It’s a Teen-Tastic week at #SetTheVCR: with characters struggling with Trigger Points seeking their Independence Day. Let’s reach for the Moon…haven on TV this week…shall we begin?
Monday, July 04
Scarborough (Anytime / Crave)
The novel is wretched so hopefully the adaptation is better: Over the course of a school year, 3 kids in a low-income neighbourhood find community and friendship at a drop-in reading program. We shall see.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: INDEPENDENCE DAY (TODAY! / HULU)
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive.
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Happy 4th! It was either this or a Purge movie. (By the way for a 96 movie the FX hold up so good.)
Tuesday, July 05
Love Me: Season 1 (Anytime / CBC Gem)
An Australian remake of Swedish series starring Hugo Weaving. Love Me is a story about love, loss and the complexity of family relationships experienced by three different family members at distinct times of life.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (ANYTIME / HBO MAX)
An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer.
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Edgar Wright’s latest feature was pitched as a “dark valentine” to London and the Soho neighbourhood; it all has a creepy M Night feel. “Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.” Just because you’re haunted by the past doesn’t mean it’s always a ghost…right? Programming Note: for Canadians this’ll be on Crave on July 22nd.
Wednesday, July 06
Girl in the Picture (Anytime / Netflix)
The jaw-dropping true crime story of a search to solve a 30-year old mystery: who was Sharon Marshall, and why was her real identity unknown to everyone – even her?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: HELLO, GOODBYE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college – no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
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From the producers of the To All the Boys franchise here is the latest teen movie slash drama adapted from a book that I’ve never read. “After making a pact to break up before college, Clare (Talia Ryder) and Aidan (Jordan Fisher) spend their last evening as a couple on one final epic date.” Eh…alright then. In movie relationships teens make pacts; while adults issue ultimatums. Pacts are much easier to navigate. Let’s see where all this goes: for now I’m happy to say Hello to to this teen movie.
Thursday, July 07
The Orville: New Horizons – Episode 6 The World of Avis, Part 1 (Anytime / Hulu & Disney+ Canada)
Set 400 years in the future, The Orville: New Horizons finds the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continuing their mission of exploration, as they navigate both the mysteries of the universe and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MOONHAVEN: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / AMC+)
Set in a utopian colony on the moon that may hold the keys to preserving life on Earth, which has become increasingly perilous.
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Welcome to Moonhaven! “Moonhaven is a utopian community set on a 500 square mile Garden of Eden built on the Moon to find solutions to the problems that will soon end civilization on Mother Earth.” Well you know in sci-fi utopias doesn’t last long. We got Earthers who are fighting for their (our?) world and way of life…a battle for an artificial intelligence and a conspiracy which makes it hard to trust anybody. Bake those ingredients together and ya get a delicious sci-fi cake. Debuts with the first 2 episodes; 6 episodes total. So…shall we visit Moonhaven?
Friday, July 08
Black Bird (Anytime / Apple TV+)
When high school football hero Jimmy Keene is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime – enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BOO, BITCH: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
Over the course of one night, a high school senior, who’s lived her life safely under the radar, seizes the opportunity to change her narrative and start living an epic life…as a ghost??
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Happily for 8 30 minute episodes Lana Condor is back in high school. Only she’s dead…and a ghost. As you can instantly gather from the title Boo, Bitch is Casper The Friendly Ghost if he had swagger and IG followers. Hopefully the soundtrack is…killer.
Saturday, July 09
NBA Summer League Games (Various Times / ESPN & NBA TV)
See the Stars of Tomorrow take the court for the 1st time at NBA Summer League taking place July 7-17 in Las Vegas: 11 Days. 75 Games. All 30 NBA Teams.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TRIGGER POINT: LIMITED SERIES
(ANYTIME / PEACOCK & CBC GEM)
Two bomb disposal officers must risk their lives during a terrorist campaign in the heart of London.
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The six-part British drama comes to America via Peacock. (It’s been on CBC Gem in Canada for almost a month now.) “When a terrorist campaign threatens the capital over one summer, the Expos are at the forefront of urgent efforts to find out who is behind the bombings before fatalities escalate.” This being a British show I’m certain there is either a cover up or a conspiracy that runs through the heart of this show and when it’s all revealed you’ll be…blown away. Heh. Good puns are the bomb!
Sunday, July 10
Bridge and Tunnel: Season 2 (10 p.m. / Epix)
Set in the early 1980’s revolves around a group of recent college grads setting out to pursue their dreams in Manhattan while still clinging to the familiarity of their working-class Long Island hometown.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LOVE & GELATO (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
Making a promise to her sick mother, a pre-med student, has the summer of a lifetime in Rome, using her mom’s old journal as a guide as she slowly falls for the city’s charms, its people, and of course, the gelato.
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One more teen movie slash drama adapted from a book that I’ve never read. Love & Gelato is your classic teen movie about a loser, only set in Italy who has no booty yet inexplicably snags 2 Italian boys. Hollywood magic, yo! It’s all lies. I’ve been enjoying teen movies lately; sweet Summer fun. And this one set in Italy (as in not shot in Toronto but “set” in Italy) should provide a compelling backdrop to a country I’ve never visited. Will it be as sweet as gelato? Only one way to find out.
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
