#CouchWorthy: January 2024 TV Highlights

January Highlights

Monsieur Spade: Limited Series (Anytime / AMC+ & Acorn TV)

“The year is 1963, and the legendary Detective Sam Spade is enjoying his retirement in the South of France. By contrast to his days as a private eye in San Francisco, Spade’s life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet. But the rumored return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been brutally murdered at the local convent. As the town grieves, secrets emerge, and new leads are established. Spade learns that the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious child who is believed to possess great powers.” Oh that’s got enough intrigue.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: VIGIL SEASON 2: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / CRAVE VIA STARZ)

In a brand-new investigation, Amy Silva and Kirsten Longacre look to the skies as they enter the secret world of drone warfare to catch a killer.
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Limited Series Premiere: Vigil (and Line of Duty) were BBC’s highest-rated crime drama in 2021. Vigil no doubt for offering a unique premise: the 6-part series is a police procedural of a homicide on a British nuclear submarine. Oh. Fresh. That’s not your everyday mystery. The death on the HMS Vigil was “classified” as an accidental overdose but of course…nothing is what it seems. The investigation runs on parallel tracks…one cop is embedded in the nuclear submarine still on active duty and the other is on land following up leads. If you’ve enjoyed shows like Bodyguard these are the terrific tension types of shows BBC excels at. That was then; this is now. Series 2 ran on BBC from December 10 to 19, 2023. Here’s the description: “When a prototype Air Force combat drone is compromised and kills several soldiers during a joint demonstration in Scotland, Silva’s team are tasked with finding the perpetrator. She travels to joint Al-Shawka Air Base in the fictional Kingdom of Wudyan, a controversial ally in the Persian Gulf, and discovers a wider conspiracy intertwined with current regime’s collaboration with the British government and private enterprise on drone development.” Again: fresh. That’s not your everyday mystery. This is both a second season and a limited series. The British are so dope when it comes to TV. Programming Note: Peacock will binge drop this on Thursday, February 15th.

January Highlights

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Anytime / Paramount+)

Ethan Hunt and his amazing friends have returned. This is the seventh Mission: Impossible movie so you know the deal by now. The standard stop a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands deal. Tom Cruise will dangle or jump or fall. Enjoy the cool scene with a train on this one. The eighth Mission: Impossible movie arrives on May 23, 2025.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

Based on David Grann’s book of the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.
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Martin Scorsese’s latest. That’s it. That’s the entire hook. The only valid reason to push play. Scorsese is 81 years old so I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be working or he’ll be with us. (Hopefully he finally releases the SCTV documentary he’s promised Netflix.) So enjoy his craft while he’s here; for as long as we have him.

January Highlights

Masters of the Universe: Revolution (Anytime / Netflix)

A chilling new series inspired by R.L. Stine’s worldwide bestselling books, follows a group of five high schoolers as they embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle – while unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MARVEL STUDIOS ECHO: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / DISNEY+ & HULU)

Maya Lopez returns home to face her past as it’s the only way for her to move forward and embrace the true meaning of family.
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Limited Series Premiere: There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s get down to business. This past November Marvel Studios established a new banner called Marvel Spotlight. Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum commented on the decision to launch the new banner with Echo saying: “Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity. Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.” Basically…the MCU was too much homework so you don’t hafta watch all of it. Echo will be the first Marvel-produced series to receive a TV-MA rating from the TV Parental Guidelines, as the show will explore a more gritty and violent story than any other Disney-produced Marvel series until now. And this is a binge release so all 5 episodes are dropped today. So…is this the template? A specific date and time? A binge release? Outside of the MCU continuity? Or will this Echo fade…

January Highlights

In The Know: Season 1 (Anytime / Peacock)

Series Premiere: This is an interesting concept from co-creator Mike Judge. In the Know blends intricate stop-motion animation by ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) with live-action interviews. Each 30 minute episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s NPR show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real-world human guests. The NPR staff are stop-motion animated while the guests are…yeah humans. So…Beavis and Butt-Head meets Office Space? Human guest interviewees include Ken Burns, Finn Wolfhard, Norah Jones, Tegan and Sara, Nicole Byer, Roxane Gay, Mike Tyson and Hugh Laurie. If you don’t know…now you know! Programming Note: This is a binge drop. All six 30-minute episodes are available on streaming today.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE HOLDOVERS (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)

The story of three lonely, shipwrecked people at a New England boarding school over winter break in 1970.
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“Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Hunham, an adjunct professor of ancient history – universally disliked by students and faculty – who gets stuck holding over at Barton Academy with the kids who can’t go home for the holidays.” So Breakfast Club over a Christmas break? This is the story of a cook, a professor and a student: “You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. That’s the way we saw each other at 7 o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed.” This might be a Holdover from Peacock but I’ve learned my Breakfast Club lessons. I’ll attend this comedy classroom. Programming Note: For Canadians, this will be streaming on Prime Video-Canada on Saturday, February 24th.

January Highlights

Zorro: Season 1 (Anytime / Prime Video-US)

Series Premiere:“You killed my father. Prepare to die.” It’s 2024 and Zorro is back…no word yet on the return of The Lone Ranger or The Phantom. Zorro, whose name in Spanish means Fox is a noble bandit who fights on behalf of the peasantry. He’s a pulp character created in 1919 with a secret identity: Diego de la Vega. (You can see an early Superman influence as Diego hides his fighting abilities while also pretending to be a coward and a fop. That’s so Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne was always a rich airhead slash playboy. It’s all misdirection.) Since those remarkable Douglas Fairbanks movies Zorro has been adapted for over forty films. The most recent one was The Legend of Zorro in 2005 with Antonio Banderas. (In December 2021 Disney-ABC announced that a new Zorro series was in development featuring Wilmer Valderrama for Disney+. I’m not sure what’s the status of that project following the lengthy 2023 Hollywood strikes.) This Zorro series is 10 episodes that transports viewers to exciting adventures full of bravery and sword play all set in the 19th century. This is the American story of how California became California. And how one man fought hard against all the corruption and greed; fully determined to protect his people and defend his culture. Is he crazy like a “Fox?” Yeah maybe but the best heroes are a bit off.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TED: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)

The series serves as a prequel to the hit film franchise and will take fans on a hilarious R-rated nostalgic journey back to the ’90s.
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Series Premiere: “Our series is a prequel to the Ted movies. It takes place in the nineties but is based on the timeless truth that being sixteen sucks. The only thing that makes it tolerable is going through it with a friend, even if that friend is a has-been magical teddy bear with a foul mouth and a proclivity for drug use.” So says Seth MacFarlane who “plays” Ted. Do we really need a prequel? Probably not. But it’s wildly sarcastic and it is Seth MacFarlane and it is January so options are limited. I’ll be Frank…while this is not Art…I’ll Chuck out Ted. Programming Note: For Canadians, this airs weekly on Thursday nights on Showcase at 9 p.m.

January Highlights

Good Grief (Anytime / Netflix)

Hopefully this Dan Levy movie is better than the Jim Parsons tripe Spoiler Alert (which also neatly slots into the dying of cancer movie genre.). Though Good Grief that title is Charlie Brown distracting. Hopefully Dan doesn’t hafta kick a football in this movie. Dan plays Marc who suddenly finds himself widowed. Marc’s world shatters, sending him and his two best friends, Sophie and Thomas , on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face. Dan Levy takes a break from comedy for this dramedy. Hopefully you won’t give him Grief for following the Adam Sandler template.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LIFT (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

In the movie, an international heist crew, led by Cyrus Whitaker, race to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane at 40,000 feet...
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Kevin Hart goes all Fast and Furious. Which is no surprise. I may just be The Man From Toronto but I know Die Hart has been like action Night School for him. I’ll book some Me Time and Ride Along as Kevin and friends go all Oceans 11…in the air. Does this make him Passenger 57?

January Highlights

June (Anytime / Paramount+)

June is a feature-length documentary that explores singer/songwriter June Carter Cash’s life and career through rare and never-before-seen archival material and interviews with family, admirers, and friends, including Dolly Parton, Reese Witherspoon, and Willie Nelson.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SELF RELIANCE (ANYTIME / HULU & PARAMOUNT+ CANADA)

Tommy receives an invitation to win $1 million by playing a game where he must outwit hunters attempting to kill him.
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Andy Samberg shows up in the first 5 minutes of Self Reliance and says to Jake Johnson: “Congrats. You’ve been selected.” Yes…Samberg is playing himself. Jake Johnson is playing Tommy Walcott a disillusioned man stuck in a world that he wants to be in while the world isn’t sure it needs him. He’s trapped in a routine so the opportunity for an adventure is most welcome. What exactly is the adventure? Again to quote Samberg don’t ask me any specific questions. He’s invited to win $1 million by taking part in a reality television game on the dark web. For 30 days, he must outwit hunters attempting to kill him. Well if you know Jake Johnson you know he is no John Wick. Fortunately, he’s found a Nick Miller sized loophole! Even Schmidt would be proud of him. Jake Johnson wrote, produced and directed Self Reliance.

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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.