YouTube, 12:00 a.m. ET
SPECIAL PREMIERE: London’s National Theatre, for people in its own country as well as globally who are staying in their own homes at the moment to fight the spread of the coronavirus, has just started something wonderful. Once a week, the National Theatre, on its YouTube channel of the same name, will upload and present a production from its archives – a complete performance, filmed during the original stage run, of one of its acclaimed comedies, dramas or musicals. Each production will be shown for just seven days, then replaced by another – so you should think of this as a weekly series, a sort of British Great Performances, that’s entirely free but relatively rare. First up, and available until next Thursday, is the National Theatre production of One Man, Two Guvnors, the broad physical comedy that won James Corden a Tony Award, and introduced him to American audiences, when it was imported for a brief run on Broadway. Now you can see it here, more than two hours of very funny entertainment. And that will be followed later this month, on National Theatre’s YouTube channel, by filmed archive versions of Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, and Twelfth Night. And they’re all very limited runs, so, starting with One Man, Two Guvnors, act now!
Amazon Prime Video, 3:00 a.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This new limited series starts with a mysterious man addressing the camera, as in Dispatches from Elsewhere. Almost instantly, it establishes a mysterious and remote research facility, as in Devs, only this time it’s a subterranean Ohio place known as The Loop. There are mysteries of science and nature, and wandering robots and abandoned children, and bleak winter landscapes, and an inquisitive set of youngsters who encounter all sorts of strange things, as in… Stranger Things. In other words, it’s just my kind of show. And probably yours.
Disney+, 3:00 a.m. ET
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES: Today on Disney+, two new films from its nature documentary unit premiere on the streaming service. Both are films intended to entertain and inform the entire family, and each has a very popular subject – and narrator. Dolphin Reef is narrated by Natalie Portman, and Elephant is narrated by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Good to know, after exercising a bit of social distancing from the Royal Family, she was able to find work…
Paramount, 8:00 p.m. ET
Next summer, this George Lucas-Lawrence Kasdan-Steven Spielberg collaboration will be 40 years old. Let that sink in. But for now, revel in the Friday night TV availability of this 1981 salute to cinematic adventure serials. Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones – a role, and a franchise, that he, Lucas, Spielberg and company are planning to revive next year. Many films are described as “nonstop fun.” Raiders of the Lost Ark really is.
Starz!, 8:00 p.m. ET
In 2009, Zombieland was a sort of surprise hit: an apocalyptic zombie film that was as funny as it was eccentric – and which featured Bill Murray as himself, an unlikely (albeit temporary) survivor in this imagined dystopian future. tarred Same director and writers. Woody Harrelson starred as Tallahassee, and Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus – two hardy souls with their own lists of rules for survival – and the non-zombies they encountered while roaming the desolate landscape included, most prominently, Emma Stone as Wichita and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock. All four are back for this 2019 sequel, which picks up the story, and the same quartet of quirky characters, a decade later. New faces for Zombieland: Double Tap include Rosario Dawson as Nevada – and the only question, if you tune in to watch the Starz premiere of this movie, is whether watching a film about a post-apocalyptic struggle for survival is really an effective piece of stuck-at-home weekend entertainment.
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
Two weeks ago, Bill Maher did his show without an audience, to respect social distancing guidelines. Last week, he didn’t put on a show at all. But this week, he’s mounting a show that includes several guests, but still has no audience – which, for Maher (who has gotten increasingly frustrated with his own liberally “woke” studio audience members over the years), may be the only silver lining to this bleak pandemic. Certainly, his show bookers have no problem reaching out to guests stuck in their own homes: Tonight’s scheduled lineup of participants, each taking part from a safe distance and remote location, includes Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Bernie Sanders, Willie Nelson, Seth MacFarlane – and Max Brooks, who enlisted his father, Mel Brooks, to make one of the most effective public service videos about the importance of social distancing, especially from elderly loved ones. And from me, an elderly person who likes to think he still has some loved ones out there dealing with their own social distancing issues, I’d like to shout out a sincere thanks, and round of applause, to both Max and Mel. If you haven’t yet seen their video, seek it out. And pay heed.
