The Media Tourist

What to watch, and more, Sept. 19 – 25!

A Batman marathon, Farm Aid returns & inside the event that was Lilith Fair

FRIDAY, Sept. 19
Night of the Reaper
A year after a young woman is brutally murdered, her sister returns home—as does the killer—in this network original nail-biter (Shudder). 

Happy Mess Method
Organizational expert Sabrina Soto and New York Times bestselling author Jennifer McCartney help celebrity and non-celebrity clients in this new series to find realistic and sustainable methods for keeping their homes tidy (Roku).

SATURDAY, Sept. 20
Batman Day
Celebrate the caped crusader with a marathon of movies, starting with Batman, followed by Batman Returns, The Batman and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And if you want more, well, bat’s all, folks! (11 a.m., TNT).

Farm Aid 40
The concert event to help farmers hits the big 4-0 this year, live from Minneapolis with performances by original founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, plus Dave Matthews and Margo Price (7 p.m., CNN)

SUNDAY, Sept. 21
A Grammy Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire Live: The 21^st Night of September
Honoring the genre-bending Chicago-based band whose hits include “Sing a Song,” “Fantasy,” “Let’s Groove,” “Shining Star” and “Boogie Wonderland” (8 p.m., CBS).

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery
Feature-length documentary offers the untold story of the groundbreaking music festival (above) that featured only female artists, started by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and her team in the 1990s in opposition to systemic barriers to women in the music business (Hulu).

MONDAY, Sept. 22
The Bitter Pill
Documentary follows an attorney who takes on pharma giants in the wake of the vast devastation cause by opioids in his West Virginia community, resulting in the largest civil litigation in U.S. history (PBS).

The Voice
NBC’s four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series returns with all-star coaches Michael Bublé, Snoop Dogg, Niall  Horan and Reba McEntire reclaiming their red chairs for season 28 (7 p.m., NBC).

TUESDAY, Sept. 23
The Lowdown
New series follows the gritty exploits of a citizen journalist (Ethan Hawke) whose obsession with the truth always seems to get him in trouble, especially when he noses around after the suspicious suicide of a powerful family’s “black sheep” (Tim Blake Nelson) (FX, Hulu).

Murder in a Small Town
A new police chief (Rossif Sutherland) relocates to a quiet coastal town in this new series, but quickly learns that the paradise-like setting holds many dark secrets (8 p.m., Fox).

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24
The Golden Bachelor
Two-hour season premiere features a new leading-man hunk, Mel Owens, lookin’ for love on the hit dating reality show (8 p.m., ABC).

99 to Beat
New game show hosted by Ken Jeong and Erin Andrews pits 100 contestants in a gauntlet of games and competitions, with one of them eventually winning $1,000,000 (9 p.m., Fox).

THURSDAY, Sept. 25
The Amazing Race
38^th season premiere kicks things off tonight with racing competitors from TV’s Big Brother (9 p.m., CBS).

Special Forces: The World’s Toughest Test
Celebs from all genres and walks of life take on, and try to survive, demanding training exercises just like “real” special forces agents in tonight’s season four launch (9 pm., Fox).

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38 Special, the Southern rockers who gave the world the hits “Hold On Loosely” and “Caught Up in You,” celebrate five decades of musical togetherness with Milestone, their first album in more than 20 years. Guest stars Randy Bachman (from Bachman-Turner Overdrive) and Pat Monihan (from Train) join the party, and the band is touring in support of the new release. Rock on, Southern boys!

Soul master Ray Charles’ long-out-of-print 1963 album Ingredients in a Recipe of Soul is newly released on vinyl, with a tasteful blend of genre-hopping pop and soul that made him a hitmaker and signaled his musical director for the decades to come. It’s a feast for the ears with tracks including  “Busted,” “That Old Lucky Sun,” “Over the Rainbow” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

BRING IT HOME

Superhero mythology gets a Mesoamerican tweak in Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), which puts a new animated version of the caped crusader against a backdrop of deep-dish Mexico history—and into a tale of a young Aztec boy who experiences tragedy when his father is murdered by Spanish Conquistadors.

Marvel anew to the stop-motion mastery of director Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), the newly mastered 2005 classic featuring the voices of Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant and Christopher Lee.

Look! Up in the air! It’s Superman (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), the latest big-screen incarnation of the iconic Man of Steel. Director Peter Gunn (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame) creates a vibrantly imagined DC universe with epic action, humor and heart, delivering a new Superman (David Corenswet) driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.

One of crime fiction’s greatest detective sidekicks—Sherlock Holmes’ loyal assistant—was reinvented earlier this year for TV in a modernized version. Now you can own the first season of the CBS series Watson (Paramount Pictures), starring Morris Chestnut as a former London detective now running a clinic and cracking medical mysteries.  

Fortified with new upgrades, the rampaging robot dolly makes her return in M3GAN 2.0, this time fighting a new military-grade techno-horror. With Allison Williams, Violet McGraw and Jenna Davis.

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Get busy rockin’ and readin’ with Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree (Harper Collins Focus), a nostalgic guide to holiday celebrations inspired by the classic yuletide classic from Brenda Lee. Filled with recipes, drinks, crafts, activities, games and topics like the history of mistletoe, how to choose a tree and ornaments, it’s an ideal holiday companion for just about anyone. And you’ll even get Brenda Lee’s own recipe for Praline Pumpkin Pie!

Forget about fussing around in the kitchen, you should be paying more attention to the company in your living room. That’s the message, or part of it, in Let The Biscuits Burn (Nelson Books), author Abby Kuykendall’s advice to hosts and hostesses about putting hospitality and home entertaining at the fore, and how welcoming others into your home makes for a richer, fuller life. And what’s God got to do with it? You’ll find out that, too.

What’s it like to live in a tropical paradise? Well, most of us won’t ever know first-hand, but The Iconic Tropical House (Thames & Hudson) architectural photographer Patrick Bingham-Hall shows off homes in exotic spots in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and other far-flung ports of call, explaining why they look so, well, tropical—a combination of climate, location, colonization and modernism. So kick off your shoes, relax, feel the breeze, and let the 350 high-quality photographs take you there.

Here kitty, kitty! In Cat Tales: A History (Thames & Hudson), you’ll learn from anthropologist Jerry D. Moore all about our long, incredible and even improbable history of relationships with felines, and how they became one of the most popular domesticated animal companions in the world. From fearsome prehistoric predators to spoiled house pets, it’s all here. And it asks the purr-fect question, Who domesticated who? Illustrated with photos, maps and artwork. 

Since the beginning of time, humans have longed to fly, like the birds. Iver P. Cooper‘s But Will It Fly? (McFarland) is a sprightly history of the many unconventional ways our predecessors tried to get off the ground, with muscles, steam, sails, oars, flapping wings and rockets. Find out all about it in this colorful, richly detailed history of our long history of trying to get up in the air.

What to Watch and More, March 7 – March 13

Hugh Grant breaks bad, SNL’s gaga for Gaga, Ringo’s big night & Carrie U joins AI!

FRIDAY, March 7
Heretic
Hugh Grant plays bad in this white-knuckle horror movie (above) as a strange man who invites a couple of Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) into his secluded home…and some awful things start to happen (Max).

When No One Sees Us
Spanish-language series explores crimes in the political and cultural frontier of so-called “deep Spain,” and one of the largest U.S. military bases abroad, during the celebration of Holy Week (Max).

SATURDAY, March 8
Saturday Night Live
The iconic weekend comedy cornerstone, fresh off its landmark 50^th anniversary celebrations, returns to live TV with tonight’s host and musical guest, Lady Gaga, doing double duty, marking her second appearance as host and her fifth as performer (11:30 p.m., NBC).

Women Who Rock
Salute female hitmakers with a day of rock-block groovin’ from Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper and Pat Benatar, plus a countdown of top songs named after women (begins 1:30 p.m., AXS TV).

SUNDAY, March 9
American Idol
Superstar Carrie Underwood comes aboard in tonight’s season premiere as the latest judge—two decades after she herself claimed the title (ABC).

Filthy Fortunes
Matt Paxton, a modern-day treasure hunter, scours the country in this new reality series, searcing for rare, valuable items hidden inside some of the most cluttered, filthy homes in America (10 p.m., Discovery).

MONDAY, March 10
Ringo & Friends at the Ryman
The wide-ranging musical legacy of the former Beatle (above) is celebrated “with a little help from his friends,” including Sheryl Crow, Brenda Lee, Rodney Crowell, Larkin Poe and Billy Springs, at Nashville’s most hallowed hall (8 p.m., CBS).

Confessions of Octomom
Learn the story of Kristen Lee Gutoskie, who used IVF to birth 14 kids, including a set of octuplets—and survived being torn apart by the tabloid media (10 p.m., Lifetime).

TUESDAY, March 11
Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna
Documentary takes you inside the making of the movie Rust, in which a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin discharged, wounding the film’s director and killing its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins (above). As the lawsuits and frenzy of media attention took over the narrative, a private, personal tragedy was overshadowed (Hulu).

Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party
Remastered ‘80s documentary by director Cameron Crowe follows the late rock hitmaker and his band as they finish, promote and tour with their Long After Dark album, which contained the hit “You Got Lucky” (Paramount+).

THURSDAY, March 13
The Parenting
Horror comedy stars Lisa Kudrow, Edie Falco, Brian Cox, Parker Posey, Nik Dodani and Brandon Flynn in a tale of a couple trying to arrange for their parents to meet for the first time…at a rented cabin haunted by a 400-year-old poltergeist (Max).

Long Bright River
Amanda Seyfried stars in this new series, based on a No. 1 bestselling novel, about a Philly police officer working a neighborhood hard-hit with the opioid crisis when a string of murders suggest they’re possibly related to her past (Peacock).

Like Tears in Rain
Documentary about the late Dutch actor Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Sin City, Batman Begins) features interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, Miranda Richardson and more. Did you know that Hauer was named in 1999 as the Dutch Actor of the Century? (Viaplay).

BRING IT HOME

Women Who Run Hollywood (Kino Lorber), a compilation of four previously released documentaries, profiles three Tinseltown trailblazers who all broke the “glass ceiling” of the studio system as screenwriters, actors and directors: Mary Pickford, the silent-era superstar who went on to co-found United Artists; Dorothy Arzner, one of the only female directors of the ‘30s; and Ida Lupino, the actress who bravely embraced roles in films confronting “taboo” subjects like unwed mothers, sexual assault and bigamy. https://kinolorber.com/product/women-who-run-hollywood

Now available for the first time on Blu-ray, The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers (Film Movement) features the acclaimed 1980s PBS series, with mythologist Joseph Campbell aboard to explore how “sacred stories” offer millennia-spanning insights into the spiritual core of human nature. Bonus features include a never-aired discussion on Star Wars.

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Springtime is just around the corner, and everything’s coming up roses early in The Rose Book (Phaedon), a visual survey of our most “romantic” flower and all its incarnations in history, pop culture, fashion…and gardens! Learn all about the iconic, sweet-smelling bloom’s endless varieties and how it’s been an inspiration for artists, poets and lovers for centuries.

This new reissue of a classic collection, DogsDogs (Phaedon) features photographer Elliott Erwitt’s whimsical, black-and-white portraits and snapshots of canines in a variety of situations, fetching, walking, snuggling, playing or otherwise just chillin’. It will bring page after page of smiles to any dog lover’s face.

Dec. 20 – Dec. 26

Dolly’s Christmas party, a very special ‘The Price is Right’ & Frosty the Snowman’s X-rated past

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Dec. 20
Six Triple Eight
Kerry Washington stars in this tale inspired by the first and only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas during WWII (Netflix).

National Christmas Tree Lighting
Annual TV tradition presented by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, from President’s Park in Washington, D.C., with musical performances by Mickey Guyton, Trombone Shorty, James Taylor, The War and Treaty and Trisha Yearwood (8 p.m., CBS).

SATURDAY, Dec. 21
Frosty the Snowman
Jackie Vernon, who voiced Frosty in this 1969 stop-motion classic, was in real life a standup comedian fond of X-rated jokes. Now you know! (5:40 p.m., Freeform).

Cartoon Christmas
Get revved up for Christmas with vintage holiday episodes of Casper, Yogi Bear and The Flintstones (4 p.m., MeTV).

SUNDAY, Dec. 22
The Kennedy Center Honors
Tonight’s honorees include director Frances Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, jazz master Autura Sandoval and the legendary music venue The Apollo. Hosted by Queen Latifah (9 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, Dec. 23
Bird
Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) stars in this coming-of-age tale (above) set on the margins of contemporary English society (Mubi).

TUESDAY, Dec. 24
The Price is Right
Annual primetime special edition of the iconic game show honors “holiday heroes,” inviting first responders, police officers, firefighters and military members to “Come on down!” (8 p.m., CBS).

A Christmas Story
If you’re not doing anything else tonight, or even if you are, tune in anytime between tonight and tomorrow evening to the annual 24-hour marathon of this 1983 now-classic about a boy who only wants a BB gun for Christmas (begins 9 p.m., TNT).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 25
Rudoph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
In this 1964 Christmas classic, the voice of Donner the reindeer is often mistaken as that of Don Knotts, the star of the era’s popular spy-spoof series Get Smart. But actually it’s the voice of Paul Kligman, who went on to voice Peter Parker’s newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson several years later for an animated Saturday-morning Spiderman series (11 a.m., Freeform).

Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special
The ventriloquist and his dummy pals celebrate the Big C with some laughs (Comedy Central).

THURSDAY, Dec. 26
Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas
The country queen draws on holidays past to find the unique “mountain magic” of Christmas. With performances by Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus and more (9 p.m., NBC).

Ocean’s Eleven Franchise
Feeling a bit weary already of the holidays? Let George Clooney, Brad Pitt and all the other Oceans casts of all-stars steal your blahs away with a day-long marathon of heist dram-edy (1 p.m., Paramount).   

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Give a soulful gift of music with the new remastered vinyl edition of Stevie Wonder’s The Definite Collection (Motown/Ume), a hit-filled two-disc roundup with his very first No. 1 in 1963, a live version of “Fingertips,” continuing through the decades with “For Once in My Life,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Superstition,” “Higher Ground” and more. Complete with pics from the Motown Archives and track-by-track info.

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You might not see much connection between scary comic books and Sunday School, but author Matthew Brake sure does. In Horror Comics and Religion (McFarland), the professor of religious studies breaks down the fascinating thru-lines that connect pulpy ‘zines—like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror—to age-old religious ideas about hell, resurrection, redemption, demons, morality, the trinity, and more. It’s good stuff for horror buffs!  

Dec. 13 – Dec. 19

An evening with Dua Lupa, rocking through the years with Elton, and Nate Bargatze’s all-star Nashville Christmas special

All times Eastern.

Elton John hangs with John Lennon in a new rock documentary.

FRIDAY, Dec. 13
Elton John: Never Too Late
The iconic singer reflects on his life and five-decade career in this new rock doc. Plus, you’ll get to hear a brand-new EJ song! (Disney+).

Wonder Pets: In the City
New animated series for preschoolers about a trio of critters (a snake, bunny and guinea pig) who live in a kindergarten in New York City when not zooming all over the world in a “Jetcar” to rescue other animals in need (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Dec. 14
Disney’s A Christmas Carol
Jim Carrey is Ebenezer Scrooge in this 2009 retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, with The Princess Bride’s Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in bit parts (10 a.m., Freeform).

Christmas All the Way Marathon
Celebrate the upcoming holiday with Elf, Four Christmases and The Polar Express (AMC).

SUNDAY, Dec. 15
Dexter: Original Sin
TV’s favorite serial killer returns for a new origin-story series starring Patrick Gibson and Christian Slater, with a special guest appearance by Sarah Michelle Geller (Paramount+).

An Evening with Dua Lipa
The global superstar (above) performs her hits and new material with backing by a symphony orchestra in London’s famed Albert Hall (8:30 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, Dec. 16
Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry
Little Big Town hosts this all-star musical holiday celebration from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House, with performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Kate Hudson and more (8 p.m., NBC).

Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around
Keith Urban, Pat Benatar and others weigh in on the pint-sized hitmaker, how her early fame and a life of poverty shaped her artistry across pop, rock and country, and how her signature song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” became a holiday perennial (10 p.m., PBS).

TUESDAY, Dec. 17
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
Ossie Davis narrates, Jewel makes an appearance, and the famed Trans-Siberian Orchestra plays for this grand-scale tale of a runaway’s journey home on the night before Christmas (8 p.m., AXS).

The Beverly Hillbillies
What better, the week before Christmas, than to watch this vintage episode of The Beverly Hillbillies from 1968, called “Week Before Christmas,” in which the Clampetts prepare to visit Hooterville for the holidays (9 a.m., MeTV).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 18
The Secret Life of Animals
Hugh Bonneville narrates the 10-part docuseries (above) about the behaviors and innate intelligence of the natural world around us, from fish to frogs and kangaroos and raccoons (Apple TV+).

A Saturday Night Live Christmas
Re-watch memorable Christmas skits and sketches from the show’s 50 (yes, 50!) years of the iconic weekend comedy series (9 p.m., NBC).

THURSDAY, Dec. 19
A One Hour Ghostmas Special
A leaky water heater threatens to ruin everyone’s holiday plans in this holiday episode of Ghosts (8 p.m., CBS).

Lost Treasures of the Bible
The Good Book gets a good look in this docuseries that follows archaeological teams uncovering and investigating cities and civilizations featured in the Bible in some of its most famous stories, like the Tower of Babel (9 p.m., National Geographic). 

Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas
The acclaimed “clean” comedian mixes stand-up yuks with pretaped comedy shorts, sketches, musical performance and special guests (9 p.m., CBS).

BRING IT HOME

Lady Gaga joins Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie À Deux (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a continuation of the tale of Batman’s “trickiest” villain, now with a new accomplice/squeeze. One trick here: It’s dang near a musical! Extras include a longform making-of documentary, and other behind-the-scenes goodies.

One of the most critically hailed films of the year, Conclave (Universal) arrives now on Blu-ray. Rallph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow lead the cast in the story of a group of priests gathering—in conclave—to elect a new pope. It’s got intrigue, suspense, secrecy, scandal and surprises galore…and that’s all before the timely shocker at the end. Highly recommended.  

Oct. 18 – Oct. 24

A Night with Bill Murray, Anna Kendrick goes on a deadly date & Reba’s new show…with her boyfriend!

FRIDAY, Oct. 18
Happy’s Place
New Reba McEntire sitcom (above) about two half-sisters running a restaurant also features her former Reba costar Melissa Peterman, and Belissa Escobedo—and Reba’s actor boyfriend, Rex Linn (8 p.m., NBC).

Hysteria!
Campy new horror thriller series takes aim at ‘80s-era paranoia—when parents thought heavy metal music was a vessel for demons to infect young ears—and stars Julie Bowen, Anna Camp, Milly Shapiro and Bruce Campbell (Peacock).

Woman of the Hour
Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut and stars in this based-on-a-true-story drama about an aspiring actress whose life intersected with a serial killer on TV’s The Dating Game. Tony Hale plays the show’s “Jim Lange”-ish host (Netflix).

SATURDAY, Oct. 19
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Annual awards ceremony will feature the induction of Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osborne, Kool & The Gang, Mary J. Blige and the Dave Matthews Band into the hallowed hall (streaming live on Disney+).

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
You can stream the perennial 1966 Halloween TV classic free tonight (and tomorrow night), and watch Charlie Brown prep for a costume party, Snoopy set his sights on the Red Baron, and Linus patiently waiting for a pumpkin patch miracle (AppleTV+).

SUNDAY, Oct. 20
Serial Killer Capital: Los Angeles
How dangerous was LA in the 1970s? This new series takes back to a heyday of gangs and crack cocaine and the reign of a mysterious killer known as the Southside Slayer (7 p.m., Oxygen).

Sam + Coby
The YouTube horror creators buy a haunted schoolhouse and pledge to sleep there for a whole week. Can they do it? (Samandcolby on YouTube).

MONDAY, Oct. 21
Tokyo Uber Blues
A filmmaker becomes an Uber Eats bike deliverer in Tokyo to chip away at his $40,000 student debt in this documentary (above) filmed with smartphones and GoPros (PBS).

A Night With Bill Murray
The versatile actor hosts a night of films in which he’s appeared, plus a personal favorite, along with inside stories about them all. Is Caddyshack one of them? Stripes? Meatballs? You’ll have to tune in to find out! (8 p.m., TCM).

TUESDAY, Oct. 22
Uncharted
Two-night documentary takes you inside the world of songstress Alicia Keys and her efforts to help young black and brown women trying to break into the music biz (Paramount+)

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 23
Nature
The acclaimed docuseries returns tonight following a filmmaker as he documents efforts to habituate a notoriously protective 500-pound silverback gorilla in an effort to save him and his fellow apes in the African Congo from extinction (8 p.m., PBS).

Breath of Fire
Go behind the scenes of the multi-million-dollar Kundalini yoga industry and the scandalous rise and fall of its charismatic leader guru (9 p.m., HBO).

THURSDAY, Oct. 24
Canary Black
A CIA operative is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her country to save her kidnapped husband. With Kate Beckinsale and Rupert Friend (Prime Video).

Before
Billy Crystal, Rosie Perez and Judith Light lead the cast of this supernatural mystery series (above) about a child psychologist who loses his wife but finds a troubled young boy who seems to have a haunting connection to his past (AppleTV+).

Star Trek: Lower Decks
Animated comedy series returns tonight for its fifth and final season about a work crew charged with repairing space potholes Paramount+).

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Feel like you’re taking a guided tour of the Big Apple without ever leaving your big comfy couch with New York Nico’s Guide to NYC (Dey Street Publishing), a compendium of celebration about the greatest city in the world and its greatest offerings of shops, eateries, things to do and characters. Author Nico (Nicolas Heller) is a filmmaker and social media creator with millions of online followers hailed as the city’s “unofficial talent scout,” so you’re getting his recommendations of the best things to see, do and experience.

BRING IT HOME

The acclaimed Emmy-award-winning political comedy series Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as a female U.S. president with a mostly incompetent team (Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Gary Cole), now comes packaged with all 65 episodes and special features (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment).

Blow winds, blow! Twisters (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), the follow-up to the 1990s action-packed hit, is another twister-y tale of tornado chasers in the Midwest, this time led by Glen Powell, Daisy-Edgar Jones and Anthony Ramos. Plus lotsa cool-io bonus features, including a guided tour of the movie set by Powell. 

Sept. 20 – Sept. 26

Meet the new ‘Matlock,’ Shania Twain gives ‘People’ what they want & Demi Moore quests for the fountain of youth

Kathy Bates stars in TV’s reboot of ‘Matlock.’

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Sept. 20
La Maison
Brush up your Francais for this contemporary French-language fashion drama set in the cutthroat world of opulent Parisian elegance (Apple TV+)

The Substance
Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid star in this wickedly ruthless satire about a mysterious injection that gives a past-her-prime TV personality a new shot of youth. But she soon finds out the miracle “substance” has a steep downside (Mubi).

SATURDAY, Sept. 21
Buried Alive and Survived
Can you guess what this movie’s about? If you said a woman who miraculously survives being buried alive (by her ex-), you’re right! (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Sept. 22
Rescue: Hi-Surf
The surf’s up indeed in this new lifeguard drama (above) set in Hawaii—like Baywatch in O’ahu!—partnered with the United States Lifesaving Association (on Fox, following the NFL double-header).

Matlock
Kathy Bates steps into Andy Griffith’s shoes in this reboot about a brilliant septuagenarian who joins a law firm and uses her common sense, calm demeanor and unassuming wiles to crack cases and expose corruption (8 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, Sept. 23
Brilliant Minds
Zachary Quinto stars in this new drama series as a larger-than-life neurologist exploring the uncharted frontier of mental health with his team (10 p.m., NBC).

TUESDAY, Sept. 24
Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal
Find out about true cases involving shocking encounters with the paranormal—like a young boy who disappears forever in the Smoky Mountains after being snatched by a mysterious ape-like beast (Hulu).

Fly
What’s it like to soar like a gravity-defying flying squirrel? This doc about daredevil base-jumper couples will jangle your nerves! (National Geographic).

We Will Dance Again
Survivors recount their struggle to stay alive during last year’s Hamas terror attack on the Nova Music Festival, which became the staging ground for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history (Paramount+).

WEDNESDAY, Sept 25
Chicago Fire
It’s season 12 and things are again heating up in the Windy City, where the firefighters and paramedics of Firehouse 51 continue to risk their lives to save others. With Taylor Kinney, David Eigenberg and Miranda Rae Mayo (NBC).

Grotesquerie
Niecy Nash-Betts (above), Lesley Manville and Courtney B. Vance star in this new horror drama series from creator Ryan Murphy about a series about a small community teetering on the brink of unfathomable evil (10 p.m., FX).

The Masked Singer
Who are the stars underneath the goofy costumes? Join the panel of celebrity judges and out tonight with the all-new season of the hit series hosted by Nick Cannon. And be watchful: Clues are everywhere! (8 p.m., Fox).

THURSDAY, Sept. 26
Dr. Odyssey
Joshua Jackson, Don Johnson and Phlllipa Soo star in this new Ryan Murphy-produced series (above) about the high-stakes, high-seas adventures of an onboard doctor for a luxury cruise line. Think Love Boat, but serious-er (9 p.m., ABC).

Killer Heat
Classic noir-style mystery thriller stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a hard-boiled private eye and Shailene Woodley as the sister-in-law of a dead guy who doesn’t believe the police report about how he died (Prime).

People’s Choice Country Awards
Shania Twain hosts this two-hour live special all-star event—a country music extension of the fan-voted People’s Choice Awards—from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, recognizing artists in various categories and configurations (NBC, 8 p.m.)

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Beatles fans will flip their wigs with Mind Games (Thames & Hudson), the new definitive exploration of the making of the late John Lennon’s 1973 musical-masterpiece album. With reproductions of handwritten lyrics, letters, artwork and more, it’s a deep dive into the post-Beatles world of Lennon and his collaborator/soul mate/wife Yoko Ono, shedding new light onto the apex of their period of transformation and musical experimentation. 

Like to talk sports? Like to argue sports? Well, in Got Your Answers: The 100 Greatest Sports Arguments—Settled (Hyperion Ave.), authors Mike Greenberg and Paul Hembekides break down such often-debated topics as the top five college football rivalries, the best pitch in baseball history, the NFL’s top 10 most lopsided trades, the top seven Game 7 World Series matchups, and much more. Put on your favorite team jersey and dig in!

Where’s the fire? In The Burning Earth: A History (W.W. Norton), author Sunil Amrith examines how the world has been shaped and reshaped by humanity’s pursuit of fossil fuels, the turmoil of war, population growth and the all-around exploitation of rivers, seas, forests and animals. Not exactly a sweet bedtime story, but nonetheless a riveting, vital read about the misdeeds we’ve done to the place we call home—most of them, ironically, done in the march toward “a better life.” 

Why does it take the future so long to get here? We’ve been dreaming about flying cars ever since The Jetsons, so what’s the holdup? In The Long History of the Future (Bloomsbury), author Nicole Kobie takes a look at why technology—despite its remarkable strides—always seems to lag behind our dreams. And why we may have artificial hearts, escalators and self-driving cars, but Rosie the Robot still hasn’t arrived to make housework any easier yet!

One of the big Christmas movies this year will the theatrical version of the long-running Broadway hit Wicked. Now you can own all four of the Gregory Maguire novels on which the play (and movie) is based, about the “backstory” of the witches in The Wizard of Oz, in the new box set The Wicked Years (Harper Collins). It’s a perfect gift for all your Wicked friends!

In The Road is Good (Viking), Emmy-winning actress Uzo Aduba (from Orange is the New Black) tells her own compelling story—of the support of her Nigerian mother, her experience of being Black and immigrating to America, her growing career and her newest role as a mom.

BRING IT HOME

A sexy, steamy classic, Body Double, is newly repackaged as a deluxe 4K set in honor of its 40^th anniversary, with loads of extras. Director Brian De Palma’s 1984 neo-noir erotic thriller starring Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry and Craig Wesson was a commercial flop. But it gained a cult following later for its stylish cinematic allusions to Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Vertigo and Dial M for Murder (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).

Those little minions are at it again in Despicable Me 4 (Universal Home Entertainment), the latest subversively witty, action-packed animated comedy about the now-reformed supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell), who finds himself on the run when he and his family get in the crosshairs of a new nemesis. Listen closely and you’ll also hear the voices of Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara, Stephen Colbert and Miranda Cosgrove.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the latest of director George Miller’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic, diesel-punk-spectacular action-epic franchise, and it’s joined in a splendid new Mad Max 5-Film 4K Collector’s Edition boxed-set (Warner Bros. Home Entertainent) with its four predecessors—Mad Max(1979), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Max Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2024). If you’re a Mad Max fan, it’s the maximum Max you can get in one place!

Aug. 2 – Aug. 8

Liz’s lost tapes, some ‘tricky’ dudes, & Anthony Hopkins rescues kids from Nazis

All times Eastern.

Interviews with the late actress Elizabeth Taylor are used to “narrate” a new doc.

FRIDAY, Aug. 2
Rebel Moon—Chapter Two: Chalice of Blood
Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounson and Charlie Hunnam star in this latest installment of director Zack Synder’s epic sci-fi saga, which finds a peaceful settlement on a distant moon threatened by space tyrants (Netflix).

Cowboy Cartel
Four-part series explores the true story of a rookie FBI agent, Scott Lawson, who took down leaders of one of the most powerful crime cartels in Mexico in a horse-racing money laundering scheme (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Aug. 3
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
Some 40 hours of newly unearthed audio interviews from the box office beauty of 1950s and ‘60s fame are used to “narrate” this intimate portrait of the actress whose memorable films include Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cleopatra (which brought her an Oscar) and a number of films with her one-time husband Richard Burton, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe and The Taming of the Shrew (HBO).

Dude Perfect
How did a bunch of guys (above) from a little town in Texas become a sport-comedy trick-shot phenomenon? This doc will show you! (9:30 p.m., ESPN).

SUNDAY, Aug. 4
Miss USA
Have we really been crowning young women with this title since 1952? You know, the “beauty pageant” that found itself mired in turmoil after one of the winners stepped down, citing its “toxic” environment? The one that Donald Trump used to “own,” boasting about wandering around backstage and ogling teens in various states of undress? Yep, and tonight someone else will get it—the crown, that is (8 p.m., The CW).

MONDAY, Aug. 5
Judy Justice
Did you ever wonder how court cases end up in front of Judge Judy? Well, injured parties apply online at judyjustice.com for the chance to have their “grievances” decided in a TV courtroom. So if your buddy stiffs you paying for the lawnmower you sold him, you can take it to the judge! And now you know. (Amazon Freevee and Prime Video).

One Life
Anthony Hopkins and Lena Olin star in this dramatized true story of a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued over 600 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (Paramount+).

TUESDAY, Aug. 6
PD True
Meet the real cops who worked some of the biggest crimes in modern times, including serial killings, mass murders and bank-robbery shootouts (Paramount+),

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 7
Dance Moms: A New Era
If you were a fan of the original show, about busybody mothers who guided their little girls onto the stage for competitive dancing like li’l show ponies in leotards, you’ll likely enjoy this one with new coaches, new dancers and new mama drama (Hulu).

See No Evil
True-crime series shows how some deadly crimes are solved by the only witnesses that never lie—surveillance cameras (9 p.m., ID).

THURSDAY, Aug. 8
One Fast Move
A down-on-his-luck young man seeks out his estranged father to help him pursue his dream of becoming a pro motorcycle racer. With K.J. Apa, Eric James and Edward James Olmos (Prime Video).

The Mallorca Files
Ambitious female detective (Elen Rhys) and her laid-back German partner (Julian Looman) find a new season of arson, kidnappings, murders and more on the sun-drenched Spanish island (Prime).

BRING IT HOME

Two awesome time-traveling dudes get the full box-set treatment in Bill &. Ted’s Most Triumphant Journey (Shout! Studio), a new 4K collection featuring the original Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) and its two movie follow-ups, all starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Special features include commentary, behind-the-scenes docs and other goodies. Excellent!

The hit comedy Babes (Neon Home Entertainment) comes to DVD with 30 minutes of bonus materials to round out the raucous comedy about a female friendship testing its bounds when one of them decides to get pregnant and have a baby. Starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buetea. It’ll warm your raunchy heart.

July 12 – July 18

All about Faye, 80s pop culture, mafia spies & gladiators

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, July 12
The Serpent Queen
Season two begins tonight of the delightfully wicked drama series, starring Samantha Morton and Minnie Driver as regal rivals in 19^th century France (Starz).

The Very VERY Best of the 80s
Celeb commentators including Anson Williams, Todd Bridges, Jodie Sweetin, Dee Wallace and Mindy Cohn guide this rundown of pop culture moments that defined a decade (8 p.m., AXS).

SATURDAY, July 13
Sister Wife Murder
A young woman (Dia Nash) falls for a charismatic pastor (Matthew Daddario) but learns he has a dark side (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Faye
Doc about the legendary actress Faye Dunaway, in which she candidly discusses her career, her challenges, her breakout roles in Bonnie & Clyde and Chinatown, and the movie that she calls a critical career misstep (Max).

Mammals
The great David Attenborough narrates this sweeping new natural history series about this remarkable group of animals (us included) and how mammals conquered the Earth after dinosaurs went bye-bye (8 p.m., BBC America).

SUNDAY, July 14
Tulsa King
Sylvester Stallone (above) stars in this gritty drama series—originally on Paramount+—as a New York mafia capo exiled in the Midwest (8 p.m., CBS).

The Emperor of Ocean Park
Set in the worlds of politics, elite academia and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, this new drama series follows an esteemed law professor (Grantham Coleman) whose quiet life is shattered by the questionable death of his father, a well-known judge (10 p.m., MGM+).

MONDAY, July 15
The Critics Choice Real TV Awards
Let’s get real! MTV’s Ru Paul’s Drag Race and Peacock’s The Traitors lead the nominations for this sixth annual awards presentation to nonfiction and reality television programming. Also in the running: Will Arnett (Lego Masters), Terry Crews (America’s Got Talent) and Keke Palmer (Password). Streaming on the Critics’ Choice YouTube, X and Facebook channels. 

TUESDAY, July 16
Mafia Spies
Six-part docuseries (above) about the real-world spies, gangsters, honeypots and mistresses behind a hidden conspiracy between the CIA and the Chicago mob to assassinate Cuba leader Fidel Castro at a crucial part of the Cold War of the 1960s (Paramount+).

The Ark
No, not Noah’s. This planetary colonization drama, which kicks off season two, finds the spaceship crew reaching their destination but finding it uninhabitable and forced to survive long enough to find a new home (10 p.m., SyFy). 

WEDNESDAY, July 17
UnPrisoned
Season two opens with the Alexander family still a mess, Paige’s therapy practice in trouble and Finn’s anxiety through the roof. Can a “radical family healing coach” help turn things around? Kerry Washington stars (Hulu).

Wild Wild West
Outer space is the new wild West in this doc about scientists, companies and entrepreneurs in a celestial land grab—sending satellites into orbit to map and claim space in space and control the skies above our heads (Max).

THURSDAY, July 18
Lucky 13
Gina Rodriguez and Shaq O’Neal host this new high-stakes primetime quiz competition, testing contestants’ knowledge with 13 true or false questions—and a twist (9 p.m., ABC).

For Those About to Die
Sir Anthony Hopkins leads the cast of this sprawling new dramatic series from director Roland Emmerich about the dirty work of entertaining the masses of ancient Rome with the blood sports of the arena. Let the games begin! (Hulu).

BRING IT HOME

Adriannnnnnnn! Get ready to go the distance with The Rocky Ultimate Knockout Film Collection (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment), and re-experiences the big-screen, heart-tugging boxing saga of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) punching his way through almost impossible odds—and six films. The generous extras include an hour-long documentary on the making, and commentary by Stallone, deleted scenes and alternative endings.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

What do movies from another era like The Tender Trap, Pillow Talk, The Seven Year Itch and The Marriage-Go-Round have in common? They all used “sexual relations” (shhhhh!) as a crux for laughs, as you’ll find out in Hollywood Sex Comedies 1953-1964 (McFarland) by Hal Erickson. It’s an engaging look at a time when bedroom romps were mostly forbidden fruit in Hollywood…unless you seasoned them with comedy.

NOW HEAR THIS

John Lennon‘s landmark 1973 album gets the deluxe treatment in Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection (Universal Music Group), an eight-disc set of wide-ranging Lennon-abilia including remixed tracks, studio outtakes, audio commentary, two Blu-rays and artwork reproductions from the late former Beatle and his wife, Yoko Ono. His son, Sean, oversaw the production of this lavish tribute.

May 3 – May 9

Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger, Otter love, Cajun music & a Brooke Shields wedding!

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, May 3
Unfrosted
Jerry Seinfeld stars and makes his directorial debut in this comedy swirling around the 1960s rivalry between cereal giants Post and Kellogg’s in Battle Creek, Mich., and the race to create the Pop Tart. The all-star supporting cast includes Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Christian Slater, Bill Burr and Hugh Grant (above)…as Tony the Tiger. Grrrrrrrreat! (Netflix).

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
An overworked and underpaid production assistant is assigned to film workplace safety videos in this satirical film about life in our 21st century (Mubi).

SATURDAY, May 4
Maryland
Two estranged sisters reunite to find the truth about their late mother’s sudden death and her life on Britain’s Isle of Man (9 p.m., PBS).

SUNDAY, May 5
People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer
New six-part series presents harrowing but inspiring stories of people who escaped the clutches of a serial killer (9 p.m., ID).

MONDAY, May 6
Next Baking Master: Paris
Ten American bakers travel to France for this eight-episode culinary competition hosted by acclaimed pastry chef Stephanie Boswell and French restauranteur Ludo Lefebvre (9 p.m., Food).

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
When a wild otter in desperate need to help washes ashore the Scottish island of Shetland, a local man finds a new sense of purpose in caring for his new friend. A big hit at SXSW, the documentary (above) has been hailed for its encouragement for viewers to connect with the greater world around them. (National Geographic)

TUESDAY, May 7
Kiss the Future
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were among the producers of this documentary, which follows the resilience of a creative community during the Bosnian war in the 1990s—and the concert that supergroup U2 gave to honor them (Paramount+).

Roots of Fire
Musicians honor the rich heritage of cultural legacy of Cajun music in this new doc (above), featuring electrifying performances by many authentic artists and bands (AppleTV+ and Amazon).

Grizzy 399: Queen of the Tetons
Documentary about the most famous bear in Grand Teton National Park, with an exceptional litter of four cubs to raise. Find out about her life with other bears, a warming climate, human encroachment in bear country—plus legislation that might remove bears from Montana’s endangered species list, making it legal for people to hunt them (8 p.m, PBS)

WEDNESDAY, May 8
Dark Matter
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly star in this new ensemble-cast sci-fi thriller about a physicist “abducted” into an alternate version of his life, where his sense of wonder quickly turns into a nightmare (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, May 9
Love Undercover
Follow a small group of international soccer players in this new reality series as they woo women who are unaware of their fame (Peacock).

The Goat
Daniel Tosh hosts more than a dozen reality TV stars as they face off to become the “Greatest of All Time” through a series of challenges, toward a prize of $200,000 (Prime Video and Amazon Freevee).

Mother of the Bride
Brooke Shields and Miranda Cosgrove star in romcom spinoff (above) about a mom and a daughter, a wedding in Thailand, and the re-discovery of a long-ago love (Netflix).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

It’s one of the classic gangster films of all time, and now you can delve into all the details about its making, its stars, how it barely avoided an X rating, and much more in Glenn Kenny’s richly detailed The World is Yours: The Story of Scarface (Harper Collins). Includes interviews with cast and crew members, and director Brian De Palma.