#SetTheVCR: April 07-13, 2025

Monday, April 07

Paradise: Season 1 (10 p.m. / ABC)

Linear Series Premiere: The Hulu series (recently renewed for a 2nd season) makes its broadcast debut with a replay of Season 1.  Paradise is set in an upscale community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds. I like Paradise better than I like Apple TV’s Silo.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MORNINGSIDE (ANYTIME / AMC’S ALLBLK & HOLLYWOOD SUITE)

A young man striving to build a better future for himself, a teen influencer chasing musical stardom with raw talent and big dreams, and a security guard determined to earn his place on the police force. The movie explores the lives of seven diverse characters who meet at a community centre in Scarborough as they navigate the challenges of relationships, societal struggles, and the looming threat of gentrification.
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It takes about 3 minutes into the Scarborough inspired movie Morningside for somebody to suck their teeth. And honestly? That took longer than I expected. Growing up that sound was the Scarborough Anthem. Filmmaker Ron Dias describes Morningside as a love letter to Scarborough. Morningside the movie Ron directed and co-wrote follows a group of Scarborough residents grappling with violence in their community, a rapidly changing city laced with fear and the loss of their local community centre to gross gentrification. One of those Scarborough residents is Steph, a nurse played by Fefe Dobson. As you’ll hear in the attached MSL conversation Fefe maintains a fierce pride for this borough. For our borough. In this My Summer Lair conversation we talk about growing up in Scarborough where she attended Wexford Collegiate, a creative arts high school. (In Scarborough it’s like our Fame school if you get that reference.)

Tuesday, April 08

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 6 (Anytime / Hulu & Crave)

In the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, June’s unyielding spirit and determination pull her back into the fight to take down Gilead. Luke and Moira join the resistance. Serena tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick faces challenging tests of character. This final chapter of June’s journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom. Programming Note: This premieres on April 8 with three episodes, then weekly thereafter for a finale on May 27.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT (ANYTIME / CRAVE)

In 1960, United Nations: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe denouncing America’s color bar, while the U.S. dispatches jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from its first African post-colonial coup.
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Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo’s leader Patrice Lumumba. Read this crazy sentence: “In 1961, American singer Nina Simone was dispatched to Nigeria by the American Society for African Culture, unaware that it was a front for the CIA.” A surreal quote from The Mighty Wurlitzer by Hugh Wilford a 2008 book (page 260). The Eisenhower administration, feared losing access to one of the world’s biggest supplies of uranium (a mineral vital for the creation of atomic bombs.). (It’s the exact same American reason Trump is after Canada. The country offers critical minerals essential for U.S. defense as well AI.) And that supply is in places like The Congo. So they shipped Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie to African nations to distract the people while the CIA set up as needed: killing leaders, getting the people they want “elected” etc. so they could get the uranium because America was not gonna lose The Cold War. “Richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.” (Excellent soundtrack! It’s rare a documentary has a soundtrack this good.)

Wednesday, April 09

The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (Anytime / Netflix)

The pressure is on when you play for one of the greatest franchises in sports history. As Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas puts it, it’s even worse “when you feel like you’re the reason why the team is losing.” Here’s the first clip from the upcoming series, The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, a never-before-seen glimpse into the personal and professional lives of major league ballplayers.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BAD INFLUENCE: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDFLUENCING (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

In this eye-opening documentary exposé, teens and parents reveal disturbing accounts of abuse and exploitation within the world of child influencers.
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Stop Making Stupid People Famous.

Thursday, April 10

Hacks: Season 4 (Anytime / HBO Max & Crave)

Tensions rise as Deborah and Ava endeavor to get their late night show off the ground and make history doing it.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BLACK MIRROR SEASON 7 (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Lose your mind. Lose your reality. The series returns with six new stories. Nothing is as it seems.
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“You can expect a mix of genres and styles,” said creator Charlie Booker during Netflix’s annual Geeked Week festival last September. “We’ve got six episodes this time, and two of them are basically feature-length. Some of them are deeply unpleasant, some are quite funny, and some are emotional.” Look it’s Black Mirror…you are either in or you’re out. But if you’re in…you better be willing to hold your gaze and accept the accurate and highly uncomfortable reflection.

Friday, April 11

Your Friends & Neighbors: Season 1 (Anytime / Apple TV+)

Series Premiere: After being fired in disgrace, Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a hedge fund manager still grappling with his recent divorce, resorts to stealing from his neighbors’ homes in the exceedingly affluent Westmont Village, only to discover that the secrets and affairs hidden behind those wealthy facades might be more dangerous than he ever imagined. Debuts on Apple TV+ with two episodes on Friday, April 11, followed by one new episode weekly through Friday, May 30.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: G20 (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

When the G20 summit comes under siege, U.S. President Danielle Sutton becomes the number one target. After evading capture by the attackers, she must outsmart the enemy to protect her family, defend her country and safeguard world leaders.
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Remember Sudden Death a 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie? A group of terrorists take the Vice President of the United States (and several other VIPs) hostage in a luxury suite during the Stanley Cup Finals. Remember “Get off my plane!!” uttered by Harrison Ford in 1997’s Air Force One? A group of terrorists take the President of the United States (and several other VIPs) hostage on Air Force One. Remember 2013 White House Down with Jamie Foxx? A group of terrorists take the President of the United States (and several other VIPs) hostage in the White House. Remember 2013 Olympus Has Fallen with Gerard Butler? A group of terrorists take the President of the United States (and several other VIPs) hostage in the White House. That movie spawned two sequels. Anyways this is a whole genre. This time you get Viola Davis as United States President Danielle Sutton. And like all the other movies: A group of terrorists take the President of the United States (and several other VIPs) hostage this time…yup; you guessed it. During the G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa.

Saturday, April 12

Gremlins: The Wild Batch (Anytime / HBO Max)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: This next five-episode drop will allow fans to binge the season in its entirety and learn how the chaotic antics of the mischievous Mogwai reach their peak as our heroes confront unforeseen challenges and unexpected plot twists along their wild west adventure.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE ABYSS 4K (ANYTIME / DISNEY+)

A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine (sunk, under mysterious circumstances) and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
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In 2023 six James Cameron movies were released on 4K UHD digital & 4K UHD Blu-ray disc. Now on Disney+ you can stream The Abyss 4K. I was hoping for Aliens 4K but Abyss is decent unless…you are claustrophobic. I can’t imagine how harsh this was to make: almost half of the film’s principal photography takes place under water. Look Abyss isn’t Cameron’s greatest movie; it has obvious flaws. But it did help establish what to expect with a James Cameron movie. Dude sold out with Titanic and I will not be sitting through any of his Avatar movies. This is a Yearbook movie…a chance to go back and look at The Abyss.

Sunday, April 13

The Last of Us: Season 2 (9 p.m. / HBO Max & Crave)

Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE APPRENTICE (ANYTIME / CRAVE)

This biopic follows a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), eager to make his name as the hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, who comes under the spell of cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protege: someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
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Since Donald J. Trump announced his White House run in June 2015 he has become a wildly successful cottage-industry that makes a lot of people wealthy. You know how many people have their wealth and their social status…their core identity wrapped up in either bashing or supporting Trump? Podcasts. Books. Articles and Newsletters. Songs. Documentaries. Journalists. Writers. Filmmakers. Creators of all kinds across multiple mediums. And now…here is a biopic. You don’t need to be factual just be willing to participate in this get-rich-quick scheme. How accurate any of this is…I dunno. Is it good? Also…I dunno. Programming Note: If you are Trump-ed out, no worries. I got you! Kindergarten Cop is streaming on Netflix-Canada. Yes: It’s Not a Tumor!

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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.