One of the shows I’ve been watching and hoping it would get better is Little Voice. Lovely if too sweet songs hatched and sung by the main character are the backbone of this Sara Bareilles’-co-helmed series about an aspiring young musician on Apple TV+, which wraps its first season on Friday. Any series, any anything, requires tension and challenge. It’s how we root for and fall in love with characters. But here, it feels like the bulk of the last four (of nine total) episodes have only repeated and redoubled the challenges of a fragile addict father, absent mother, one true love unseen but right under her nose, weak-willed object of her affection, elusive musical success… The one remaining delight is her devotion to her brother, a Broadway superfan on the spectrum: their relationship is what keeps me coming back, its patience, her unwavering commitment to be there for him and with him (and his humour and outrageous theatricality). But otherwise, it’s too much dread piled on top of dread. I’ll still watch the finale, but how much can one half hour wrap up without giving me narrative whiplash?
Thursday Aug. 20
The Crimes that Bind (new film on Netflix, French with subtitles) “Alicia is a desperate mother who will do everything possible to prevent her son Daniel from being imprisoned for his ex-wife’s attempted murder. In the middle of all this process, Alicia will discover a secret plot that will change her life completely and turn it into a real nightmare.”
Biohackers (new series on Netflix, German with subtitles) “A medical student enters a top German university on a secret mission to uncover a conspiracy linking a family tragedy to a visionary biology professor.”
John Was Trying to Contact Aliens (new documentary on Netflix) “John Shepherd spent 30 years trying to contact extraterrestrials by broadcasting music millions of miles into space. After giving up the search he makes a different connection here on Earth.”
Friday Aug. 21
Hoops (series premiere on Netflix) “Hoops is an animated comedy sitcom that centers on a hot-headed, foul-mouthed high school basketball coach (Jake Johnson) who thinks turning around his god awful team will take him to the “big leagues” and turn his miserable life around.”
The Sleepover (new movie on Netflix) “In this family adventure-comedy, Clancy (Sadie Stanley) and her kid brother, Kevin (Maxwell Simkins), discover that their seemingly normal stay-at-home mom, Margot (Malin Åkerman), is actually a former high-end thief in the witness protection program. When both their mom and dad (Black Monday’s Ken Marino) are kidnapped and forced to pull one last job with an ex-flame of Margot’s (True Blood’s Joe Manganiello), the siblings must team up to rescue their parents over the course of one action-packed night that they’ll never forget.”
Lucifer (first half of Season 5 premieres on Netflix) “Lucifer, bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the gorgeous, shimmering insanity of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD…and the savvy detective Chloe Decker in particular. In Part A of season 5, Lucifer’s twin brother Michael secretly takes the devil’s place on earth while he’s back in Hell. Eventually, Lucifer must return and face the mess his brother made with his life. He’ll also finally confront his feelings for Chloe, and answer a question fans have been asking since the very beginning: ‘will they or won’t they’?”
Alien TV (new animated series on Netflix) “Alien reporters Ixbee, Pixbee and Squee travel to a lovely but odd planet called Earth, where they attempt to make sense of humans and their hobbies.”
Class of ’83 (new movie on Netflix) “A hero policeman shunted to a punishment posting as the dean of the police academy decides to punish the corrupt bureaucracy and its criminal allies in return by training five lethal assassin policemen. But, like all good plans, it only works for a while until the fire that he has ignited threatens to burn his own house down.”
Real Time with Bill Maher (10pm HBO, next day on Crave) Guests on this episode, smack between the Democratic National Convention coverage and next week’s Republican National Convention (at which, acc to CNN, the St. Louis couple who fired at protesters are scheduled to speak, fwiw), include: Gov. John Kasich, Oliver Stone, Rev. William Barber II and Thomas Frank.
Saturday Aug. 22
I got nothing new worth detailing here. I’m still hoping to catch up on Doom Patrol’s latest season on Crave. But my weaker self might demand ponying up $29.99 for Season 5 of Outlander on Apple TV. Can someone please get me some scotch? And Duncan Lacroix to drink it with? (That’s Murtagh, in case you’re an outlander regarding Outlander.)
What is d2tv anyway? I’m so glad you asked. This is the latest iteration of my TV writing/blogging that began back in 1986 or so? at the Winnipeg Sun, continued briefly in print and on the web at the Montreal Gazette and finally, here, for myself and YOU! Having newly (July 2020) left the full-time journalism business for a brief rest aka vacation, I am hoping to put more time and features on this blog, which is still currently mostly a collection of Canadian streaming and broadcast programming notes focussing on premieres of new and returning series, specials etc, with the occasional series finale thrown in for sentimental reasons. Reviews are, for the moment, only occasional. If you spot an error or oversight or have a recommendation to share, please do so in the comments or by emailing me at the above address. Glad you’re here. And isn’t this era of too much TV a great time to be alive?
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