TVWW UPDATE 10/01/16 -- Well, TVWW readers, if you’re like us, you’re probably staggering after last week’s debate and your political hangover is pretty bad even though the election is still about 6 weeks off. No such maladies for David, though. He is up and around, continuing to attend to light duties and is mulling his return to TVWW. We expect him to send in a hello to readers any time now, but more importantly, he is feeling pretty good these days. And that’s the real TVWW headline, no doubt. We will keep you posted.
Meanwhile, it’s one of the busier weeks of the early fall season. As we soldier on through the electoral process, there are plenty of choices to avoid it, if you prefer. And speaking of possibly avoidable, depending on your opinion, Woody Allen’s first foray into a TV series, Crisis in Six Scenes is available for streaming at Amazon Prime and gets measured good reviews from TVWW’s David Hinckley, here.
Tomorrow, (Sunday, October 2) marks the anticipated premiere of HBO’s Westworld, an adaptation of the 1973 feature film about a wild-west adult-themed fantasy park that goes very wrong at 9 p.m. ET. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris, the series gets a very good preview from TVWW’s Ed Bark. Fans of AMC’s Humans will probably have similar interest in the moral issues here surrounding humanoid subservience to man. Over on PBS, Indian Summers continues for those searching for their Downton Abbey dramatic substitute at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings).
Epix’s Graves, a tale of an ex-President gone aggressive politically incorrect (or direct, if you prefer) will be premiering next week, but for those looking for similarly styled fare, Blunt Talk, Patrick Stewart’s portrayal of a newscaster gone likewise, will begin its second season on Starz, on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Last year’s TVWW fave, Ash vs. Evil Dead returns for its second season with a unique blend of horror, gore and comedy, also on Starz, 8 p.m. ET.
For Monday (and yes, more politics) as Eric Gould wrote last fall, PBS is airing Best of Enemies, the documentary recounting the birth of partisan political TV punditry in the 1968 debates between William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal on Independent Lens at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings, and read David Hinckley's current review here). Last year’s dramatic hit feature, Brooklyn, a tale of a young Irish woman who comes to New York in the 1950s runs on HBO at 9:15 p.m. ET.
Tuesday (October 4) will absorb most attention with the Vice Presidential debate at 9 p.m. If you’re checking out on that, one of our recurring sitcom faves, Brooklyn Nine-Nine runs a new episode on Fox at 8 p.m. ET and one of our diversionary reality choices, Marcus Lemonis’ The Profit, an engaging series dedicated to small business turnarounds, airs a new episode on CNBC at 10 p.m. ET.
There will be considerable Vice Presidential spin on all the cable channels for Wednesday, October 5, and even more preview of the next Presidential debate (scheduled for next Sunday, October 9.) NBC’s Blindspot has been getting good interest for escapist episodic network fare. That airs at 8 p.m. ET and current TVWW fave Designated Survivor, the tale of an unwilling President, is on ABC at 10 p.m. ET. Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Birds runs on BBC America at 8 p.m. ET., same night, and for likewise chilling fare, FX’s American Horror Story: Roanoke airs at 10 p.m. ET.
CBS will present the Arizona Cardinals vs. the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football at 8:35 p.m. and AMC will run the Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron crime thriller, The Italian Job, at 10 p.m. ET, same night.
For Friday, October 7, Epix continues its series of six documentaries by Norman Lear, Shonda Rhymes and others, America Divided, that explore inequalities in American life and the political system at 9 p.m. ET. Friday's episode includes Lear's segment on housing discrimination in New York City. Fans of TVWW fave Real Time with Bill Maher can tune into HBO at 10 p.m. ET to see if he continues last week’s emotional meltdown concerning the Presidential election.
Next Saturday, October 8, Ovation will continue it’s new, high-budget historical series Versailles at 10 p.m. ET., and SNL will presumably continue with more Presidential satire as it has returned for the fall with Alec Baldwin assuming the Donald Trump role alongside Emmy-winning Kate McKinnon as the always painfully awkward, trying-to-be-hip Hillary Clinton on NBC, 11:35, p.m. ET.
Thanks for your patience and many more for continuing to follow TVWW while David is away. —TVWW