| | | | | | Welcome to Now See This, THR chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg’s weekly viewer guide newsletter dedicated to cutting through the daunting clutter of the broadcast, cable and streaming TV landscape! Comments and suggestions welcome at daniel.fienberg@thr.com. |
Joel Embed For Billy Joel devotees, Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin's Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a five-hour HBO documentary airing in two parts this Friday and next, will be an indispensable treasure trove of footage and insights, steered by exhaustive interviews with the mostly beloved icon. For Billy Joel haters, And So It Goes is probably at least three hours too long, but at least it features Nas enthusiastically singing the praises of "Piano Man." And for those — like me — in the middle, it's a frequently fascinating, but punishingly long, meditation on how you can win Grammys, sell out arenas, marry Christie Brinkley and pen some of the most memorable pop songs ever written and STILL be bitter about mixed reviews in Rolling Stone . There's great stuff here, especially in the end of the first half discussing Joel's relationship with former wife and manager Elizabeth (like all of his spouses, present and more candid than Joel himself), but you could have trimmed an hour of redundant footage, posted those outtakes on Max and made everybody a winner. |
Don't Furry Darling If you're curious about Sundance TV and Sundance Now's four-part The Furry Detectives: Unmasking a Monster based on the amusing title or cheeky imagery featuring outsized suited animals in eerie noir reenactments, consider this a warning as much as a review: The Furry Detectives is BLEAK and the promotion is selling something much quirkier than the Theo Love-directed series actually is. It's absolutely compelling, but beyond the likably odd furry protagonists, who become less relevant as the story extends far beyond their amateur jurisdiction, this is a story about a horrifyingly dark corner of a subculture that is, as the gumshoes insist, largely positive. That probably won't be the takeaway for a lot of sensitive viewers unlikely to stick around as the investigation into cases involving animal abuse escalate. Yes, Love is evasive in how he depicts and even discusses the crimes, which are unbearably repugnant, but I found the coyness almost more disturbing. |
| | | Bana and His Assisters Not to take anything away from Billy Joel or animal abuse, but it seems that the TV powers-that-be kinda forgot about scheduling this weekend? The weekend's biggest new show just might be Untamed, in which Eric Bana roams the wilderness of British Columbia, cosplaying as Yosemite, trying to solve a murder. The drama plays like a lo-cal version of True Detective, with Bana in effectively gruff Gary Cooper mode, joining forces with an avuncular Sam Neill and a pleasantly snarky Lily Santiago. Creators Mark L. Smith (American Primeval ) and Elle Smith abandon too much of the premise's jurisdictional nuance and lean into too many cliches, but I liked the cast and the pretty vistas enough to suspend skepticism for six semi-mysterious hours. |
Emmy More The week's biggest TV story was, of course, the announcement of the nominees for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. As Angie Han and I discussed in the aftermath, it's a predictably shallow dive into the deep pool that is modern television. But that's also convenient! If you're worried about catching up, you can watch Severance (Apple TV+), The Penguin (Max), The Studio (Apple TV+), The White Lotus (Max), The Last of Us (Max) and Hacks (Max), and you'll be knocking out 127 nominations in only six shows across two streaming services. Add in The Pitt (Max, again) and Adolescence (Netflix) and you'll probably have seen most of the big winners as well. I'll have more predictions/Emmy thoughts as we get closer to the Sept. 14 ceremony. |
Loaded for Colbert Actually, the week's biggest TV story finally ended up being CBS' unexpected announcement that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — and, in fact, all things The Late Show — will end in May 2026. Celebrities and Colbert's late night colleagues reacted with outrage. Donald Trump gloated. I wrote extensively about how, however many excuses CBS wants to give or evade, the optics look dreadful. All the clips from The Late Show that you could ever want are on Paramount+, but if you're in the mood for more advanced Colbert action, check out the three-season run of the hilarious but decidedly not-for-everybody Strangers with Candy on Paramount+ as well. |
Rest Azured Somebody call Eiffel 65, because this summer is feeling mighty blue. Between Lilo & Stitch and Superman ruling the box office and this weekend's release of a movie I'm pretty sure is called Rihanna Is Smurfette Smurfs , something is in the water, which is only blue because it reflects the sky. Can't get enough of that gangsta cerulean? Film and television are awash in blue heroes! Disney+ is particularly blue-friendly, letting viewers spend time with Dory (Finding Nemo), Sully (Monsters, Inc.), Bandit/Bluey (Bluey), various Na'vi (Avatar), Beast/Mystique (whichever X-Men stuff they're in), Genie (Aladdin), Yondu (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Gonzo (various Muppet-y things). HBO Max still offers some Sesame Street episodes featuring Grover and Cookie Monster, plus the Watchmen limited series and movie featuring Dr. Manhattan. Also, Blue Is the Warmest Color is on Mubi and Tubi. |
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