February is the month of love (or so we hear), which means there are dozens of opportunities to fall for a new show, from the latest adaptation of a classic sci-fi novel to the story of big city strivers to the handsome new visage of Altered Carbon. The A.V. Club has made a bouquet of February’s premieres to go with your valentines and conversation hearts.
February 3
McMillions (HBO)
The story of the McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud of the 1990s—which saw nearly a decade’s worth of million-dollar-winning game pieces for the fast food giant’s annual board game promotion stolen by an inside man, then sold off to a network of accomplices—is one of the strangest in the annals of fast food lore. Now HBO is telling the story of the bizarre scandal that touched pretty much every American who ever held a carton of french fries up to the light, hoping for a bit of divine intervention from Ronald himself. Directed by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, and produced by Mark Wahlberg, the six-part docuseries lays out the whole strange tale, from the FBI agents who suddenly found themselves investigating multi-million-dollar “fast food crime” to the participants who accepted the offer of the mysterious “Uncle Jerry” for a quick and easy path to wealth. [William Hughes]
February 5
They’ve Gotta Have Us (Netflix)
They’ve Gotta Have Us, the ambitious three-part docuseries from creator, producer, and director Simon Frederick, is as much a retrospective on Black cinema as it is a testament to the latest renaissance in Black art. The series is made up of extensive interviews with multiple generations of Black actors, directors, and creators—legends like Harry Belafonte and Diahann Carroll, luminaries like John Singleton and Barry Jenkins, and bright new stars like John Boyega and Nathalie Emmanuel. Veteran actors and directors like Debbie Allen and Kasi Lemmons share their setbacks and dreams, while also looking back at big developments in Black cinema, including the rise of Blaxploitation films. They’ve Gotta Have Us combines stories of personal struggle with filmmaking victories years in the making, like Allen’s road to Amistad. Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing is releasing the docuseries, as if it needed any more star power. [Danette Chavez]
February 6
Katy Keene (The CW)
The CW continues churning out frothy young adult dramas: On the heels of Nancy Drew and Riverdale comes Katy Keene, Lucy Hale’s latest attempt at a post-Pretty Little Liars comeback. Fortunately for Hale, Katy Keene is pretty charming, as Katy and her friends pursue their various aspirations in New York: Katy’s a wannabe designer; her roommate, Jorge, dreams of Broadway; journalist Pepper wants to own a club; and Riverdale vet Josie is still trying for that music career. Also familiar: Archie Comics twin siblings Alexandra and Alexander Cabot as moguls who somehow weave into the lives of Katy and her pals. Yes, the outfits and adorably cluttered apartment belie the incomes these urban twentysomethings would likely have. But when Katy has another work setback, Jorge blows another audition, and Pepper winds up living in her unheated, pre-renovation club loft, there’s something stirring about the way these strivers just keep pushing forward. [Gwen Ihnat]
Indebted (NBC)
With Indebted, Dan Levy (no, not that one) attempts to spin comedic gold from the healthcare crisis and the sandwich generation. The erstwhile Goldbergs writer gets some help from a great cast, including Adam Pally and Abby Elliott, who play a married couple who find themselves raising their children while also looking after Dave’s (Pally) suddenly penniless parents, Stew (Steven Weber) and Linda (Fran Drescher). That premise practically demands jokes about the generation gap and cramped-quarters living, which, we’ll note, Grace And Frankie has managed to find in abundant supply. Indebted looks like it owes a lot to other intergenerational comedies like the One Day At A Time reboot and, obviously, The Goldbergs. But Levy recruited Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm alum Andy Ackerman along with an old co-worker, Doug Robinson, to co-produce the sitcom, so Indebted could very well wade into more (intentionally) wince-inducing comedy territory. [Danette Chavez]
Briarpatch (USA)
Fans of Ross Thompson’s 1984 Edgar-winning crime novel, Briarpatch, may want to brace themselves—a lot has changed in its move to the small screen. For starters, the lead character is now a woman: Allegra Dill (Rosario Dawson), to be specific, and while the tough-talking professional is still following the basic contours of the original story (coming back to her odd little hometown of Saint Disgrace, Texas to investigate the murder of her sister), the pulpy crime yarn has received some clever updates thanks to creator Andy Greenwald and executive producer Sam Esmail. It’s the first time for Greenwald developing and running a series; he spent most of his career as a pop culture and TV journalist before logging time as a producer on Legion. But the show looks good—thanks both to a talented cast (joining Dawson are reliable presences like Edi Gathegi, Brian Geraghty, and Kim Dickens) and a deliciously over-the-top aesthetic shaped by pilot director Ana Lily Amirpour. [Alex McLevy]
Tommy (CBS)
Edie Falco and Paul Attanasio try to put a different, more compassionate face on law enforcement with Tommy. In the CBS drama, Falco stars as the eponymous Tommy (short for Abigail Thomas, because that’s how some nicknames work?), a New York expat who’s asked to give up good pizza and serviceable public transportation to head up the Los Angeles Police Department. Tommy is the first woman to serve as chief of police, a fact she (and the audience) are regularly reminded of—she even laments to a subordinate that if she fails at the gig, “it’ll be another 20 years” before a woman is given the opportunity. What’s left unsaid in this trailer, except for a vaguely flirtatious glance on an elevator, is the fact that Tommy is also the first queer woman to lead the LAPD. Falco and Tommy showrunner Tom Szentgyorgyi highlighted the importance of LGBTQ+ representation, including hiring queer writers, at the 2020 Television Critics Association winter tour, so there’s hope that Tommy’s queerness will be handled thoughtfully. [Danette Chavez]
February 7
Locke & Key (Netflix)
After a long, serpentine road to production—including a change in medium, from film to TV—it’s finally time to unlock the mysteries of Locke & Key. The series, from Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill, is based on Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s time-leaping, Eisner-winning comic book series. Adaptations were previously in development at Fox and then Hulu before Netflix finally locked in on Cuse and Averill’s vision. A pilot was even shot for Fox in 2011, but the network decided not to pick it up. In the show, the Locke kids—older siblings Tyler (Connor Jessup) and Kinsey (Emilia Jones), and moppet Bode (Jackson Robert Scott)—move into their “ancestral home” after their father’s murder, but the healing process is held up by assorted enigmas, including a bunch of keys they both are and aren’t supposed to use. Like the source material, the series will grapple with grief, the concept of home, and oh yes, lots of demons and spirits. If Cuse and Averill dig into intergenerational trauma, it could be the key to another Haunting Of Hill House-level hit for Netflix. [Danette Chavez]
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple TV+)
Much like how Silicon Valley satirized the tech industry by (just barely) ratcheting up the absurdity of what happens behind the scenes of companies like Google and Facebook, Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet looks to do the same for video games—even if it seems a little less “ripped from the headlines” than the literal blood-sucking CEOs and vicious backstabbing of the HBO show. Executive-produced by It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, the series stars McElhenney as an extremely self-obsessed game designer who doesn’t care how many of his employees he steps on if it means creating the ultimate expression of interactive media. Said employees include Danny Pudi, Imani Hakim, Charlotte Nicdao, and David Hornsby. The series is also produced by some executives from real-life game development studio Ubisoft, which adds a bit of authenticity to the wackiness. [Sam Barsanti]
The Category Is… Mexico City (Revry)
To answer the question that’s already formed in your mind, Revry is an app with a focus on LGBTQ+ programming. It’s also the home of originals like The Category Is..., an anthology series that documents ballroom culture all over the world. The first season of the series is set in Mexico City, where we get an inside look at the House of Mamis, just one of the houses/found families helping the ballroom scene flourish in CDMX. House mother Mendoza is a trans activist, who spends part of her time looking after her students/children, eager disciples like Negraconda and Ponyboy. This international docuseries, already renewed for season two, will explore discrimination, gender identity, culture, dance, and of course, drag. The charming young cast of The Category Is… Mexico City makes this the perfect complement to FX’s Pose, which will be back for a third season in (we hope) 2020. [Danette Chavez]
February 11
For Life (ABC)
After Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy showed moviegoers the resilience of people unfairly caught up in the criminal justice system, ABC’s For Life aims to give the wrongfully convicted a voice once more. The drama, from Hank Steinberg (The Last Ship), is co-executive-produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and stars Top Boy’s Nicholas Pinnock as Aaron, a man railroaded by a district attorney and sentenced to life in prison. For Life is also inspired by a real-life story, that of Isaac Wright Jr., who was wrongfully accused and convicted of drug crimes in 1991. Like Wright Jr., Aaron earns his law degree and gets to work trying to free other innocent men, despite (or perhaps because of) his own bleak plight. The series also stars Joy Bryant as Marie, Aaron’s wife who’s left to pick up the pieces after his trial, and Indira Varma, who’s traded the kookiness of Carnival Row for more austere surroundings. [Danette Chavez]
February 14
High Fidelity (Hulu)
Hulu’s High Fidelity takes the 2000 movie starring John Cusack (based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel) and shifts the locale from Chicago to Brooklyn, the protagonist from male to female. Zoë Kravitz—whose mom, Lisa Bonet, appeared in the original—steps into the role of the unlucky in love record store owner, who mainly hangs out with her two employees (the appealing David H. Holmes and Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Send-ups of original scenes, just with the genders reversed or a new song inserted, blur the line between reboot and remake, but when High Fidelity veers from the original, it kicks into high gear. Kravitz, so woefully underused in Big Little Lies, makes for a compelling, flawed heroine (just like Cusack, actually). [Gwen Ihnat]
Visible: Out On Television (Apple TV+)
Hoping to do for television what The Celluloid Closet did for film, Visible uses its five-part docuseries to study the history of LGBTQ+ representation on TV, tracing the arc of historical depictions through the decades up to the present. But whereas Closet couldn’t help but end up a little facile given its brief runtime, this deeper dive into the small screen should reward viewers with a more robust and penetrating look at what TV did (and all too often didn’t) do to represent the full scope of sexuality in American life. Featuring interviews with everyone from Rob Reiner to Lena Waithe, Visible looks to do justice to the breadth and depth of its subject matter, from All In The Family’s famous portrayal of a gay man, to the cultural earthquake generated by Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out, to modern-day depictions of trans characters like Supergirl’s Nia Nal. It’s a searching portrait of progress made—and the roadblocks yet to be overcome. [Alex McLevy]
Utopia Falls (Hulu)
Welcome to New Babyl, the last remaining bastion of the society we know. Utopia Falls drops audiences hundreds of years into the future, where 24 teenage contestants compete in an annual music competition, The Exemplar. While others may see this as a chance to be jettisoned into certain fame, Aliyah (Robyn Alomar) will discover a long lost culture called hip-hop, which will guide her through unmatched lessons of freedom and cause her to question and rightfully challenge the world she’s always known. With music from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Notorious B.I.G., The Roots, and the voice of Snoop Dogg, this Afro-futuristic Hulu original aims to center the enduring legacy of a genre that was founded on activism, politics, and a community’s demand to have their voices heard. Like the spirit of the music it canonizes, Utopia Falls aims to spark change and speak truth to unequivocal power. [Shannon Miller]
February 16
War Of The Worlds (Epix)
We’re not sure any adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The War Of The Worlds can top Orson Welles’ radio broadcast in terms of sheer notoriety, but this Fox/Canal+ production wants to give other iterations, including Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film, a run for their money. Starring Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern, War Of The Worlds takes place in the aftermath of first contact with an extraterrestrial species, which proves disastrous for humanity—the population is decimated, and survivors are left to figure out why these alien spaceships didn’t come in peace. The series premiered in France last fall, and Epix is bringing it Stateside. This trailer for the eight-episode series features the kind of ravaged landscape and ragtag bands of people that are all over post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead. It’ll be interesting to see if this War Of The Worlds picks up on the Victorian novel’s critique of imperialism or if it’ll bungle the “invasion” metaphor. [Danette Chavez]
Duncanville (Fox)
Expectations are high for any new animated series on Fox: For every new hit like Bob’s Burgers, there’s a dozen Allen Gregorys or Son Of Zorns that just didn’t make it. Duncanville has a few things those shows didn’t have, though, specifically Amy Poehler and Mike and Julie Scully, who all have years and years of good TV comedy under their belts thanks to their respective work on Parks And Recreation and The Simpsons. The series stars Poehler as a teenager named Duncan who is always getting into wacky trouble, as well as his cheery mother, Annie, and though it looks like it’ll hit a lot of the familiar sitcom beats as some other shows in Fox’s Animation Domination canon, the gag in this trailer of there being an actual murderer hiding in the backseat of a car is a nicely dark and playful joke that hints at something a little more clever. [Sam Barsanti]
February 19
Year Of The Rabbit (IFC)
Few actors on the planet have a better grasp on playing bull-headed, semi-psychotic buffoons than Matt Berry, who transplants his tried-and-true tendency to shout, “FuuuUUuuck!” and then hit a guy—so familiar to fans of shows like Toast Of London and What We Do In The Shadows—to Victorian England for this IFC import. Created by former Veep writers Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, the series (which originally aired last year on the U.K.’s Channel 4) co-stars Freddie Fox and Susan Wokoma as junior detectives to Berry’s drunken, seen-it-all superior officer, who cheerfully blunders his way from crime scene to crime scene while imparting such wisdom as “Don’t call the bodies of murder victims ‘beautiful’; it comes off as kind of weird.” [William Hughes]
February 21
Hunters (Amazon)
Amazon gets into the Nazi-busting business with the Jordan Peele-produced action thriller Hunters. Hunters follows a motley crew of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York who have discovered that hundreds of Nazis are living in the U.S. and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich. Led by Al Pacino, fresh off of his first Oscar nomination in 27 years, and Logan Lerman, whose Jonah serves as our entry point into this world, the Hunters have made it their bloody mission to track down those remaining Nazis. The trailer, set to Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” forecasts familiar thematic beats from stories involving vigilantism, namely the morality of revenge and taking justice into one’s own hands—Jerrika Hinton’s Agent Morris, in particular, seems to contrast the chaotic-good energy of the Hunters with lawful-good energy of her own. But it’s also sure to make clear where the show stands: “Revenge. Is. Righteous.” [Baraka Kaseko]
Gentefied (Netflix)
Like Starz’s Vida, Netflix’s Gentefied will take a closer look at the flip side of aspirations, uncovering the costs to individuals and communities in pursuit of the American dream. This single-cam dramedy comes from Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez, who have adapted their 2017 webseries of the same name. Executive-produced by America Ferrera, Gentefied follows three Mexican American cousins trying to keep their families together and businesses afloat in Boyle Heights, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Los Angeles. The twist? The displaced and the displacers share the same culture and multiple languages, adding another layer to the usual tales of gentrification. Gentefied is poised to serve up biting comedy and heartwarming moments in equal measure (sometimes “cabrona” is a term of endearment), while also offering up some important historical context in these fact-lite times—as a character reminds us in the trailer, Mexicans and Mexican Americans “have been here, fool.” [Danette Chavez]
February 26
I Am Not Okay With This (Netflix)
Netflix adds yet another coming of age story to its growing catalog—this time from The End Of The F***ing World director Jonathan Entwistle and the producers of Stranger Things. Based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel series, I Am Not Okay With This follows Sydney (portrayed by It’s Sophia Lillis), a teenager navigating the ups and downs of high school while dealing with her budding sexuality, grieving family, and newly discovered superpower. The seven-episode series will also feature Lillis’ It co-star Wyatt Oleff, Sofia Bryant, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong, and Richard Ellis. The origin story appears to combine the charm and awkwardness of Sex Education with the supernatural flair of Stranger Things. [Angelica Cataldo]
February 27
Altered Carbon, season two
It may seem odd to find Netflix’s cyberpunk murder mystery on this list, what with season one having aired over two years ago, making it a strange return indeed. But creator Laeta Kalogridis’ show is getting a facelift: The lead role of reborn mercenary turned revolutionary turned private eye Takeshi Kovacs has passed from Joel Kinnaman to Anthony Mackie. For those who skipped the uneven but visually hypnotizing first season (reportedly the most expensive first season of TV ever made), the basic premise is both simple and dizzyingly complicated: Hundreds of years in the future, humanity has the ability to upload our consciousnesses into new bodies called “sleeves,” creating the potential for eternal life of sorts—but as is nearly always the case, the rich control most everything. Netflix hasn’t released any footage yet, but given the long delay between seasons, there’s a good chance viewers will be able to tune in as though it were a new series altogether—new Kovacs, new show. [Alex McLevy]
Returning shows
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season seven; The Sinner, season three (2/6); High Maintenance, season four (2/7); Homeland, season eight (2/9); Survivor, season 40 (2/12); Outlander, season five (2/16); Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season seven (2/21); Better Call Saul, season five (2/23); RuPaul’s Drag Race, season 12 (2/28)
73 Comments
I have a vague memory of some kind of parody skit from several years ago about a cop procedural called “Locke & Key”. I can’t remember if it was like a Key & Peele-type thing, or maybe just a joke promo in the universe of a comedy TV show. I remember thinking it was funny because it seemed so plausibly like something on the USA network. Is this an imagined memory from a fever dream, or does anyone else remember what I’m talking about? I tried searching but couldn’t find anything. Maybe it was a different pun and and it’s conflated in my memory. Totally unrelated: I thought the first season of Altered Carbon was really entertaining, I’m excited for season 2.
It’s not in the US until March (on Amazon Prime), but the next BBC Agatha Christie adaptation is on in the UK next week, The Pale Horse:
I might rewatch their Malkovich-starring The ABC Murders before that.
That ABC Murders version was interesting, but what in the world were they trying to do making Poirot a social pariah whose entire identity as a former policeman was in doubt? People don’t read Christie’s mysteries for character development with Poirot – they read them for the murder and mystery. It’s like Malkovich said “I’m interested in doing this, but I don’t just want to just play a famous detective solving a case. I want my character to have an arc, to have a mysterious past.”Is this the same group that did the recent adaptation of And Then There Were None? Because that one was great, using the novel’s original ending instead of the happy ending most adaptations use.
Yup, same people who did that, Witness for the Prosecution, and Ordeal by Innocence. And Then There Was None is their best one so far, but I liked them all.I enjoyed the different take on Poirot, that wasn’t designed to carry a continuing franchise/series, but I can see it not being for everyone.
WftP and ObI were both good. I remember not being that offended by the changes they made from the source material. Didn’t ATTWN have some weird party/orgy thrown in to the story? I remember that feeling very out of place.But ABC was just … it’s a great, and classic, Poirot mystery. But it was like the makers didn’t just want a great story, they wanted a separate plot for Poirot. In over 50 (?) years of stories he’s always portrayed as a world-renown and well-respected detective. Why in the world would this adaptation want to change that so that not only do people not respect his opinions, they think his entire persona is a fraud? Poirot has plenty to do in the original story – he doesn’t need this extra plot of trying to prove that he is who he claims to be (or continue to hide that he’s not).POTENTIAL SPOILERS: And why did they have to make the killer, and all the murders, related to Poirot’s past? In the majority of the Poirot stories, the murder/victim/suspects are all strangers to him. While I loved the David Suchet “Poirot” series, one of my nitpicks with it was that more often than not, they would change the story so that Poirot was a friend to someone related with the case, like they had to justify why he was involved with the case. He’s a detective who is often hired by strangers to solve a case – that’s why!
The killer in Phelps’ adaptation wasn’t particularly tied into Poirot’s (newly written) past though. No more than in the book from what I remember, really–, that he had been at an earlier party.
SPOILERSIn the original story the killer and all of the victims are strangers to Poirot, with no connection to him (like in most of the Poirot stories). But in this adaptation, the killer was a friend, the 3rd victim and his family were friends, and he had connections to each town where a murder took place.And the killer had secret and intimate knowledge of Poirot’s history (which in this adaptation no one except Poirot knew), like how he had been at Bexton (?) one night while a refugee and delivered a baby. Even as Poirot’s friend, how would he know this when in this adaptation so much of Poirot’s backstory is unknown to everyone? The point of the original story is that this is a series of unrelated murders in random locations by a serial killer (although no one knew what a “serial killer” was at the time). But in this adaptation the killer is deliberately choosing locations for each murder that Poirot has a connection to because ???
On the one hand, I’m really attached to the original character of Poirot, David Suchet did it so perfectly that I almost feel like the recent adaptations (Malkovich, Branagh, etc.) were smart to distance themselves from it in a few ways. On the other, some of the decisions they made were kind of odd. Though I’m a huge mystery nerd and one of the things I love about mysteries is the characterization, so I may be biased. 😛
I’m resigned to the fact that a lot of Poirot adapataions will de-age the character and try to turn him into an action hero. I like a lot of Branagh’s MotOE but having Poirot chasing a suspect and going up and down ladders after them just seemed wrong. One of the character’s most famous lines is that he could solve a mystery without leaving his house, as long as all of the facts were brought to him so he could think about it. That does not describe a detective that runs, chases, punches, etc.But making an adaptation that says “Poirot isn’t a respected figure and the police actually think he’s lying about being a police officer in Belgium and doubt everything about him” is a step too far for me.
Poirot chasing a suspect and going up and down ladders after them just seemed wrongI agree. That’s what Captain Hastings is for. 😛 (Even though he wasn’t in MotOE). I didn’t really care for that part as well as a couple other things. Poirot isn’t a respected figure and the police actually think he’s lying about being a police officer in Belgium and doubt everything about himYeah, I really didn’t like that, either. Although in some of the later books when Poirot was a bit older, younger people were skeptical of him or didn’t know who he was, he still had the same reputation. I feel like they could have handled certain parts of the background that they added to better than that.
Exactly! I never understand the thinking most Poirot adaptations do to eliminate Hastings (at least in the stories he’s actually in) and give his physical actions to Poirot. I never read the Nero Wolfe stories and only saw the A&E series but I’m sure fans were pleasantly surprised that the Timothy Hutton character was in it and that his character wasn’t merged with Maury Chaikin’s.In the later books as Christie dealt with living in the 1960s she did have young people in her stories regard Poirot as not knowing who he was, or “some old guy” (I think Third Girl does this a lot). But even in those stories he still has his reputation as a detective, known by many, and the police (as a whole) respect him. This adaptation’s decision to make him a pariah who everyone thinks is a fraud feels like a different character. And the final reveal of that flashback at the church actually made me angry.
I’ve really enjoyed all of these Sarah Phelps scripted Agatha Christie adaptations (more than her previous BBC Great Expectations), though I get why many fans might might be put off by the over the top, Gothic, sexed up take on things (not to mention Ordeal by Innocence completely changing the the killer’s identity). They work for me as an interesting alternate version… And yeah, the new backstory in ABC Murders for such an iconic character as Poirot seems particularly audacious, but, overall, it worked for me.
I think it’s because they see Hastings as a comical character and they want their adaptation to be super gritty and srs business. I’m bummed that they don’t use Miss Lemon or George, either. But yes, the Nero Wolfe mysteries is GREAT and remains pretty close to the source material in terms of characterization and even dialogue. I was so disappointed when A&E discontinued the series. UGH GOD don’t get me started on the twist ending of ABC Murders. It’d be one thing if they had him start out as a priest-in-training that became a detective after witnessing something terrible, but that was just awful.
It feels like the idea of Hastings as a comical character (like Watson in the Basil Rathbone Holmes movies) was an invention of the David Suchet Poirot series, or at least it was exaggerated there. Hastings in the stories is often wrong about the core mystery but he usually says something inconsequential that gives Poirot the realization that solves the case. He’s not usually written as comical or bumbling – Poirot often describes him favorably.But in the Suchet series it seemed like every episode gave Hastings his own sub-plot about some new hobby he was involved in which always led to him being wrong or losing (i.e. he buys a race horse which turns out to be lame) and it was always played for laughs, like “Look at Hastings, what an idiot.”I never read the Nero Wolfe stories but I enjoyed the series and from what I heard when it aired the stories’ fans had many reasons to be happy.That ABC ending though … I agree – what were they thinking? SPOILER “Hey, instead of Poirot being a police officer in Belgium and then becoming a detective when he gets to England, which makes logical sense, let’s have him be a priest in Belgium, then lie when he arrives in England and say he used to be a police officer because … ah it doesn’t matter why. But a priest affected by a tragedy becoming a private detective makes logical sense!”
Yeah, Captain Hastings has pretty heavy Bertie Wooster vibes in the Suchet adaptation. If memory serves, Hastings is also supposed to be considerably younger than Poirot (I think he’s around 30 when he makes his first appearance) and although I like the actor who plays him in the Suchet version, I think the fact that he’s older than the original Hastings only adds to the way he’s perceived. Either way, it’s entirely possible to make a less comic, more “gritty” version of his character. I adore the Nero Wolfe series—there are so many funny moments and good lines. I’ve often said I want “THE POLICE SHALL RECEIVE NO SANDWICHES” on a t-shirt. As for ABC, I think if they had kept Poirot’s reputation and made it so he actually became a detective at some point, the “he used to be a priest!” reveal would have seemed less ridiculous—maybe even interesting if it was handled the right way. As it stands now, it made me loudly go “WHAT” the first time I watched it.
While I am in no rush for another Poirot series (to me, Suchet is the definitive Poirot, just like Jeremy Brett is the definitive Sherlock Holmes), I hope the next one (and there will be another one) will include Hastings and have him just be an ordinary guy with average intelligence. Poirot is a genius so anyone next to him will look “not as smart”. You don’t need an assistant that’s dumb or goofy, otherwise why would Poirot have him around at all?Something most Holmes adaptations pre-Jeremy Brett got wrong is making Watson “a dumb guy” (Watson: “Holmes, I have it. The killer is Ferguson.” Holmes: “How can that be, Watson? Ferguson was already dead when the murder happened.” Watson: “Oh, yes. I see your point.”). They all forget that Watson is a doctor. That makes him a pretty smart guy. But even a doctor with all his medical knowledge is not going to be as smart as Holmes, an actual genius, when it comes to solving crimes.A good modern example on the genius detective/assistant trope was Law & Order Criminal Intent where Donofrio’s character was often compared to Holmes. But his partner, Eames, was a cop herself, and a good one. There was one episode where someone (it may have been Maryan d’Abo, the Moriarty of that show) was being questioned by Donofrio and she said that is must be hard for him to work with someone as dumb as Eames, and he said “We have complimentary skills.” That’s the perfect description of a genius detective/assistant relationship like Holmes and Watson, or Poirot and Hastings. One can do what the other one can’t, and vice versa.
I’m with you on preferences as far as adaptations. (If you’re wondering who I consider to be the definitive Marple, it’s Joan Hickson.) Either way, I’m definitely team Jeremy Brett because he did such a good job humanizing Sherlock in a way many adaptations don’t—though some of the later episodes where you can tell he’s sick make me a little bummed. This webcomic called Hark! A Vagrant does a really great bit about how much Watson’s character changed in pre-Brett adaptations. I was glad to see that they restored him to his former glory. The Grenada Holmes is also one of the few adaptions to get Irene Addler’s character right, but that’s another rant I’ll save for another time. :PAs for Hastings, that’s always something that bothered me, too. Hercule Poirot doesn’t suffer fools gladly, so why makes Hastings a fool? I’d love to see him played a bit more closely to his original character. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind if they wanted to go the “dark an gritty route” that seems so popular. I’m sure he saw some shit during WWI. As for Law and Order Criminal Intent, I’ve never actually seen it, but I may have to give it a watch just based off your description.
So, Malkovich wanted to retcon Poirot? That’s fucked up. Doing something just for “art’s” sake is not exactly commendable.
I have no idea if those changes were Malkovich’s idea or not. It just feels like something an actor of his stature would request from a TV script.
Rufus Sewell? I’m in.
For real. He seems under-utilized, to me. Apart from Dark City and a Knight’s Tale, I didn’t see him in anything until The Illusionist and then MITHC.
I didn’t finish the ABC Murders, mainly because my Mom hated it. Still, I have found all these recent Christie adaptations seem to go out of their way to make everything squalid. I just don’t see the point, but for Rufus Sewell and Sean Pertwee I will at least give it a look.
“For every new hit like Bob’s Burgers, there’s a dozen Allen Gregorys or Son Of Zorns that just didn’t make it.”Sadly because Son of Zorn was goddamn hilarious and going back to his homeland in season 2 would have been great.Fuckin’ travesty is what it is.
What I’m most looking forward to is Netflix February 28: Babylon Berlin Season 3.
I had no idea that this was coming to Netflix so soon. Thanks for the tip, chief!
Year of the Rabbit is great, and while Berry is excellent, as usual, Freddie Fox steals the season.
Altered Carbon sounds a lot like Dollhouse from that description.
To provide slightly more detail, everyone gets a small cylinder implanted at the top of their spine that records their entire life from birth. after your body dies you may be able to get implanted into a new body, pre-existing deceased, cloned, or artificial (not sure if the series had artificial ones – the books did). Many of the 0.1% are Methuselahs who have been alive for a centuries as they can just keep going from body to body. The poor may just have their little cannisters sit on shelf in a morgue for an indefinite period.
they also show them ‘spinning up’ beloved relatives on special occasions using whatever sleeve they can rent on the cheap (the detective basically borrows one from the police evidence locker to get her grandmother back.) the conversation she has with her at the end of the party where she asks her to stop bringing her back in weird bodies suggests that its probably a common ‘rental’ situation
I was lukewarm on season one of ‘Altered Carbon’, but I did love the sequence with the grandmother in the body of that gang dude, especially when she’s talking about how cool it was to piss out of a penis.
Spoilers: It’s pretty great.
CBS trying to make us feel good about cops. So what else is old?There is only one way to make us feel good about cops.NINE-NINE!
I’d prefer if you said, “Cheers to the Ninety-Ninth Precinct.”
Captain…Uh, I mean Patrolman Holt. Good to hear from you.
Fuck yeassss Clone Warsssss!
Survivor, season 40 (2/12)
40! Good lord.
That show has some dedicated fans. I’m not one of them but I think it’s one of the few reality TV shows that’s good.
I can’t believe it’s been forty years since that show started.
That was my first thought, but it has “only” been 20. They do 2 seasons a year.
I’m genuinely shocked that the concept “Let’s stick a bunch of people on an island and train them to despise each other through physical challenges” has stuck for twenty years.
Right there with ya. According to Wikipedia, 6.5 million people still watch it every week. Amazing.
I abhor most reality TV, but believe it or not, Survivor often makes for often an excellent and thrilling game show. There used to be recaps on this site, with a whole crew of obsessive, funny commenters. Of course, the quality varies a lot from season to season; you can tell it’s not scripted because sometimes boring people win the game. What makes Survivor far better now than it was in its early seasons is the casting (which is sometimes amazing) and a recent focus on game strategy with ever-shifting alliances and lots of unrepentant deceit. In the early years of the show, backstabbing was considered bad form by many players who kept moaning self-righteously about “honor” and “integrity”. Now treachery and double-dealing is considered a baked-in part of the game and almost everybody is a good sport about it.
The downside is that the producers feel it’s necessary in the last couple of years to keep piling on new twists, dumb new themes, and new game advantages instead of trusting the game to work as it is. On the positive side, they’ve mostly even stopped recruiting model-actors and beautiful dopes as chaff to make the casts more beautiful and try to draw in casual viewers. The casts are more diverse lately, even sometimes bordering on what I’d call “a variety of body types”. And the editing is often amazing. They can build up an astonishing amount of tension with the tribal councils as you wait to see who’s going to be ritualistically snuffed out, i.e. voted off the island. Is it going to be one of the most telegenic and charismatic people, leaving the audience “grieving” in a way? Yes, often it is.
There are heaps of podcasts that spend untold hours breaking down the strategy of the game and interviewing players, much like sports talk radio. Survivor fandom and analysis is a whole subculture. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite shows along with a lot of the dramas covered here.
“including hiring queer writers” – it’s a bad sign that a show needs to brag about this.
Is there a reason most cartoons aimed at adults have to have off-putting art?
There’s something about the ‘Family Guy’/’American Dad’ art style that honestly makes me a bit queasy.
Most of those shows are created by lazy producers who think that the fact that their cartoon is “edgy” is enough for it to be successful.
Year of the Rabbit looks good but when will IFC find the time to air 24/24 episode splits of Two and a Half Men and That 70’s Show??
Boy, what we need in 2020 is definitely a(nother) TV show putting a “friendly face” on the police. Edie Falco deserves better.
And none of it will be any good. Don’t waste your time.
CARM’S WORKING WITH THE POLICESHE’S A FUCKIN’ SNITCHCHRITHAPHER
I don’t know about that High Fidelity series…it could just be the trailer trying to appeal to a mass audience, but it strikes me as a more charming/fun take on the story, with a higher energy, which…doesn’t really make sense with either the movie or the novel (both of which are my long-time favorites in their respective categories). In both of those, main character Rob (Cusack) was a gloomy fucking guy, Barry was angry and self-centered (he’d never ask if Rob seemed more upset than usual), and Dick was basically always one bad day away from jumping in front of a train. And Zoe Kravitz’ character here strikes me as kind of a cool, charming person. Rob was a guy who was cool ten years ago and could be charming if he weren’t such a miserable wet rag (and at times, he is, but only when he’s in the best of moods).What does interest me though is that the entire novel was very much about man-children: Rob was obsessive, petty, egotistical, jealous, self-centered, sad, but never had to really face any of that until at that moment in his life, because he sort of just got by. I’m not saying it couldn’t work with a female lead, but I do wonder how naturally that will translates to having the story focus on a woman and what they’ll change.Also, I was admittedly a little bummed out when I found out that Zoe Kravitz was NOT playing Marie De Salle, because Lisa Bonet was perfect for that part (the whole movie was really well-cast).
Counterpoint: A TV show starring *that* fucking guy might not grab or retain an audience. And not all of us are fans of the It’s Always Sunny/HBO Sitcom school of “Fucking Asshole Protagonists”. (Funny or not, I HATE the characters that populate these shows.)
Counter-counterpoint: a show starring that guy would absolutely grab and retain an audience. Not every one is a fan of the asshole protagonist, sure, but that applies to everything. Not everybody is a fan of feel-good shows, or sad shows, or cop shows. But they keep making them, because there’s an audience, and the asshole protagonist is huge. As far as sitcoms go, It’s Always Funny is tied for longest running sitcom of all time, Seinfeld is one of the most syndicated and only went off the air after season 9 because Jerry Seinfeld decided to (the show was still #1), basically every HBO sitcom as you mentioned, The Office’s Michael Scott is the worst, but it’s one of Netflix’s top-streamed. Showtime shows did this too: Weeds went something like 8 seasons, Nurse Jackie had 6, Californication had 5 (6?), not to mention all of the non-sitcom asshole protagonists, like Breaking Bad, Shameless, Mad Men. Funnily enough, Hulu’s own Fleabag – which is actually closer in tone and characterization to High Fidelity in a lot of ways than their actual High Fidelity adaptation seems to be shaping up – features an overtly awful, selfish person.I have to wonder, when it comes to High Fidelity, if they’re going to change the entire tone of a story/characters, why even adapt that story? (assuming that’s what they do – this all based on a trailer anyway). But I did read an interview with the creators and they said they wanted to make a show about learning to love yourself, which baffles me even more, because High Fidelity was a largely a story about a guy learning to get over his own petty bullshit.
The best thing about Matt Berry is he always plays Matt Berry. Year Of The Rabbit is excellent. And watch out for the Taika Waititi cameo…
An exchange from ‘Toast of London’ that keeps popping into my head at random moments is when someone says, “I heard you shat yourself in your room” and Toast replies, “No, I shut myself in my room, I shat myself in an Oddbins.” It’s so matter-of-fact and still in his usual plummy tones that it makes it so much funnier than I’d expect.
My prediction is that 50% of these series, do not get a season 2, strictly on the criteria that you recommend them, because you have a habit of liking shit.
On this side of the pond, the biggest excitement is for the new series of Inside No. 9…
I strongly admire Inside No. 9 and genuinely love some episodes, but there’s something about the show that triggers my anxiety like nothing else. I’m always sat there waiting for something horrible to happen, to the extent that it spoils the experience for me and distracts me from what’s happening.
Not to be that guy but if that High Fidelity remake actually pulls it of,f I’d be surprised. It was somewhat miraculous that the movie adaptation of the book even worked in the first place, let alone became its own cherished incarnation of the story. I’m not one to consciously gatekeep but there are a lot of early indicators this is a studio attempting to cash in on a formula that can’t easily be replicated. Still, I’ll give Zoë a chance to prove my instincts wrong.
Hold up! CBS is doing a new cop show?! NO WAY!!!!
“Locke & Key”Dear cancel culture: can we somehow put an end to titling shows where it’s just a fucking pun on a character’s name? Sincerely, everyone.
Can’t wait for return of High Maintenance – lowkey great show.
I wonder who will be the future sex creeps that’ll make rewatching Amy Poehler’s new show incredibly uncomfortable.
I dunno. I don’t struggle much with that. CK is barely a presence in Parks & Rec. “Incredibly uncomfortable” is an overstatement, IMO.
I’m also referring to Rob Lowe and Aziz Ansari.
I’m sure I could be accused of soft standards but I wouldn’t group those two in with CK. Aziz’s situation always read more gray and Lowe had a substance problem. CK had no such issue and clearly *multiple* times took liberties. AFAIK, Aziz only had the one accuser and her story was revealed in some questionable journalism.But I get it. I just don’t know what you’re weirdly and passive-aggressively trying to say about Poehler.
Me, reading lists of new, upcoming TV shows: “don’t get that channel….don’t get that channel….don’t know what that channel is…don’t get that channel….”
Okay. Matthew Barry as Wolverine. He’d be perfect looking. Bet he can pull off menacing.
“You can shut the fuck up too, Cyclops, with your stupid made-up name.”
Not picking up any new TV this midseason, honestly the deluge of returning shows is more than enough. (May check out that McDonald’s documentary, eventually, maybe)
If no one tells Rosario Dawson’s Allegra Dill that “she’s in a real pickle now” then the whole show will be a waste of time.
Something something hay fever something.(Cuz fucking *Allegra*???)
Any entertainment that uses “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” in its promotion is something I plan to steer well clear of. Ta-ta Tommy.