HBO Max introduces The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark
Plus: It's a big weekend for Netflix with Diana: The Musical, Margaret Qualley in Maid, Jake Gyllenhaal in Guilty, and a little TV show called Seinfeld
TV Lists The Sopranos
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, October 1, and Saturday, October 2. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Maid (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Real-life mother-daughter duo Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell star in this poignant limited series based on Stephanie Land’s memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, And A Mother’s Will to Survive. Qualley’s Alex is a single mother of a 3-year-old who leaves an abusive relationship and then struggles with poverty and a flawed justice system. Alex begins working as a part-time maid and starts documenting her experiences. Keep an eye out for a review on the site later today.
Regular coverage
Foundation (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m., season 47 premiere): SNL returns for another season minus Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt, but with three new players added to the cast. Owen Wilson will host the premiere episode with musical guest Kacey Musgraves. Look for Dennis Perkins’ recap after the episode airs.
Movie night
The Many Saints Of Newark (HBO Max, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Those jonesing for a Corleonesque rise to power will be disappointed to learn that Tony Soprano plays a rather minor role in The Many Saints Of Newark. In fact, for a solid hour, he’s basically Jake Lloyd-sized: a boy (William Ludwig) watching from the sidelines of a criminal empire in late 1960s Jersey. In so much as this rather decentered epic has a central figure, it’s Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), Tony’s mobster uncle and father of perennial Sopranos fuck-up Christopher.” Here’s the rest of A.A. Dowd’s review of The Sopranos prequel film.
The Guilty (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “In the single-location, real-time suspense contraption The Guilty, Jake Gyllenhaal steps, at last, into the spotlight alone. He’s been cast as a disgraced cop chained to a desk, a phone, and a life-or-death crisis unfolding somewhere in the city beyond his view. For most of its brisk 90 minutes, it’s just Gyllenhaal, in tight close-up, constructing a movie out of sweat and tears alone: a glorified radio play of a thriller whose thrills are generated almost entirely through his reactions.” Read the full review by A.A. Dowd here.
Diana: The Musical (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Musicals are ready to thrive in their new home: streaming platforms. After the success of Hamilton, the latest Broadway play to arrive is Diana: The Musical. The show had completed preview performances and was expected to open in March 2020 before the pandemic. Now, a live stage recording will premiere on Netflix before the play resumes on December 1. Jeanna de Waal plays the lead role, as Diana is thrust into the public spotlight after her engagement to Prince Charles, played by Roe Hartrampf.
My Name Is Pauli Murray (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, this documentary film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2021. It follows the life of lawyer and civil rights activist Pauli Murray, who was instrumental in arguing the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The film features scholars like Brittney Cooper and Rosalind Rosenberg, as well as a study of Murray’s many papers housed at the Schlesinger library and her influence on Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Wild card
Seinfeld (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): The streaming giant is adding all nine seasons of this vastly popular ’90s sitcom starring Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards. But it’s also treating it as a Netflix original in its marketing, so enjoy a fun trailer before you binge 180 episodes of the series about nothing yet again. Or, if you need help picking favorites, here’s a handy guide.
13 Comments
“Real-life mother-daughter duo Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell star …. Qualley’s Alex is a single mother of a 3-year-old.”I stared at this far too long trying to understand why Andie MacDowell’s mother would be playing the mother of a 3-year-old.
True, the sentence is not structured with respect to order, but you know… common sense.
Well, if you start by imagining Andie McDowell in an Edith Ann situation…. Look, it was late, okay?
Does this imply random strangers are going to expect me to know Seinfeld references again? I’m not excited about that.
now’s the time to invest in Junior Mint stock.
I don’t know what this means.
Couple of my friends tipped me off to the next big thing, buy now if you can: Webistics. Trust me, it’s gonna be huge.
Looking forward to the Guilty (Jaaaake). Probably end up watching that Sopranos movie, mostly since I imagine others I know (and comments) will be talking about it in the coming days. Can’t be left out!For some reason I thought last week’s Ted Lasso was the season finale. So this is a pleasant surprise.
Just finished Many Saints. I was whelmed.
If you were a fan of the Sopranos, it was kind of fun seeing younger versions of people, but that’s about it.
I would have preferred a series, maybe five or six episodes. It felt rushed and even though I know everyone’s eventual outcome, it left me feeling like I had questions, if that makes sense.
Agreed, felt like it was super fan servicey and nothing much else.
Nobody cares about Dickie Moltasanti. Terrible idea.