#SetTheVCR: April 14-20, 2025

I hope you’re a light Nightsleeper because the NBA Playoffs start this week. Will a new champion be Minted? Only way to know is to #SetTheVCR.

Monday, April 14

Godfather of Harlem: Season 4 (Anytime / MGM+)

In season four, Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) continues his bloody war for control of Harlem against New York’s Mafia families, while contending with the arrival of gangster Frank Lucas. After Malcolm X’s tragic assassination, Bumpy must also grapple with his daughter Elise’s involvement with the Black Panthers.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MINTED: THE RISE (AND FALL?) OF THE NFT (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

A fascinating look at the intersection of art, commerce, and digital ownership through the rise and crash of the NFT market.
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Think of it like this: if you buy a t-shirt in a store they give you a receipt. So even though Nike made more than 1 Jordan t-shirt; you have a receipt and you own that t-shirt. When you walk down the street or ride the subway people can see that Jordan t-shirt that you own. Owning that t-shirt means you can sell it. Owning that t-shirt means you don’t hafta wear it everyday or you can wear it everyday. If Nike only made a limited run that t-shirt that you own is naturally valuable. For example that is what Our Lady Peace did with the NFT release of Spiritual Machines 2. Replace t-shirt with digital album (and all the extras!) and you can understand why their hardcore fans would be excited. For those OLP fans, this is digital ownership in a prime online neighbourhood. If you got upset because Elon Musk purchased Twitter; sure…you can delete your account but…but! you walk away with nothing. Elon wins, you do not. That’s Web 2.0. It’s free to sign up but you leave with nothing just as you came with nothing. Don’t you want to walk away with ownership? If you’re all about WTF is an NFT you should watch this documentary IRL.

Tuesday, April 15

2025 NBA Play-In Tournament (7:30 p.m. / TNT)

Look how trash the stupid dumb NBA Play In Tournament is: letting loser teams like the Bulls an extra game? Why? What’s the value in supporting losers. If you suck go home to your fat mom. Stay there. Tonight is a double header of junk, Game 2 (Grizzlies vs Warriors). Tomorrow night same junk only on ESPN. The top six teams in each conference are guaranteed a first-round playoff series and the seeding matchups are the same as always. The Play-In Tournament determines the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. Teams finishing seventh through 10th in each conference go into the Play-In Tournament pool of contestants. If you finished 11th through 15th, enjoy the lottery. Four other loser teams will be joining you shortly.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BEHIND THE CURTAIN: STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

This is an electrifying look backstage at the making of the critically acclaimed West End stage play, which opened at London’s Phoenix Theater in December 2023.
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Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off! is a theatrical adaptation of the fantastic movie Planet of the Apes, starring Troy McClure. It’s a witty Simpsons bit from March 1996. Fast forward to 2025 and this spring a Stranger Things play is coming to Broadway. Broadway IP is always a Stranger Thing…are you gonna go? It’s probably #PantsWorthy; though honestly Broadway is so boring. This documentary is the hype man…a long trailer for the Broadway show. The stage play is a prequel to the Netflix show; it is the origin story focusing on Henry Creel who eventually became Vecna.

Wednesday, April 16

Government Cheese: Season 1 (Anytime / Apple TV)

Series Premiere: Government Cheese is a surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. When Hampton Chambers is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. During his absence, Hampton’s wife Astoria and sons Einstein and Harrison have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton’s return spins their world into chaos.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE STOLEN GIRL: LIMITED SERIES (10 P.M. / FREEFORM)

When Elisa and Fred Blix’s daughter, Lucia, goes missing after what appears to be a normal sleepover with a school friend, the couple’s mundane existence spirals into chaos.
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Limited Series Premiere: Dunno what to watch after Adolescence? Here ya go. “When Elisa and Fred Blix’s daughter, Lucia, goes missing after what appears to be a normal sleepover with a school friend, the couple’s mundane existence spirals into chaos. Elisa is forced to embark on a high-stakes cat-and-mouse chase across Europe to discover the shocking truth about her daughter’s disappearance. Exactly why did the enigmatic Rebecca Walsh take her daughter? Was Lucia a random target? What personal price will she have to pay to get her back? As Elisa starts to fit the pieces together, chaotically persistent journalist Selma Desai reports live, relentlessly ripping apart her family life at every turn. Slowly the unsettling truth emerges – Rebecca didn’t want any child; she wanted Lucia – and what started as a textbook abduction is quickly evolving into something much darker…” So? Based on that…has The Stolen Girl stolen your attention? Programming Note: The five-part limited series launches exclusively on April 16, 2025 on Disney+ worldwide. In the U.S., Freeform will roll out episodes weekly at 10:00 p.m. beginning April 16, 2025; episodes will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.

Thursday, April 17

The Diamond Heist (Anytime / Netflix)

A stranger-than-fiction crime caper follows the attempted robbery of a priceless diamond, told by the gangsters who did it and the police on their tail. Executive produced by Guy Ritchie.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NIGHTSLEEPER: LIMITED SERIES (9 P.M. SUPER CHANNEL FUSE)

A real time drama, the series is set on the fictional Heart of Britain sleeper train travelling to London from Glasgow. Two people who have not met before must work together to try to save the lives of the passengers.
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Canadian Limited Series Premiere: Did you watch Red Eye on Paramount+? That limited series was about a London police officer on an airplane “embroiled in an escalating conspiracy and a growing number of murders.” Classic fun, right? Replace that overnight airplane flying from London to Beijing with an overnight train from Glasgow to London and you get Nightsleeper. Oh but this train…it has no driver. It’s a 24 style epic action-adventure paired with a hyper British whodunnit detective story. All aboard for this ruckus now that it’s here in Canada?

Friday, April 18

Light & Magic: Season 2 (Anytime / Disney+)

Light & Magic Season 2 is a three-part series that follows Lucasfilm’s visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, as it enters its most challenging and revolutionary period: the dawn of digital. From creating the first fully realized CG character to solving the challenge of digital water, it is an era that finds ILM scaling new heights of innovation despite dramatic setbacks.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: WOLF MAN (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)

A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.
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That’s it!!! Seeing Wolf Man’s first trailer; yo: I’ve seen this story before. I just couldn’t place it. Cronenberg’s The Fly: yes! That’s it exactly…this didn’t come across as werewolf movie (I mean he’s not even playing basketball!). It’s The Fly as a Wolf. Is it scary? Or just selling Wolf tickets? Man, only one way to know for certain.

Saturday, April 19

#1 Happy Family USA (Anytime / Prime Video)

Saturday Morning Cartoons & Series Premiere: The Ramy Youssef series follows the maniacally upbeat Husseins – the most patriotic, most peaceful, and most definitely-not-suspicious Muslim family in post-9/11 “Amreeka.” With satire and absurdity, it redefines finding humor in hardship as they navigate the early 2000s under the watchful eyes of their terrified neighbors. Programming Note: this is a binge drop; all 8 episodes are now streaming.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NBA PLAYOFFS: DAY 1 (1:00 P.M. / ESPN)

“People will still refer to the playoffs as the postseason, but the Play-In Tournament is simply the postseason and not the playoffs.” The times and TV channels are still TBD however as you can see below the matchups are setup.
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It’s the NBA Playoffs! And the 82 game season for each team has concluded. And the stupid dumb Play-In Tournament has wrapped up. And now the real NBA post-season can (finally) start. Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers, 1 p.m. on ESPN. LA Clippers at Denver Nuggets, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. Detroit Pistons at New York Knicks, 6 p.m. on ESPN. Finally: Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. and that’s on ABC. Look. All that matters is how good you are. Winning is paramount. Winning is beautiful. These 1 championship and done NBA teams are not good for the league and for their cities. Architect a dynasty and you leave a lasting legacy. It’s imperative to build. It’s crucial to dominate. Dynasties transform cities. Just ask the Celtics; their recent HBO documentary is literally called Celtics City.

Sunday, April 20

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Season 5 Part 2 (Anytime / Netflix)

David Letterman interviews WNBA star Caitlin Clark for the latest episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. In 26 episodes across five seasons, David Letterman’s My Next Guest has featured notables including Barack Obama, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, JAY-Z, Robert Downey Jr., Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, and Billie Eilish.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE DARK MONEY GAME (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

Investigate the shadowy world of political donations and fundraising 15 years after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizen’s United case, which enabled unlimited spending by hidden sources on many political campaigns.
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I did not read Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right on which this all based. “In an environment where 90% of elections are won by the candidate who spends the most money, filmmaker Alex Gibney examines the legalities and ethics of unchecked financing, following the money to reveal the partisan organizations, corporations, and individuals inside and outside government who benefit from this flow of influence.” If this is your jam check out Anne Nelson’s Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right. It’s all about the intertwining of Christian-Americans with Koch brothers and other similar nefarious types. Focus on the Family, 700 Club, Left Behind books…this book went through all the cheeze we’ve been surrounded with growing up in the church or in pop culture in general. (Nicolas Cage starred in the 2014 Left Behind movie.) This is two connected documentaries: Ohio Confidential and Wealth of the Wicked. Wealth: “traces the tangled history of campaign finance back to the creation of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in 1975, the 2002 McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, and the Citizens United decision of 2010 that has molded the shape and opacity of present-day super PACs, which now flood the system with money.” While the Ohio documentary reveals Ohio’s largest public corruption case.