It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
Giancarlo Esposito and Forest Whitaker in Epix’s Godfather of Harlem
This week’s reviews
Fall season is now well under way in the US and over the past week and a bit, I’ve been doing some pretty extensive coverage. However, since this is Peak TV™, this year, I’ve finally had to let my standards slip and only do full reviews for shows that actually look like I could watch them.
That means that since the previous WHYBW, I’ve managed to do proper reviews of Stumptown and Evil, as well as semi-reviews of The Unicorn, Carol’s Second Act, Perfect Harmony and Sunnyside.
Incidentally, I did try to watch Epix (US)’s period gangster drama Godfather of Harlem, as it stars Forest Whitaker, Giancarlo Esposito and Vincent D’Onofrio. However, it was after about 10 minutes of watching Whitaker get out of 1960s jail and return to Harlem that I realised that while the back projection was amusingly Hitchcockian, I was actually bored rigid.
Why? Oh yes. I remember. I hate gangster dramas and I actively dislike Forest Whitaker. Sorry, dude, but that performance was fine in Ghost Dog, but you can’t keep doing it.
We’re about to enter phase two of Fall 2019, so the regular US broadcast networks are hurling a couple of new shows in our direction this week: Almost Family (Fox) and Batwoman (The CW). Netflix has Raising Dion coming our way on Friday and I’m going to try to play catch up with Hotel Beau Séjour on Walter Presents. We also have some returning regulars to look forward to, including the final season of Mr Robot.
All during one of my busiest work periods of the year. Oh well – I’ll do my best. But PeakTV™, hey?
Michael Sheen in Fox’s Prodigal Son
The regulars
Fortunately for my viewing schedule, a whole bunch of regulars are coming to an end, which means that after the jump, we’ll be talking about the season/series finales of כפולים (False Flag), Flateyjargátan (The Flatey Enigma) and Glitch.
However, week two of the Fall season means we have new shows in the viewing queue. In the past week, I’ve separated the potential wheat from the obvious chaff and confined my second-episode viewing to Emergence, Mixed-ish and Prodigal Son – will they last another week?
I’ll also be chatting about the latest episodes of Mr Inbetween and Titans, as well as the return of Magnum P.I. Meanwhile, my catch-up of Pennyworth continues with Cilla Black.
Surprise, surprise! Indeed, can guess which show is getting promoted to the regulars list?
Lolly Adefope to return, Peter Serafinowicz, Jamie Demetriou, Jessica Lowe et al to recur, Fred Armisen, Anna Drezen, Miles Robbins et al to guest on TBS’s Miracle Workers
New US TV shows
AMC green lights: series of legal drama 61st Street and dark comedy Kevin Can F*** Himself
Every Tuesday, TMINE flags up what new TV events BAFTA is holding around the UK
October’s here already and typically, BAFTA has scheduled two stonking events without telling anyone – so I’ll do it instead. They’re both in Wales, mind, but if you fancy an exclusive preview of two big shows, that’s the place to be.
Preview Screening: His Dark Materials + Q&A
Thursday, 17 October 2019 – 7:00pm Odeon, Cardiff
BAFTA Cymru, BBC Wales, Bad Wolf and Wales Screen invite you to take your first steps into Lyra’s world at the world premiere of His Dark Materials.
This BBC TV adaptation is based on Philip Pullman’s global best-selling fantasy trilogy, which has been published in over 40 languages and sold 18 million copies worldwide.
Starring James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Dafne Keen and Lin-Manuel Miranda, this complex and richly imaginative eight-part series is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO; written by Jack Thorne and directed by Tom Hooper, Dawn Shadforth, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn and Jamie Childs.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with cast members Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair, Saving Mr Banks), Dafne Keen (Logan), Jane Tranter (Executive Producer) and Joel Collins (Production Designer).
To book a complimentary members’ ticket please email Hannah.
Elizabeth McGovern and Gabriel Byrne in Fox’s War of the Worlds
Preview Screening: War of the Worlds + Q&A
Wednesday, 23 October 2019 – 7:00pm Chapter, Cardiff
A chance to see a new adaptation of popular sci-fi series War of the Worlds, starring Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), before it is broadcast on Fox.
When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out by a devastating attack; pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world.
As aliens hunt and kill those left alive, the survivors ask a burning question – who are these attackers and why are they hell-bent on our destruction? Emotional, cinematic and rooted in character, it is a unique marriage of human drama and the best science fiction.
This is a story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances – but they are more than just victims in a brutal war. For, as we will come to realise, the aliens’ savage attack on earth is not arbitrary: its seeds are being sown before our very eyes.
Set in present-day Europe, War of the Worlds is a multi-faceted series, written and created by the BAFTA award winner Howard Overman (Misfits, Crazyhead, Merlin) based on the timeless story by HG Wells. It is being Executive Produced by Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy, and Howard Overman through their company, Urban Myth Films.
War of the Worlds was filmed on location in Cardiff.
The event will begin with networking drinks supported by Wales Screen.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with key creatives (details to follow).
