📺 What to watch this week, plus 'Beef', 'The Big Door Prize', and 'Great Expectations'
6 upcoming TV shows & 3 reviews of recent shows
Happy Thursday, and welcome to our new subscribers! We’re glad to have you here. As always these days, there’s a lot to watch and talk about so let’s get into it.
In today’s edition:
Weekly watchlist
Beef
Great Expectations
The Big Door Prize
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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We keep an eye on all of the new streaming content that is set to premiere. Here’s a list of new shows and movies to watch this week.
The Last Thing He Told Me (Limited Series) — Jennifer Garner stars in this adaptation of Laura Dave’s bestselling novel about a woman whose husband mysteriously disappears.
Watch on Apple TV+: April 14 (2 of 7 episodes, then weekly)The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 5) — The final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel kicks off with a 3-episode premiere.
Watch on Prime Video: April 14 (3 of 9 episodes, then weekly)Blindspotting (Season 2) — This drama-comedy produced by Daveed Diggs and based on the 2018 movie of the same name is back for a second season.
Watch on Starz: April 14 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Barry (Season 4) — We say goodbye to Bill Hader as Barry this week, with the premiere of the 4th and final season of the hit show.
Watch on HBO Max: April 16 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Mrs. Davis (Season 1) — Created by Damon Lindelof, (Lost) this new sci-fi drama series follows a nun who is devoted to destroying the world’s most powerful AI.
Watch on Peacock: April 20 (4 of 8 episodes, then weekly)The Diplomat (Season 1) — Keri Russell stars as a U.S. diplomat in this political thriller created by Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland).
Watch on Netflix: April 20 (all 8 episodes)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Beef
Keywords: dark comedy, violence, anxiety-inducing
Watch if you like: Barry, The End of the F**king World, Dead to Me
Jess’s Rating: A+
Beef is a dark comedy limited series from A24 starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as two strangers whose lives converge after they get into a road rage incident. Each of them is experiencing a combination of hardship and millennial ennui when they meet, and their mutually pent-up frustration explodes after their fateful encounter. This leads each to execute acts of revenge that escalate in brutality as their feud evolves.
On the surface, this series is about vengeance, and the unpredictable and increasingly chaotic retaliatory events propel the show forward at a fast clip. The performances by the leading duo are exceptional; Wong has the uncanny ability to move seamlessly between successful entrepreneur and enraged menace, and Yeun not only nails the comedic lines but is utterly captivating in his tender scenes. The show is at its best when the two of them play off each other.
Beneath the ire and acts of retribution, the series is a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a child of immigrants, the difficulties of living with depression, and a commentary on the class divide. By weaving these themes underneath absurdism and comedy, it achieves this without being overly maudlin or heavy-handed. The tension remains high throughout the 10 episodes, only somewhat undercut by moments of levity, so you may not be able to binge this in one sitting. But you will absolutely be missing out if you don’t watch this.
— Jess
Length: 35-min runtime, Limited Series / 10 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
Great Expectations
Keywords: period drama, gritty, steampunk
Watch if you like: Peaky Blinders, The Essex Serpent, True Detective
Jenni’s Rating: C-
This new miniseries is based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. A critique of the class system in 1800s England, it is also the coming-of-age story of Pip (Fionn Whitehead), an orphan who wants more from life than what he was dealt. For a moment, it seems he just might get it, but under the “patronage” of eccentric Miss Havisham (Olivia Colman), he must decide whether his new world is worth the cost and if it truly will make him the man he wants to be.
This version of the Dickens classic is being dragged through the mud on the internet, with an average rating of 1.7/5 stars on Google and ~35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Most of the issues seem to be with Steven Knight’s adaptive choices and writing. While I can agree a bit with the writing critiques — there are some clunky moments, for sure — as someone who has very little memory of reading the book, I am actually kind of enjoying the adaptation. It’s beautifully shot, extremely atmospheric, and Olivia Colman is acting her heart out.
I even like some of the choices that others are complaining add too much “grit” to the story in the way of drugs and violence. It’s not as though those concepts were foreign to the world of 19th century London, and the additions serve to complement the themes of the original novel in a way that tracks well to a modern viewer. There’s a reason the word “Dickensian” is used to describe less-than-pleasant circumstances and living conditions.
Sure, it’s not the most riveting television I’ve watched lately, but this steampunk dark spin on an already dark subject matter does not deserve the level of hate it is getting.
— Jenni
Length: 60-min runtime, 1 season / 4 of 6 episodes available
Watch on: Hulu
In this segment we each give our take on the same show. Will we see eye to eye?
The Big Door Prize
Keywords: drama-comedy, ensemble comedy, mystery
Watch if you like: Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Schitt’s Creek
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 5 of 10 episodes available now
Watch on: Apple TV+
In this dramedy adapted from the 2020 M.O. Walsh novel, the residents of a small town have their lives upended by the sudden appearance of a strange machine at their local general store. The machine promises to help users discover their life’s potential, which ranges from straightforward occupations such as “Magician” to more ambiguous concepts like “Hero.” Chris O’Dowd stars as a high school teacher who is starting to experience a mid-life crisis when the machine appears.
Big Door Prize is much less weighty than I was expecting, given the premise. In fact, it’s weird and wonderful in a really easy and down-to-earth way that makes a lot of sense when you know that David West Read, a writer and producer on Schitt’s Creek, is behind the project.
Chris O’Dowd is particularly charming as teacher and bona fide ‘good whistler,’ Dusty Hubbard. His comedic timing and amiable (but often disgruntled) delivery of lines remain a bright spot throughout the five available episodes.
If you’re looking for a slice-of-life comedy with a little something extra (i.e. the lightest possible sci-fi/fantasy touch and a bit of gentle introspection), give this a try.
Jenni’s Rating: B-
At its core, this is an ensemble comedy, and the characters fit the usual sitcom mold of quirky and charming. With each episode loosely focused on a different resident of the town, some chapters are more effective than others. And the mystery of the machine, arguably the most interesting aspect of this concept, is mainly relegated to the background.
There’s nothing glaringly bad or wrong with The Big Door Prize, but there’s also nothing that compels me to keep watching it. With philosophical underpinnings reminiscent of The Good Place and humor that feels like a pale imitation of Ted Lasso and Shrinking, my overall sense when watching this series was that I’ve seen this before, and I’ve seen it done more effectively.
Jess’s Rating: C+
Your shows, returned:
A Black Lady Sketch Show, Season 4: April 14 on HBO Max
Blindspotting, Season 2: April 14 on Starz
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 5: April 14 on Prime Video
Barry, Season 4: April 16 on HBO Max
Upcoming new releases:
Florida Man: April 13 on Netflix
Obsession: April 13 on Netflix
The Last Thing He Told Me: April 14 on Apple TV+
Waco: The Aftermath: April 16 on Showtime
The Diplomat: April 20 on Netflix
Mrs. Davis: April 20 on Peacock