated sci-fi series (created by The Simpsons’ Matt Groening) returns, with voices by Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio and Billy West (Hulu).

The Golden Boy
Put ‘em up! Boxing fans will feel like they’re in the ring with this two-part doc on a gloved legend, Oscar De La Hoya, the “Golden Boy” who won an Olympic gold medal at age 19 and went on to become a pro boxing legend—and a role model to the Mexican-American community (HBO).

TUESDAY, July 25
Under G-D
Kicking off a new season of the acclaimed PBS shorts, this 24-minute documentary looks at the abortion controversy through a group of Jewish women fighting to protect rights, uphold the separation of church and state, and oppose rabbis and other clergy who want to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (available on streaming via PBS.org and the PBSApp).

BRING IT HOME

Another new release for movie buffs, Soundies: The Ultimate Collection (Kino Lorber) spotlights some 200 musical “jukebox” short films that kept Americans entertained during the World War II era. These early music videos included performances by Doris Day, Cab Calloway, Liberace, Duke Ellington, Spike Jones, Merle Travis and many more, and they played on coin-operated machines in neighborhood bars and taverns all over the country.

The madcap comedy thriller So I Married an Axe Murderer, starring Nancy Travers and a pre-Austin Powers Mike Myers, is 30 years old! Can you believe it? The new 4K anniversary release contains half an hour of unused and deleted scenes (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).

WEDNESDAY, July 26
On the Case with Paula Zahn
In tonight’s episode, chilling evidence found inside a quaint Utah bookstore leads to the murderer of its beloved owner—or does it? (10 p.m., ID).

Abbott Elementary
It’s not quite back-to-school time, but classroom is in full session of TV’s award-winning comedy series. Tonight, the AE teachers must decide which two of them deserves a plum district award—a pair of courtside tickets to a 76ers game (9:30 p.m., ABC).

LISTEN UP!

Unleash your white winged dove and fly high with Stevie Nicks: Complete Studio Albums and Rarities (Rhino). Available digitally, as a 10-CD box 16 LPs, it’s all of her solo albums, newly unearthed tracks (of course) her hits, including “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” (with Tom Petty), “Leather and Lace” (with Don Henley) and more. Get your Stevie on! 

THURSDAY, July 27
The Slumber Party
Coming of age comedy fiim, based on a YA novel about a hypnotism stunt gone wrong, stars Darby Camp, Emmy Liu-Wang, Valentina Herrera and Dallas Liu (8 p.m., Disney).

Twisted Metal
Anthony Mackie (above) Wil Arnett and Thomas Hayden Church star in this new series, a rock-‘em, sock-‘em adaption of a 2001 video game about drivers and their cars in a Mad Max-ian dystopia (Peacock).

Zoey 102
Jamie Lynn Spears, Erin Sanders and other castmates from the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 return for this new film about an over-the-top wedding and a wild high school reunion (Paramount+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

What’s Fido thinking? Canine behaviorist Louise Glazebrook’s Teach Yourself Dog (Lawrence King) is a fun matching “memory game” of cards leading you to learn how to “speak dog” by recognizing their gestures and looks as signposts to what your fur babies are feeling.

Jul 07 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Fri., July 7 – Thurs., July 13

In-law outlaws, burly barnbuilders, ghosts on camera & Miss America’s scandalous secrets!

“The Outlaws” are really in-laws, and they’re coming to Netflix!

FRIDAY, JULY 7
The Out-laws
Andy Divine, Nina Dubrev, Ellen Barkin and Pierce Brosnan star in this comedy about a to-be-married bank executive who suspects his in-laws are criminals (Netflix).

Salute to Summer
Nick Jonas headlines this live performance special from the Universal Citywalk, produced in partnership with the U.S. Army. Saaaaa-lute, indeed! (Peacock).

SATURDAY, July 8
Barnwood Builders
In the new season of this home-build reality series, host Mark Bowie and his team of West Virginia crafters (above) salvage more antique barns and cabins, repurposing the wood to create awesome new homes (9 p.m., Magnolia).

SUNDAY, July 9
Paranormal: Caught on Camera
Have you ever seen a ghost? Well, this series offers the next best scary thing as it begins a new season of videos purporting to capture unexplainable paranormal phenomena—apparitions, bedroom monsters, shape-shifting extraterrestrials, Bigfoot sightings, weird lights in the sky, and more things that go bump in the night (9 p.m., Travel Channel)

Running Wild with Bear Grylls
New season of the outdoor adventure series finds celebs (including Russell Brand, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rita Ora and Troy Kotsur) push past their comfort zones to find out if they’ve got the right stuff to hang in the elements with the resourceful survivalist (9 p.m., National Geographic).

BRING IT HOME

Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen reunite in Book Club: The Next Chapter (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) for a frisky “girls’ trip” to Italy. With Andy Garcia, Craig T. Nelson and Don Johnson. Bonus features includes interviews with the cast.  

MONDAY, July 10
BBQ Brawl
Ten-episode competition features pitmasters from across America vying for the title of “Master of ‘Cue” with the help of coaches Bobby Flay, Anne Burrell and Sunny Anderson (9 p.m., Food Network).

Secrets of Miss America
Here she is—and she’s swimming in scandal! Find out all about America’s oldest “beauty pageant,” the shocks and controversies at its core, and the organization’s struggle to remain relevant in today’s more-enlightened world (10 p.m., A&E).

Miracle Workers: End Times
It’s a miracle. Well, maybe not exactly. But it is the newest installment of the caustically witty series in which the same actors (Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi, Geraldine Viswanathan and Karan Soni) return each season, but as all-new characters in brand-new scenarios. This time it’s a dystopian future overrun with radioactive mutants, killer robots and a tyrannical homeowner’s association with outrageous fees (10 p.m., TBS).

NOW HEAR THIS

The Grateful Dead perform in Des Moines, Iowa at the State Fairgrounds in May 1973.

Heads up, Deadheads! The newly released Here Comes Sunshine: 1973 (Rhino) is a whopping 17-disc set includes five complete concerts recorded live during the Grateful Dead’s heyday, including one marathon that clocks in at five hours and features Butch Trucks and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers band sitting in. Jam on!  

TUESDAY, July 11
The Ashley Madison Party
Unscripted docuseries follows the rise, fall and resurgence of the dating website targeted to marriage cheats and adultery (Hulu).

Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories
In eight episodes beginning tonight, host David Rubinstein explores America’s history through an examination of iconic symbols, including the American Bald Eagle, the Statue of Liberty, the Hollywood sign, Fenway Park, cowboys and the Golden Gate Bridge (10 p.m., PBS). 

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Impress your friends with all the “movie meals” in Scrounging: A Cookbook (A24 Books), a collection of late-night, last-ditch, throw-together recipes inspired by more than 50 films, including The Breakfast Club, Home Alone, The Martian, Kramer vs. Kramer, Napoleon Dynamite and many more.

Readers of a certain age will certainly remember the late 1960s TV series Laugh In, revolutionary at the time by putting a spicy hippie-counterculture spin on the old-fashioned television variety format. Read all about the man who started it all, producer George Schlatter, in his autobiography Still Laughing: The George Schlatter Story (Rare Bird Books). The behind-the-scenes tale traces his coming-of-age in Hollywood and his idea for a brand new comedy that would ride the ‘60s crest of political upheaval, the Vietnam War, the drug culture and other timely—often controversial—topical events.

WEDNESDAY, July 12
The Afterparty
Tonight begins season two of the whodunnit mystery comedy series, with Tiffany Haddish (below), Sam Richardson and Zoe Chao reprising their roles alongside newcomers including Ken Jeong, Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods and Paul Walther Hauser (Apple TV+).

Celebrating Harry Belafonte
Several evenings of special programming begins tonight honoring the late singer, who died in April. Belafonte was the first Black actor to become a Hollywood leading man, a pop hitmaker and social-activist crusader. It all begins with two of his films from the 1950s, Carmen Jones and The World, The Flesh and the Devil (8 p.m., TCM).

Quarterback
Peyton Manning produced this series, which gives unprecedented access to NFL QBs Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota during games and off (Netflix).

THURSDAY, July 13
Full Circle
An investigation into a botched kidnapping uncovers long-held secrets in present-day New York City in this new streaming series starring Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Timothy Oliphant and Dennis Quaid (Max).

Project Greenlight
Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are producers of this new docuseries, a reinvention of the HBO series of the same name that pulls back the curtain on the filmmaking process as it follows female director Meko Winbush making her first feature film, Gray Matter (Max). 

The Jewel Thief
Watch this unbelievable true-story account of a criminal mastermind, Gerald Blanchard, who leads detectives on a cat-and-mouse game across the globe while he commits increasingly elaborate heists in a quest for fame and notoriety (Hulu).

Jun 30 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

June 30 – July 6, 2023

‘Tough as Nails’ goes north, 4th of July TV specials & where serial killers hide their murderous misdeeds

Meet the competitors for this season’s ‘Tough as Nails.’

FRIDAY, June 30
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
John Krasinski returns to the role of the scrappy super sleuth in the fourth and final season of the action-packed drama series (Prime Video).

Nimona
A knight in a futuristic medieval world is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and a mischievous shape-shifting teen helps him in this animated fantasy series with voices of Riz Ahmed and Chloë Grace Martinez (Netflix).

SATURDAY, July 1
Buried in the Backyard
Where do serial killers hide their victims? Many times, it’s where they never anticipate their misdeeds will be discovered…or uncovered. Season two of the true-crime docuseries returns tonight. Bring your shovel! (8 p.m., Oxygen).

Brandi Carlile: In the Canyon Haze—Live From Laurel Canyon
Well, the title just about says it all. Not all you have to do is watch and listen as the former lead singer of the Go-Gos performs songs that shaped her life in this homage to the vibrant Hollywood Hills music scene (8 p.m., HBO).

SUNDAY, July 2
Tough as Nails
Who’s got what it takes to tough it out on this hit primetime competition that also a salute to the working class? Phil Keoghan returns as host for the new season, this time staged in Canada (8 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, July 3
A Story of Bones
Documentary (above) about the discovery in Africa of an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved people (check local listings, PBS).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Revisit a “golden age” of TV in this flashback to the year color came to television in a major way—the watershed moment in which all three major networks broadcast every show on primetime “in living color.” Primetime 1966-1967 (McFarland) is an affectionate, wide-ranging look at the wide spectrum of shows that aired that momentous year, including classic programs about superheroes, sci-fi, spies, World War II, sitcoms and cops.

TUESDAY, July 4
A Capitol Fourth
For the 43rd year, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol will ring with the patriotic sounds of the 4th of July in this primetime special (8 p.m., PBS).

The Fourth in America
Fireworks and music are on tap in this Independence Day celebration, featuring performances by Alanis Morrisette, Darius Rucker, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Flo Rida, Sheryl Crow, the Zac Brown Band and more (7 p.m., CNN).

WEDNESDAY, July 5
Human Footprint
No, we’re not talking tracking mud into your house. But in another way, well, yeah. This new docuseries explores the many ways humans have left our “marks” on our planet, including putting into motion the global mechanics of climate change (9 p.m., PBS).

CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair
New original documentary tells the story of Nashville’s long-running country music festival, with archival performances and commentary from Vince Gill, Luke Bryan, Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson, Carrie Underwood and dozens of other stars who’ve performed at the event originally known as Fan Fair, so named because of its former “home” at the state fairgrounds (Hulu).

THURSDAY, July 6
Call Her King
A judge (Naturi Naughton from Power Book II: Ghost) who has just sentenced a man (Jason Mitchell) to death suddenly finds herself a hostage when his brother hijacks her courtroom in this gripping original movie drama. Think Die Hard in a courthouse (BET+).

The Lincoln Lawyer
Season two begins of the streaming spinoff about a lawyer (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) who runs his Los Angeles practice from the back seat of his Lincoln (Netflix).

Shawn White: The Last Run
Four-part documentary spotlights the life and career of the three-time Olympic gold medalist and an icon of snowboarding and skateboarding (Max).

Jun 23 2023
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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).

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