Category Archives: Pop Culture

Jul 19 2024
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Books, Movies, Pop Culture

The Entertainment Forecast

July 19 – July 25

A new ‘Time Bandits,’ Harry Connick Jr. rocks & Morgan Freeman’s escape routes

All times Eastern.

Apple TV+’s ‘Time Bandits’ puts a next-gen spin on classic Monty Python humor.

FRIDAY, July 19
Find Me Falling
Hey, is that Harry Connick Jr. (below) in this new movie about an aging rock star taking a break…and discovering an old flame in an unlikely place? Why yes, it is! (Netflix).

Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer
For all you true-crime fans who can’t seem to get enough, this docuseries looks at the real-life Dr. Anne Burgess, whose profiling innovations changed history and stopped many a serial killer (Hulu)

SATURDAY, July 20
Dinner & a Movie
Movie hosts Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen join Food Network chef Shirley Chung for appetizing munchies to accompany the film Crazy Rich Asians (10 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, July 21
Roots of Comedy with Jesus Trejo
Six rising comedians explore the diversity of the United States in their standup (10 p.m., PBS).

How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin
Series returns with a two-hour look at the 1996 bombings at the centennial Olympics in Atlanta, where security guard Richard Jewell was investigated after finding a suspicious backpack under a bench (9 p.m., CNN).

MONDAY, July 22
Candice Renoir
Season nine begins tonight of this import crime drama about a female detective—and frazzled mom (Cecile Bois)—cracking into crime in a French harbor town (Acorn TV).

History’s Greatest Escapes
Host Morgan Freeman (above) returns for season two and exploring daring real-life prison breaks, including Devil’s Island and a WWII death camp (9 p.m., History).

Dress My Tour
Actress/model Kate Upton (below) hosts as 11 aspiring fashion designers as they create stage outfits for some of musicdom’s biggest artists, including Toni Braxton and Paul Abdul (Hulu).

TUESDAY, July 23
Gods of Tennis
Court is in session (get it?) with this new docuseries revolving around the world-famous Wimbledon tournament and players (including Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and Chris Everett) who changed the sport forever (Prime Video).

WEDNESDAY, July 24
Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine
Find out about a sea within the sea, a body of water that’s warming almost twice as fast as the global ocean elsewhere, and what it means for ocean life, and for us (9 p.m., PBS).

Time Bandits
Embark on a rollicking comedic journey through time and space with a group of ragtag thieves and their newest recruit, an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin. Inspired by the 1981 film by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam, this one stars Taika Waititi, Lisa Kudrow and Jermaine Clement (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, July 25
Beat Bobby Flay
Comedian Leslie Jones brings the nuttiness as chefs battle to beat host Bobby Flay at his own game (9 p.m., Food Channel).

BRING IT HOME

Go to the “dark side of the moon” with Have You Got It Yet? (Mercury Studios), a rock-doc DVD about 1970s psych-rock pioneers Pink Floyd and the life and genius of co-founder Syd Barrett. Did you know Pink Floyd was named after a pair of obscure blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council?

Ryan Reynolds and Emily Blunt look like they’re having a ball in The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), a rollicking action-movie comedy spinoff from the 1970s TV series about a Hollywood stuntman who finds himself in some real-world slam-bang action. With loads of bonus content, including gags, alternate scenes and an inside look at the filming in Australia.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

How did some of history’s most lauded, successful civilizations and cultures fail, like the mighty Roman Empire, the Aztecs and ancient kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Byzantium? Author Paul Cooper, a historian and podcaster, takes an enlightening look in Fall of Civilizations (Hanover), with timely insights into how a once-mighty global empire can crumble into a hemispheric has-been.

Jul 05 2024
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DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Steve Harvey celebrates, Zendaya’s love triangle & John Cena goes deep…with sharks!

July 5 – July 11

Steve Harvey celebrates a ‘Family Feud’ milestone this week.

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, July 5
The Real Bros of Simi Valley: High School Reunion
A continuation of the comedy mockmentary series The Real Bros of Simi Valley, this one finds the castmates preparing for the milestone of their 10th high school reunion. Tony Hawk, Zoey Deutch and Rob Riggle are among the new stars (Roku).

Down in the Valley
Buckle up for this wild ride as P-Valley star Nicco Allman goes deep into the deep South in this new docuseries (below) exploring sex workshops, strip clubs and other edgy elements of life below the Mason Dixon—and often, below the waist! (9 p.m., Starz).

SATURDAY, July 6
Amish Affair
An Amish woman (Mackenzie McCall) sets out to prove her innocence after she’s accused of murder (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, July 7
Shark Week
It’s summer, and that means one thing: Another fin-tastic week of shark-related programming hosted by John Cena (Discovery).

Shark Attack 360: Urban Jaws
Follow a shark-bite investigation team as they investigate a shark attack Down Under, fishing for clues across the world that connect the incident in Australia to something even wider…and wilder (9 p.m., National Geographic, Hulu and Disney+).

MONDAY, July 8
BBQ Brawl
Chef Bobby Flay oversees pitmasters from around the country vying for the title “Master of ‘Cue.” Saucy! (9 p.m., Food Network).

The Bachelorette
Join 25 men on their jet-setting journey to find love with Vietnamese beauty Jenn Tran (below) as the 21st season of the hit reality dating show begins tonight (8 p.m., ABC) .

TUESDAY, July 9
Family Feud: Four Decades of Laughs
The primetime star-studded showdown celebrates its milestone 100th episode and its 10th anniversary tonight, with Steve Harvey continuing his reign as host (8 p.m., ABC).

Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order
New series about a group of brilliant young women uniting for the common goal of protecting those law enforcement has ignored (10 p.m., Freeform).

WEDNESDAY, July 10
Sunny
Ten-episode dark-comedy mystery thriller stars Rashida Jones as an American woman in Japan who gets a robot (named Sunny) to fill the void in her life, embarking together on adventure to solve the mystery of the plane crash in which her husband vanished (Apple TV+).

In the Arena: Serena Williams
Eight-part documentary series spotlights the life and legendary career of the tennis superstar (ESPN+).

WEDNESDAY, July 11
The 2024 ESPYS Presented by Capitol One
Ah, remember the good ‘ol days, when advertising sponsors didn’t demand that their brand name be part of the show title? Anyway, tennis legend Serena Williams hosts this annual awards ceremony honoring sports achievements and memorable moments (8 p.m., ABC).

Sausage Party: Foodtopia
New animated series (below) continues the, ahem, adventures of a bunch of randy, raunchy R-rated supermarket items as they build their own society. Voice by Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, Will Forte and others. Hold on to your bratwurst, it’s a crazy ride! (Prime Video).

BRING IT HOME

Put your heebie-jeebies on ice with the latest season of the Max crime-solving series True Detective, this time around starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as a pair of cops trying to solve a really cold cold-case mystery in the prolonged darkness of an Alaska winter. The DVD comes with bonus features, including a cast Q&A and a discussion of this season’s densely woven indigenous themes (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment).

And Zendaya stars as a former tennis prodigy with romantic troubles in Challengers (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment), a sexy love-triangle drama about past and present colliding, and the costs of coming out on top. With The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and Mike Faust.

Jun 28 2024
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Movies, Music, Pop Culture, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

June 28 – July 4

Nicole Kidman’s love triangle, ocean plunderers & Bluey, Beavis & Butthead

All times Eastern.

Nicole Kidman, Zoey King & Zac Efron star in ‘A Family Affair.’

FRIDAY, June 28
Fancy Dance
Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone leads the cast of this new original movie drama about the complexities of being Indigenous women in a colonized world—at the at the mercy of a failed judicial system (Apple TV+)

A Family Affair
Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King star in this new romcom about the comic consequences of a new romance for a young woman and her mom and her movie-star boss (Netflix). 

SATURDAY, June 29
Pirates: Behind the Legends
The series about the great plunderers of the ocean wraps up tonight with two episodes, about Blackbeard (above) and Bartholomew Roberts, a Welshman who became the greatest pirate of the so-called “golden age” in the early 1700s (9 p.m., National Geographic).

SUNDAY, June 30
The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Beach
Food truck operators from all over America compete in a series of challenges in seaside locations on the Gulf Coast from Houston, Texas, to Miami (8 p.m., Food Network).

MONDAY, July 1
The Wall
Contestants in this new competition battle trivia questions and a 40-foot wall for a chance to win millions of dollars, spurred on by host Chris Hardwick (NBC).

No Scope: The Story of FaZe Clan
If you play e-sports, you probably know about the FaZe Clan. This doc looks at the organization and how it became one of the defining stories of entertainment…but not without its costs to its founders (7 p.m., ESPN).

TUESDAY, July 2
Sprint
On your mark, get set….go! Watch elite runners train and navigate intense media scrutiny in this reality series about what drives them to want to become the world’s fastest humans (Netflix).

WEDNESDAY, July 3
Bluey Minisodes
If you love the little cartoon doggie, you’ll gobble up these bite-size, one-to-three-minute morsels of funny and sweet moments with Bluey and Bingo and the world of the hit animated series (Disney Jr. and Disney+).

Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe
The 2022 animated comedy—about creator Mike Judge’s irreverently lowbrow duo that began in the ‘90s on MTV—makes its broadcast premiere tonight as Beavis and Butthead fall into a black hole that sucks them (heh-heh) into the future (10 p.m., Comedy Central).

THURSDAY, July 4
A Capitol Fourth
Watch all-star musical acts perform, plus awesome fireworks, at this year’s live red-white-and-blue show from the heart of Washington D.C. (8 p.m., PBS)

Space Cadet
Emma Roberts stars as a wannabe astronaut who scams her way into NASA’s space program—and becomes its only hope for a dire circumstance (Prime Video).

Jun 22 2024
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Pop Culture, Travel

Spooky in the Smokies!

Gatlinburg’s Mysterious Mansion reigns as the area’s top haunted house…and it might really be haunted!

If you love getting down with some nitty-gritty haunted-house heebie-jeebies, there’s only one place you need to go in the tourist mecca of Gatlinburg, Tenn.

The Mysterious Mansion is not only the scariest place in town, it’s also one of the oldest, most established attractions in the area. It’s a family-owned business that opened back in 1980, and it continues today as a classic “old-fashioned walk-through haunt,” according to general manager Kenneth Counahan. “We have a dedicated staff that absolutely loves what they do.”

By “staff,” he’s talking about all the Mansion’s employees, but particularly the “characters,” who dress like something out of your horror-movie nightmares and lurk throughout the three-story structure, built and detailed to resemble a decrepit and intensely forbidding Victorian manor. They appear and disappear from the maze-like halls and pitch-black passageways, creep up quietly behind you or suddenly confront you around dark corners. When I went through recently, there was a hyperkinetic young woman who looked like she popped out of The Ring, a tattooed and dreadlocked slaughterhouse butcher wearing a mask resembling human flesh, and a hulking “executioner” who might have been taking a smoke break from working the guillotine. It’s like friends of Jason from Friday the 13th, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Freddy Krueger moved in together—and made plans to scare the bejeesus out of anyone nervy enough to crash their party. “They’re always present, whether you see them or not,” says Counahan. “My guys are ‘on’ you from the moment you step into the house until the moment you leave, ready to give you that excitement you came looking for.”

There’s plenty of gory disturbia, like a blood-spattered bathroom and a double sink filled with very realistic severed body-part props and viscera. There are spooky stairwells and a fog-filled space where you can’t see where your next step is taking you. You make your way blindly through a closet packed with old clothes and other places where your eyes really aren’t much use. The scare factor is considerably heightened by not knowing what, or who, might be beside you, behind you, or just inches away from your face. There are flashing lights, strange noises, voices, and a lot of jolty gotchas.

“It’s not just walking through and looking at stuff,” Counahan says. “You’re totally immersed in the environment to the point you might question if you’re gonna make it out OK.” And if you get completely freaked in the middle of your “visit,” there are a couple of “emergency exit” doors that will end your tour pronto.

The Mansion is designed as an actual house, a multi-level, many-roomed manor from a long-ago time—and perhaps still inhabited by the spirits of its former owners. Maybe there’s also some honest-to-gosh ghosts, hints Counahan, who points out the house’s location beside a seven-story hotel, where many years ago a young woman fell from one of the balconies to her death. Sometimes, he says, “people tell us they’ve seen a little girl running around the house, laughing and giggling.” Hmmmm… Then there’s the story (perhaps also true) that the Mansion’s current owner, when she was a little girl, remembers a medium coming to the house to “open a portal between this realm and the next, to invite spirits to come and pass freely inside,” and never closed the door.

Most of the staff have experienced things even they can’t explain—footsteps, voices, laughter, shadows darker than the darkness, and a strange “energy” they feel when walking inside. So, the Mansion not only depicts a haunted house, it might really be a haunted house.

“There’s always that question of the paranormal, what happens after we leave our bodies here and what happens to us after our time here is done,” Counahan says. “It’s that unknown, and the excitement of wanting to know, that keeps bringing people back.”

It all adds up to a supremely scarifying experience, unlike anything you’ll encounter elsewhere in the area…and one that keeps visitors to the Smoky Mountains returning for hefty new haunted-house doses of thrills, chills and good ol’ fright-night fun. It’s open year-round, and the staff continually updates the scares and surprises. But be warned: It’s probably too intense for younger kids, even though none of the characters can touch or make any physical contact with guests.  And if you’re mobility challenged, all the stairs and narrow passageways aren’t for you.

The Mansion is a particularly busy during October, when people flock to the Smokies to see the fall colors—and get in the trick-or-treat spirit. During the week of Halloween, the Mysterious Mansion may see upward of 800 visitors a day. But any time is a great time to be spooked at Gatlinburg’s original spookhouse, where the hauntings might be real, the ghouls are always lurking, and the staff really enjoys their work…scaring you.
“For us,” says Counahan with a grin, “every day is Halloween.”

—Neil Pond

Jun 21 2024
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DVDs, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

June 21 – June 27

The Bear roars back, Jessica Alba fights back & Tom Petty comes back (sorta) for a Florida homecoming

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, June 21
The Speedway Murders
True-crime series about the unsolved 1978 mystery of four teens who vanished while working the graveyard shift at a local Burger Chef in Speedway, Ind., and the later discovery of their bodies in the nearby woods (Apple TV and Prime Video).

Trigger Warning
Jessica Alba stars as a Special Forces commando who finds herself at violent odds with a hometown gang and a powerful senator (Anthony Michael Hall) in this tense drama (below), which has been knocking around in various stages for almost a decade. Now you can see if it was worth the wait! (Netflix).

SATURDAY, June 22
Tom Petty: Live from Gatorville
Concert special captures the late Florida-native rocker’s 2006 performance in his hometown with his Heartbreakers band, his first “homecoming” show in more than a decade (1 p.m., AXS).

Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple
Bruce Springsteen’s longtime guitarist gets the spotlight in this doc featuring interviews from Paul McCartney, Eddie Veder, Bono, Joan Jett, Peter Gabriel and more…including his boss, The Boss! (8 p.m., HBO).

SUNDAY, June 23
Orphan Black: Echoes
Take a deep dive into the exploration of the scientific manipulation of human existence in this new sci-fi series following a group of women as they unravel the mystery of their identity. With Krysten Ritter, Keeley Hawes, Amanda Fix and Avan Jogia (10 p.m., AMC, plus AMC+ and BBC America).

MONDAY, June 24
Out of Darkness
A desperate band of Stone Age humans is hunted by a malevolent, mysterious being in this 2022 horror-thriller parable (below) about our enduring existential urge to destroy what we don’t understand (Paramount+).  

TUESDAY, June 25
I Am: Celine Dion
Documentary about the Canadian superstar singer, her music and how she deals with a rare neurological condition known as stiff person syndrome (Prime). 

Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge
Learn all about the iconic designer and her 50-year career as a female pioneer in a male-dominated fashion field (Hulu).

WEDNESDAY, June 26
Land of Women
Six-episode drama (above) stars Eva Longoria (who also produced) as a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she’s forced to flee the city with her aging mother and teenage daughter (AppleTV+).

Fear Thy Neighbor
New season offers more real-life cases of conflicts between neighbors that escalate into all-out warfare and end in shocking violence. As Commodus asked the crowd in Gladiator: Are you not entertained? (9 p.m., ID).

THURSDAY, June 27
The Bear
Roll up your sleeves and get back in the kitchen for season three of The Bear, the hit workplace drama about frazzled workers at a Chicago restaurant starring Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bacharach (Hulu).

Presidential Debate
President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump face off in their first of two planned debates ahead of the 2025 election. Are you ready to rumble? (9 p.m., CNN).

BRING IT HOME

The new Collector’s Edition 4K restoration of director Joe Dante’s gleefully gizmo-ed 1990s classic Matinee—about a master movie showman (John Goodman) who truly believes in giving audiences of his schlocky ‘60s sci-fi flicks their money’s worth—arrives with a bunch of fun bonus features, including commentary, interviews with the cast, and behind-the-scenes docs.

Director George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat is a feel-good true story about how in the 1930s an underdog team from the University of Washington went on row, row, row their boat at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. Starring Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner and James Wolk.

I once wrote a magazine’s cover story on film noir, what it is, how it began and why it’s still a thing. Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema (Kino Lorber) is an excellent tour of the dark alleys, lonely streets and troubled souls that populated the genre in post-WWII America, with three newly restored classics: Dark City (featuring the movie debut of Charlton Heston!), No Man of Her Own (with Barbara Stanwyck), and Beware, My Lovely (starring Ida Lupino). The collection also features trailers and commentary.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its theatrical, the new Blu-ray release of Purple Rain (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) reminds us of Prince’s smashing acting debut, and it includes commentary and music videos for the flick’s hit songs, including “Jungle Love,” “The Bird,” “Sex Shooter,” “When Doves Cry,” “Take Me with U,” “I Would Die for You” and, of course, “Purple Rain.”

The new Blu-ray edition of director Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro and a young Jodie Foster, gets spiffed with hi-def remastering and bonus features including commentary from Scorsese, a Q&A with the cast and more new featurettes. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

Groove like it was yesteryear with Revival 69: The Concert That Rocked the World (Kino Lorber), a rock doc about the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival. The all-star concert featured Alice Cooper, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Geddy Lee…and John Lennon with wife Yoko Ono, making his first public appearance with the Plastic Ono Band, and sealing his decision to leave the Beatles. 

Is it getting cold in here, or is that just Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)? Now on DVD, the latest in the franchise features a threat that could turn the Big Apple into a giant icebox. Can Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Patton Oswalt and the original GB OGs (Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd) warm up this chilly ghost fest?

Jun 14 2024
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Books, DVDs, History, Movies, Music, Photography, Pop Culture, Sports, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

June 14 – June 20

Get to know Poison’s Bret Michaels, go house-hunting with Reese Witherspoon, & hold on to your car when you visit Las Vegas!

Find all about Bret Michaels of the band Poison in this week’s episode of ‘Biography.’

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, June 14
The Boys
The “boys” are back for season four of the satirical superhero series, dishing out more wallops of vigilante justice to so-called do-gooders doing bad things (Prime Video).

Mama June: Family Crisis
Who would have thought Honey Boo Boo would have such a lasting cultural impact? New episodes of the spinoff, about Boo Boo’s mother, spin around issues of declining health, college and legal woes, below (9 p.m., WE tv).

SATURDAY, June 15
Find My Country House
Leave the city life behind in this new series from Reese Witherspoon’s production company, in which couples search for their dreams of rural paradise, from high-tech farmhouses to seclued ranches and cute hideaway cottages (12 p.m., A&E).

Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story
A love triangle turns deadly and leads to a manhunt in this real-life drama starring Caity Lotz, Kyle Schmid and Larissa Dias (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, June 16
Biography
Get a backstage pass into the lives and music of some of rock’s biggest superstars in this new series of specials kicked off tonight by Bret Michaels, and followed in coming weeks by Dee Snider, Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar and more (9 p.m., A&E).

House of the Dragon
Season two begins of the Game of Thrones spinoff series (below), a prequel taking place 200 years earlier, starring Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy and Rhys Ifans (9 p.m., HBO).

Sin City Tow
If you park your car while you party in Las Vegas but lose track of time, Sin City Tow may take it away. This new reality series looks at the often hot-tempered towing scene in a city where people go to win big, but usually end up losing their shirts…or their cars! (9 p.m., Discovery).

MONDAY, June 17
My Life is Murder
Lucy Lawless returns for season four as the fearless Aussie investigator Alexa Crowe as she digs into eight new mysteries and a fresh batch of diabolical killers (Acorn TV).

The Great American Recipe
Home cooks from across the country showcase their culinary talents as they compete in this taste-tempting celebration of multiculturism (9 p.m., PBS).

Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown
How did the idealistic religious organization led by the infamous Jim Jones go horribly wrong, leaving almost a thousand followers dead in Guyana? This new doc looks at the story behind some of the most horrendous headlines of the 1970s (Hulu).

TUESDAY, June 18
Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution
Three-part docuseries puts the spotlight on disco music, its groovy beginnings and its top artists and icons—like Donna Summer, below— and how it became a major musical liberation movement in the 1970s representing female empowerment and LGBTQ+ identity (9 p.m., PBS).

Here to Climb
Follow pro climber Sasha DiGiulian (below) on her rise from child prodigy to champion sport climber, scaling the biggest, scariest walls on the planet—charting her own vertical course where pathways don’t exist (9 p.m., HBO).

Hope in the Water
Travel the globe in this documentary featuring Shailene Woodley and Martha Stewart as they explore creative solutions and breakthroughs that might be our future of sustainable “blue food” from the oceans (9 p.m., PBS).

WEDNESDAY, June 19
Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics
Two-hour documentary showcases Owens’ historic triumph over Nazi Germany during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. LeBron James is one of the producers (8 p.m., History).

Dynamic Planet
Four-part series filmed over three years explores the effects of climate change on all seven continents and their inhabitants, and how science, nature, and Indigenous knowledge can prepare us for the future (8 p.m., PBS)

THURSDAY, June 20
Rear Window
Director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic—about an apartment resident with a broken leg who helplessly witnesses what he thinks is a murder out his window—stars Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly…and Raymond Burr as a very bad guy (9 p.m., TCM).

Slave Play. Not a Movie
Provocative documentary takes viewers inside the buzzy Broadway play about race, sex and interracial relationships (9 p.m., HBO).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

When I was a kid, I was fascinated with volcanos—mountains that spewed rocks and fire. My interest was generated primarily by seeing them in the background of illustrations of dinosaurs. Adventures in Volcanoland (Hanover Square Press) is a deeper, far much more fascinating and fact-filled look at these monstrously magnificent mountains, with acclaimed geochemist Dr. Tasmin Mather as your guide to volcanos in history, the science of eruptions, and how volcanos drive our planet’s “constant cycles of ebb and flow, destruction and renewal.”

So you think you know Paris? Not the international Euro destination city, but the Hilton Hotel heiress who became a pop-culture marquee name? Find out all about the life and times of Paris Hilton in Paris: The Memoir (William Morrow), her autobio now in paperback. From rebellious teen to wilderness camps and sexual abuse, and becoming a queen of celebrity culture, I’m betting there’s a lot you didn’t know about Paris.

Sci-fi lovers will love The First Geeks (McFarland) and its spotlight on the lives and careers of writer Ray Bradbury, monster-mag man Forrest J. Ackerman and effects genius Ray Harryhausen, back from when they were comic-book nerds and buddies in the 1930s…and long before they were household names in filmdom. Ackerman became the editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland; Bradbury was an author highly sought by Hollywood for his novels and screenplays; and Harryhausen went on to become a pioneer of stop-motion animation.

BRING IT HOME

Jeffrey Wright was nominated for multiple awards, including an Oscar, for his starring role in American Fiction as an erudite Black man who confronts racist stereotypes head-on, with a pen instead of a sword. With Tracee Ellis Ross, Leslie Uggams, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown. Highly recommended!

Up your nose with a rubber hose! Relive all the heartwarming humor and hijinks of the beloved 1970s sitcom series Welcome Back, Kotter, starring Gabe Kaplan as a grownup graduate of a tough Brooklyn high school now returning to teach there and tame an unruly class of troublemakers, including a young John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino. The handsome boxed set of DVDs includes all 95 episodes.

Jun 07 2024
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Books, DVDs, Humor, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

June 7 – June 13

Kelly Clarkson’s a contender, Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘Presumed Innocent,’ & the Brat Pack is back!

Will Kelly Clarkson reign for daytime show queen at this year’s Daytime Emmys?

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, June 7
Queenie
Dionne Brown stars in this new drama series as a young Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and not feeling like she belongs in either. Based on a best-selling novel by Candice Carty-Williams (Hulu).

The Daytime Emmy Awards
It’ll be more than soap suds at tonight’s 51st annual awarding of honors to all kinds of programming—daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary and legal/courtroom programs—that air during daylight hours. But the show’s at night. Go figure (8 p.m., CBS). 

Hit Man
Confusion and comedy ensue when a straight-laced professor pretends to be a professional assassin (above). Starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, and directed by Richard Linklater (Netflix).

SATURDAY, June 8
Snowpiercer
The final season of the post-apocalyptic thriller series begins tonight, with Jennifer Connelly, Sean Bean and others returning to the remnants of humanity on a perpetually moving train across a frozen wasteland (9 p.m., AMC).  

SUNDAY, June 9
Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story
Based on a true story, this lurid tale stars Jana Kramer and Austin Nichols as former childhood sweethearts whose marriage goes on the rocks when his circumstances take a suspicious turn (9 p.m., Lifetime).

MONDAY, June 10
Six Schizophrenic Brothers
An all-American family in Colorado is torn apart in this new docuseries when six of 12 siblings develop schizophrenia. It’s a heart-wrenching true story that made medical history (8 p.m., Discovery).

TUESDAY, June 11
How Music Got Free
Remember how you used to have to buy music? This docuseries shows how tech-driven disruption and file sharing created the means and the motive for a new generation of young people to participate in outright theft…and be celebrated for it (Paramount+).

Love Island
TV personality Ariana Madix from Vanderpump Rules hosts the new season of this hedonistic competition with sexy singles giving off pheromones on a tropical island oasis (Peacock).

Deadliest Catch
It ain’t exactly Spongebob stuff as the new season of the docuseries about risk-taking crab fisherman on the Bering Sea begins tonight (8 p.m., Discovery).

WEDNESDAY, June 12
Presumed Innocent
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this eight-episode sexy thriller (above), a remake of the 1990 movie starring Harrison Ford about a legal-eagle attorney accused of killing his mistress. Remember, he’s presumed innocent… With Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, Peter Sarsgaard and Elizabeth Marvel (Apple TV+).

Can’t Cancel Pride
Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Melissa Etheridge and others join forces to recognize the impact of music and the contributions of LGBTQ+ organizations and artists in the entertainment community (Hulu).

THURSDAY, June 13
Alone
In tonight’s beginning of its new season, this high-stakes competition puts ten seasoned survivalists in the freezing northlands of Canada, equipped with only basic tools to face bone-chilling cold, ice all around and an assortment of predators, including bears, wolves and moose. At the end: A half a million dollars to the last person standing (9:30 p.m., History).

Brats
New documentary feature about the iconic, generation-defining “brat pack” movies of the 1980s was directed by Andrew McCarthy, who should know—he starred in many of them, including St. Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero and Weekend at Bernies (Hulu).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

How does Darth Vader keep his Death Star warm? With a space heater! Why do Wookies have so much hair? Fur protection! These and many, many more galactically funny ha-has can be found in Stars Wars Dad Jokes (Chronicle Books), a perfect Father’s Day gift for the pop who has everything…except a ready arsenal of so-bad-they’re good Stars Wars jokes! 

BRING IT HOME

Its a classic combo in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) as the two former foes unite against a formidable threat to monsters as well as men. Starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens.

May 31 2024
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The Entertainment Forecast

May 31 – June 6

The woman behind the girls who just wanna have fun, what really happened to OJ’s wife & Disney reclaims Sunday nights

New documentary spotlights the life, career and cultural impact of Cyndi Lauper.

All times Eastern

FRIDAY, May 31
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary
Concert event honors the duo who wrote some of Broadway and Hollywood’s most memorable showtunes, such as “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss” and “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” from iconic musicals including Oklahoma!, State Fair, The King and I, Carousel and The Sound of Music (9 p.m., PBS).

Couples Therapy
The award-winning docuseries returns for another season of Dr. Orna Guralnik guiding couples through conflicts (streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime).

SATURDAY, June 1
The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson
The courtroom drama of O.J. Simpson murder charge became the crime of the century in 1995. This new doc pulls back the curtain on the victim, O.J.’s wife, and features interviews with more than 50 participants, including those who were closet to her. And it’s done in partnership with the Domestic Abuse Hotline (8 p.m., Lifetime) 

The Price is Right
In honor of Game Show Day (in case you didn’t know that was a thing!), you can watch the late, great Bob Barker hosting old episodes (1984-1985) of the classic daytime come-on-down competition (3 p.m., Buzzr).

SUNDAY, June 2

The Mayor of Kingston
In season three of the gritty crime thriller (above), Kingston “mayor” Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner, returning after his debilitating snowblowing accident) faces an infiltrating Russian mob, a drug war and his own past as an inmate in the local prison (Paramount+)

Billy the Kid
Want shootouts and wild horse chases? Well, saddle up with the notorious young-looking outlaw (Tom Blythe) as he gets into more Old West trouble in season two (9 p.m., MGM+).

The Wonderful World of Disney
The show that was one a staple of Sunday night returns with Inside Out (above), the animated 2015 flick about childhood emotions voiced by Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling and Lewis Black (8 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, June 3
Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color
Idris Elba narrates this four-part series about soldiers of color, shedding new light on the contributions of some 8 million individuals who fought valiantly for the Allied forces (8 p.m, NatGeo).

Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup
New docuseries picks up on the post-prison life of the woman convicted of murder in Missouri for hiring a hitman to kill her mother, who had falsely claimed her daughter was suffering from a variety of illnesses—some of which the mom had induced (9 p.m., Lifetime).

TUESDAY, June 4
Clipped
Laurence Fishburn and Ed O’Neill star in this new series based on a true story—a notorious NBA owner’s racist remarks captured on a tape heard around the world…and the fallout that followed (Hulu).

Let the Canary Sing
Documentary explores the cultural impact of Cyndi Lauper and the long-lasting legacy of the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” ‘80s singer (Paramount+).

WEDNESDAY, June 5
An Audience with Kylie
Global superstar Kylie Minouge performs her hits and invites special guests to join her onstage in this musical extravaganza at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall (Hulu).

THURSDAY, June 6
Criminal Minds: Evolution
The hit franchise returns for a new season with Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook and Kirsten Vangsness leading the cast as the FBI profiles investigate a conspiracy with an unexpected complication (Paramount+)

Queer Planet
Actor Andrew Rannells narrates this playfully insightful documentary about nature’s hidden LGBTQ community and its spectrum of “unconventional” behaviors. It’s a Gay Pride parade marching across the animal kingdom! (Hulu).

BRING IT HOME

The story of the first Black regiment to fight for the North in the Civil War gets a new shine in the 4K Ultra HD new “steelbook” release of Glory (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment). Released theatrically in 1989, it stars Denzel Washington (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick and Cary Elwes, and comes with commentary, behind-the-scenes documentaries and featurettes.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

If you think Washington is a mess now, wait until you read The Hidden History of the White House (Willliam Morrow). Author Cory Mead deep dives into the populist mob than ransacked the place (sound familiar?) after Andrew Jackson’s disastrous 1829 inauguration; how Woodrow Wilson’s wife became a “shadow” president; when Sir Winston Churchill came on a covert mission to huddle with FDR about how the Allies could win WWII…and many more dramatic events, power struggles, world-altering decisions and shocking scandals that all happened inside the walls of America’s most famous residence.

The 1977 WWII film A Bridge Too Far featured an all-star cast, some of the most intense battle scenes ever filmed and a level of gritty combat “authenticity” that has stood the test of time. In Making a Bridge Too Far (GoodKnight Books), author/filmmaker Simon Lewis transports readers back to the production of the film, shot on location in the Netherlands (where its events took place), with insights from many of the cast (which included Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Elliot Gould, Michael Caine and Lawrence Oliver) and immersive details and insights about making a war movie believable in an era decades before Saving Private Ryan and today’s slam-bang special effects.

If your eyes were glued to the coverage of the recent Met Gala, you’ll really dig Fashion Faux Parr (Phaidon), a collection of British fashion photographer Martin Parr’s eye-popping coverage of fashion for high-end magazines and behind the scenes at major fashion events. With some 250 color images, it’s a swirling look inside a world where looks reign supreme.

May 24 2024
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The Entertainment Forecast

May 24 – May 30

Lainey Wilson’s ‘Bell Bottom Country,’ JoLo hunts a robot & cowboy stars saddle up

All times Eastern.

ABC’s Robin Roberts spotlights Lainey Wilson in a new documentary special.

FRIDAY, May 24
Atlas
Jennifer Lopez goes on the hunt for a renegade robot in this futuristic sci-fi thriller with a timely theme about artificial intelligence (Netflix). 

Off Script with the Hollywood Reporter
Series features ensembles of actors from TV shows and films (including Abbott Elementary, Fargo, Saturday Night Live, Frasier) delving into issues affecting the entertainment industry and their livelihoods, filmed on location in Hollywood’s Georgian Hotel (AMC+).

SATURDAY, May 25
Gaga Chromatica Ball
Concert special features the 13-time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter and Oscar winner Lady Gaga performing at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium during her 2022 tour (8 p.m., HBO).

SUNDAY, May 26
The Dirty Dozen
Your afternoon matinee movie can be this 1967 all-star combat classic, with Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, former NFL great Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas as a motley crew of military misfits trained as commandos for a suicide mission ahead of the Allied landing at Normandy (2:15 p.m., TCM).

MONDAY, May 27
Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter
On the heels of Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV comes this new docuseries diving into the accusations of rape and sexual assault, and other controversies swirling around the ill-fated brothers after falling from the spotlight as pop stars (9 p.m., ID).

The Truth
Israeli courtroom drama opens the day after a controversial murder case is about to reach its final verdict…and an identical murder takes place (Acorn TV).

Memorial Day Western Marathon
Saddle up for a full day of Wild Western action with Hollywood honchos including John Wayne (Stagecoach), Burt Lancaster (The Rainmaker), Willie Nelson (Red Headed Stranger), Robert Mitchum (El Dorado), Kenny Rogers (The Gambler) and Gary Cooper (High Noon). Begins 8 a.m., HDNet). 

John Wayne and Robert Mitchum share the stage(coach) in ‘El Dorado.’

TUESDAY, May 28
Fiennes Return to the Wild
Dubbed the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Randolph Fiennes and his cousin (actor Joseph Fiennes) embark on a colorful journey through Canada’s British Columbia, sharing adventure and strengthening their family bond (10 p.m. National Geographic).

WEDNESDAY, May 29
Lainey Wilson: Bell Bottom Country
How did a young woman from a rural farming town become one of the hottest singers in country music, a three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and a Grammy winner? Find out in this primetime special produced by GMA’s Robin Roberts (Hulu).

THURSDAY, May 30
We Are Lady Parts
The season two adventures (above) of a Muslim female punk band in the UK, created, written and directed by Nida Manzoor and inspired by her own musical childhood (Peacock).

Die Hart II
Comedian Kevin Hart returns in this sequel, playing a fictional version of himself as he tries to firm up his legacy as the greatest action star of all time with a revolutionary new movie (Prime Video).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

In Life’s Too Short (Harper Collins), singer/songwriter Darius Rucker tells his life story through more than 20 songs (by artists as varied as Frank Sinatra and KISS) that made him and shaped his as he became the front man of Hootie the Blowfish and later, a hitmaking country music performer—and the first Black country artist to crack into the business in decades.

Get high with The Art of Climbing (WWNorton), a dazzling photographic collection of photographs by Simon Carter of the world’s greatest rock- and mountain-climbing spots, and the world-class climbers who risk life and limb to conquer them. You can see what’s it like to be a fearless daredevil from the comfort (and relative safety) of your armchair!

BRING IT HOME

Johnny Depp leads the cast of director John Waters’ Cry Baby (Kino Lorber), the 1990 cult classic now getting its first release as a newly restored 4K version. It’s a rockin’ tale about a rich beautiful “square (Amy Locane) who falls for an irresistible juvenile delinquent (Depp) in the 1950s. With new bonus features, like commentary and behind the scenes featurettes—including Traci Lords, who was then making her transition from porn to mainstream cinema.

May 17 2024
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Books, DVDs, History, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

May 17 – May 23

Black Panthers, a big ‘Big Bang’ marathon & a bunch of bloomin’ British flowers

Watch “Big Bang Theory” episodes curated by one of the cast members!

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, May 17
Thelma the Unicorn
A pony who dreams of becoming a glamorous music star in magically transformed into a unicorn, where she finds that fame comes at a cost. From the directors of Napoleon Dynamite, with a cast voiced by Jon Heder, Zach Galifianakis, Will Forte and Brittany Howard (Netflix).

The Big Cigar
André Holland stars as Huey P. Newton in this new limited series (below) about the Black Panther leader’s escape from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of a famed movie producer and a crazily elaborate plan that goes wrong in every possible way. And it’s all true…mostly! (Apple TV+)

SATURDAY, May 18
Big Bang Theory Marathon
Watch a slate of favorite episodes of the hit sitcom, selected by Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj (8 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, May 19
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show
All you lovers of buds, stems and blossoms—check out the most prestigious flower show in the world with this 13-episode series featuring England’s top show gardens, horticultural experts and celebrity interviews (Britbox).

Ciao House
Chefs Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini welcome a dozen up-and-coming culinary stars to southern Italy to prove their mastery of Mediterranean cuisine, divided into teams living in a 16th century villa (8 p.m., Food Network).

MONDAY, May 20
The Tuba Thieves
What does it mean to listen? This acclaimed documentary uses the theft of tubas from Los Angeles schools (which really happened) to explore a larger issue of “hearing” (10 p.m., PBS). 

Race to Survive: New Zealand
Contestant navigate 150 challenging miles of New Zealand’s harshest terrain by endurance racing, survival skills and sheer intuition…and the hopes of winning half a million dollars (11 p.m., USA).

TUESDAY, May 21
Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza
What started three decades ago as a farewell tour for the band Jane’s Addiction rose from the underground to become one of the largest festivals in the world. Find out how and why in this rockin’ documentary (Paramount+).

The Riot Report
Documentary explores 1967’s turbulent summer of racial unrest, and the commission created by then-President Lyndon Johnson to address it—and how a shockingly unvarnished report became a pivotal moment in history (9 p.m., PBS).

WEDNESDAY, May 22
Decoding the Universe
Documentary reveals how the decades have brought new discoveries about the cosmos—planets beyond our solar system, supermassive black holes, dark matter and thousands of previously unknown galaxies—and how the information is reshaping our views of what’s “out there”…and if it might all end as it began, with a “Big Bang” (9 p.m., PBS).

Trying
Season four of the critically acclaimed comedy series finds Nikki and Jason (Esther Smith and Rafe Spall) putting their parenting skills to the test when their teenage daughter (Scarlett Rayner) expresses her longing for a connection with her birth mother (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, May 23
Evil
In its final season of the supernatural drama series, the trio of investigators encounter possessed pigs, demonic infestation, and evil relic, an embryonic antichrist and other nastiness—including the disbandment of their team (Paramount+).

Don’t Forget the Lyrics
So you think you remember how a song goes. Put your musical memory to the test with tonight’s kickoff for a new season of the generation-spanning competition hosted by Niecy Nash, above (9 p.m., Fox).

The 1% Club
Actor/comedian Patton Oswald hosts this new game show (below), based on a super-successful U.K. series, testing the intelligence of studio contestants playing for the night’s cash prize, as well as viewers watching at home (Prime Video).

BRING IT HOME

One of the most acclaimed films of 2013 sparkles anew in the new 4K restoration of American Hustle (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), a rollicking con saga about a pair of scam artists (Amy Adams and Christian Bale), an ambitious FBI agent (Bradley Cooper), a sting operation involving a politician (Jeremy Renner) and a microwave-loving housewife (Jennifer Lawrence). Until, that is, it all comes crashing down on everyone. With deleted scenes and a making-of doc.

READ ALL ABOUT

The “voice” of many Doobie Brothers megahits, Michael McDonald, is profiled in What a Fool Believes (Dey Street), written with his good buddy and musical friend, actor Paul Reiser. It’s a compelling pull-back of the curtain to the skilled keyboardist, soulful singer and lifelong music man behind such songs as “It Keeps You Runnin’,” “You Belong to Me,” “Takin’ It to the Streets” and (of course) “What a Fool Believes.”

How has America changed since the events of 9-11? In Look at the USA: A Diary of War and Home (Thames & Hudson), photographer Peter van Agtmael chronicles the war in Iraq, its aftershocks that reached deep into the life “back home,” and the ways society changed politically and socially as it drifted toward nationalism and the election of Donald Trump.

How do you turn classic tales into a comic book? In the new third edition of Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History (McFarland), author William Bryan Jones shows how one pen led to another in the comic-book series that, from 1941 to 1969, made “illustrated editions” of Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Rip Van Winkle, Jesus and Moses and thousands of others. With reproductions of covers as well as inside “panels,” it’s an encyclopedia of pulpy entertainment!

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