It’s a TV week of Titans as the NBA Playoffs tip-off. There’s Barry good TV recommendations so punch your Ticket to Paradise: It’s #SetTheVCR.
Monday, April 10
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed (Anytime / HBO Max)
The next MusicBox HBO (their 30 for 30s on music) is with…Jason Isbell. Who? I dunno who this is. What’s his deal…what are his accomplishments? Major let down following strong music docs on Kenny G, DMX etc.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TICKET TO PARADISE (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO-US)
A man and his ex-wife race to Bali, Indonesia, to stop their daughter from marrying a seaweed farmer. As they desperately try to sabotage the wedding, the bickering duo soon find themselves rekindling old feelings that once made them happy together.
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This was added to Peacock mid-December. Might still be there, check. It’s…George Clooney and Julia Roberts doing their thing: once again. This is their fifth movie together; so you have a sense of what to expect (though this’ll be a lot more fun than Money Monster). Like a Marvel movie, watch the end credits…bloopers and outtakes roll during the closing credits. Who do you enjoy more? George Clooney and Julia Roberts or Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore?
Tuesday, April 11
CBS Sports Golazo Network (Anytime / Now streaming on CBS Digital Platforms: Paramount+, Pluto TV etc.)
The new and free 24/7 channel will feature unparalleled coverage of all the top domestic and international soccer competitions across the globe, and will become the ultimate year-round streaming destination for soccer fans.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT 2023
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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Stupid dumb NBA Play-In Tournament starts today, and it runs until the 14th. The regular season ended on April 9th so now we have this stupid dumb event to determine the final 2 seeds in each conference. As you can clearly pick up I’m not a fan of this recent postseason format which determines the final 2 playoff teams in the East and West for the upcoming NBA Playoffs which begin on April 15. This is the NBA Postseason but not the NBA Playoffs. These garage time games stats don’t count. Bulls or Raptors hafta win two games to make the NBA Playoffs. Same with the Thunder and Pelicans. That means Lakers, Timberwolves, Heat and Hawks just gotta win 1 game and they’re in. The corny Play-In games will air on ESPN and TNT over the next couple of days; the TV schedule is below.
Wednesday, April 12
Rennervations (Anytime / Disney+)
Jeremy Renner and his team of expert builders use their skills to reimagine decommissioned vehicles and rebuild them into mind-blowing creations that serve communities around the world.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: AMERICAN MANHUNT: THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
Archive footage, chilling reenactments and exclusive interviews shed new light on a tragedy — and two brothers — that suspended a city in terror.
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At the end of March Netflix released Waco: American Apocalypse. It was the 30th anniversary of the infamous 51-day siege Waco, Texas. Today Netflix releases a Boston Marathon bombing 3-part docuseries on that event’s 10th anniversary. Brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted two homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line. The bombs which detonated 14 seconds and 210 yards apart at 2:49 p.m. killed three people and injured 281 individuals including 17 who lost limbs. The carnage sparked one of the largest manhunts in American history once the brothers were correctly identified. Boston PD, Massachusetts National Guard, FBI, ATF, Boston FD…even MIT PD and Boston University PD got involved. This is an incredibly dark chapter in American history between the domestic terrorism and the unfettered bungling of self-deputized online vigilantes.
Thursday, April 13
Obsession: Limited Series (Anytime / Netflix)
A respected London surgeon’s affair with his son’s fiancée turns into an erotic infatuation that threatens to change their lives forever. Remember Damage from 1992? Replace Jeremy Irons with Richard Armitage. And this time supplying Mr. Skin with fresh nudity is Charlie Murphy instead of Juliette Binoche.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TITANS: SEASON 4 -THE FINAL EPISODES (ANYTIME / HBO MAX)
In this gritty live-action take on the Teen Titans franchise, Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Superboy, and more beloved superheroes from the DC Universe band together to fight evil forces across Gotham City and beyond.
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Chances are if you actively read comic books you can name the Titans. The 4th season of the too cool for school teenage sidekicks is the end. Here’s a list the villains this season. That’s the better way to show how wild this season is: Mayhem Jinx, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke and Brother Blood. Impressive list…are you ready for Season 4 and the TV show to end? Who will end before the show ends…will all of em make to the end? In the final episodes, the Titans enter into an epic battle to save both Kory and the world. They grow up so fast.
Friday, April 14
Personality Crisis: One Night Only (8 p.m. / Showtime)
A portrait of musical iconoclast David Johansen from Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi. From his days leading The New York Dolls to his reinvention as lounge lizard Buster Poindexter, David Johansen is a chameleonic one of a kind performer.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)
The series follows Hannah (Jennifer Garner), a woman who must forge a relationship with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter Bailey in order to find the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared.
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Based on the bestselling novel Laura Dave published on May 4, 2021. The TV series begins with the disappearance of Owen Michaels, who leaves behind a cryptic note for his wife, Hannah, that simply says “protect her.” Hannah (played by Jennifer Garner) understands he’s talking about his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother as a child and who hates Hannah. The drama continues with disturbing moments like when the FBI arrests Owen’s boss prompting the classic revelation: Hannah now realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Does her stepdaughter Bailey who doesn’t like her hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity? You gotta watch to find out. (Or read…the novel has been around since 2021.)
Saturday, April 15
Cocaine Bear (Anytime / Peacock)
Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT 2023
One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall.
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The stupid dumb NBA Play-In Tournament is over! Let’s the real NBA Playoff games begin. Can the Suns win it all? What about the poor Kings who finally made it to the NBA Playoffs since 2006 but now must face the Warriors? Who is coming out of the East: Bucks or Celtics? I don’t have any faith in the Sixers and I doubt the Nuggets. The TV schedule is below; expect updates and adjustments as it develops. Step lively. Here we go!
Sunday, April 16
100 Foot Wave: Season 2 (8 p.m. / HBO Max)
The surfing show returns to Nazaré, Portugal – with stops in Hawaii and California – for a heart-pounding and adrenaline-filled second season following big wave legend Garrett McNamara, his world-class surfing peers, and some surprising newcomers as they continue to push the boundaries of their sport and the limits of their minds and bodies.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BARRY: SEASON 4 (10 P.M. / HBO MAX & CRAVE)
Cousineau (Henry Winkler) is hailed as a hero as Barry’s (Bill Hader) arrest has shocking consequences. It’s all been leading up to this – the explosive and hilarious final chapter of Barry.
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Barry follows a mentally unstable Afghanistan veteran (Bill Hader) who has become a contract killer in the criminal underbelly of Cleveland, Ohio. While in Los Angeles for a hired kill Barry stumbles into an acting class led by the egocentric but weirdly charming Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). (Winkler is so good in this show!) The acting class is the bug: he falls in love with acting (being somebody else is a welcome relief) and an aspiring actress/classmate. Only…as you know: it’s nearly impossible for him to leave this life of crime behind. He continued to kill and the dark situations continued to escalate and now: with Season 4 it’s time for Barry Berkman to atone for his (many) sins. Can he leave the criminal world—even though that world has him trapped—for his new home of acting and recapturing his emotions? Can Barry make it out alive? Or will he be Barry-ed in this final season?
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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.
