6 things you have to watch on TV this weekend
A Money Heist spin-off, The Holdovers on streaming, What If...? wraps up season 2, and more
TV Lists Adrian Buitenhuis
Welcome to the weekend edition of What’s On. Here are the big things happening on TV from Friday, Dec 29 to Sunday, Dec 31. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekly edition of What’s On publishes on Sundays.]
1. Money Heist makes way for a Berlin spin-off
Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.: Yes, of course, the massive popularity of Spanish-language drama Money Heist (or La Casa De Papel) has led to a spin-off, Berlin. It centers on, well, Berlin (Pedro Alonso), who died in the original’s second season. Here, we flashback to his younger days when he first got into planning crazy heists. In Berlin, he has a different group of people to teach about how to steal while staying in Paris.
2. End 2023 with one of the best films of the year: The Holdovers
Peacock, Friday, 3:01 a.m.: Savor one of the year’s best movies from your couch now that The Holdovers is coming to streaming. Directed by Alexander Payne, the film explores the unexpected bond between stern professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and his student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), when they’re stuck together on campus during Christmas break. It’s the holiday season heartwarming watch you need. The cast includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, and Andrew Garman.
3. What If…? drops its season two finale
Disney+, Saturday, 3:01 a.m.: The ninth and final episode of Marvel’s What If…? season two drops on the platform on December 30. The animated anthology premiered on December 22, airing a new episode each day. Jeffrey Wright returns as The Watcher, ready to narrate tales of different alternate universes in the MCU. You can read The A.V. Club’s review here.
4. Get ready for a Burt Reynolds special
The CW, Saturday, 8 p.m.: Adrian Buitenhuis directs I Am Burt Reynolds, a documentary that dives into the legendary actor’s career, including his early football days and his marriage to Loni Anderson. The film features intimate interviews with notable folks like Bruce Dern, Marilou Henner, and Reynolds’ friends and family.
5. Time Bomb Y2K traces a major technological event
HBO, Saturday, 10 p.m.: Co-directed by Brian Becker and Marley McDonald, Time Bomb Y2K is put together using archival footage and interviews. It talks about the rise of the internet in the 21st century, and how a potential technological disaster could’ve ruined it all as we approached the year 2000.
6. Captains Of The World goes behind the FIFA scenes
Netflix, Saturday, 3:01 a.m.: Sports docuseries Captains Of The World gets access to the 32 teams competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which means exclusive footage of and interviews with prominent players, coaches, and, of course, captains, including everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi.
6 Comments
It’s been holding on screens admirably since November, but it seems a missed opportunity not to put The Holdovers on streaming right before Christmas.
Agreed. But, I’m glad it’s at least on there now. I’d been wanting to watch it and was on the verge of spending the $20 to rent it on VOD when I saw it was on there yesterday. Watched it last night, and it was fantastic. Absolutely lived up to the hype for me.
It was so good, very highly recommended, and who doesn’t love some Giamatti 😀
Really, the whole cast is amazing, it’s hysterical, touching, definitely one of those “They don’t make them like this anymore” type films (heck, it even LOOKS like a movie they haven’t made in a while!)
I read that Dominic Sessa who plays Angus (the younger lead), actually auditioned at the school where they were planning to shoot some of this, it’s like his first gig – if this is any indication, he’s got a long career ahead of him 🙂
The Holdovers is on Peacock before Oppenheimer even though it came out four months after Oppenheimer.
“internet in the 21st century, and how a potential technological disaster could’ve ruined it all as we approached the year 2000.”That’s not what the Y2K bug would have done.
The Y2K bug had nothing to do with internet, it would have probably affected it if it had happened, but that was not related to it.