#SetTheVCR: August 10-16, 2026

Need Lanterns for bright TV Recommendations? It’s Normal to read #SetTheVCR and Reacher for your TV remote.

Monday, August 10

Modern Whore (Anytime / Crave)

Andrea Werhun as she portrays her past roles as escort Mary Ann, stripper Sophia, and her OnlyFans presence – all part of her Toronto sex work journey
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MICHAEL (ANYTIME / STARZ)

Singer Michael Jackson emerges from Gary, Indiana, as a prodigy in the Jackson 5, captivating audiences with his unmatched talent in the early 1970s. As a solo artist, he transforms pop music with groundbreaking albums like Off the Wall and Thriller, redefining performance, music videos, and global stardom. Behind the fame, Michael grapples with family expectations, management pressures, and the relentless pursuit of perfection that fuels his creativity. His visionary artistry and tireless dedication culminate in the record-breaking Bad World Tour, showcasing his evolution from a gifted child to an international icon. The film charts his rise, triumphs, and innovations, concluding at the electrifying finale of the Bad Tour in late 1980s capturing the peak of his career.
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Michael, a biopic about pop star Michael Jackson’s early career, was released on April 24, 2026. It quickly became the highest-grossing music biopic in the world, grossing $1 billion globally ($644 million from international markets and $372 million domestically.) Michael Jackson is a #GOAT. (“A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”) Online idiots struggled with this dancey, delightful movie because it was missing this or failed to acknowledge that. It’s a biopic. These pitch-fork armed fools came for a crucifixion and all they witnessed was a glorious coronation. So yeah, they can all Beat It with their worthless nonsense. More? The impressive success of Michael is an emphatic and loud double bird to the cowardly generation that shot Elvis from the waist up on January 6, 1957. (Ironically on C-BS. Though it’s all full circle to MJ as he left Motown for…CBS Records.) Y’all were soft in your Elvis reaction. By 1983 Michael’s leg kicks and thrust movements were dazzling and part of his brand. The culture Moonwalked away from Elvis and sailed like a tossed fedora into a glorious future. Thank you so much to Elvis, to James Dean, the Rolling Stones, The Doors and more…everyone who openly rebelled and helped to win their phony war on “Juvenile Delinquency.” “Their” as in the uptight moral absolutists, the fundamentalists, the elected buzz killers: the vapid are legion. Since the ‘50s we’ve known Cancel Culture is just gross trash morality. Pop Culture is Bad and Thriller-ing and Dangerous. Programming Note: Michael streams on Crave on August 14.

Tuesday, August 11

Rory Scovel: Show Must Go On (Anytime / Netflix)

With a hypothetical home invasion, a biblical reenactment, and his late dad’s final wish, Rory Scovel delivers unrelenting laughs in this raucous Netflix stand-up special.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SAWTOOTH MOUNTAIN (ANYTIME / TUBI)

Three college students get entangled in a horrifying ordeal after booking a weekend getaway at a Bigfoot-themed cabin run by two paranormal-obsessed brothers.
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How do you Tubi? I asked Sawtooth Mountain’s Gabriel Carter, as he plays Clint in this horror movie. Gabriel is a big Tubi fan. On his Twitter account he’s written praise such as: “Tubi is the best.” And “Tubi rocks. They feature long lost gems.” So, as a Tubi fan…I asked him: How do you Tubi? The overlooked aspect of Tubi is that it has become this fascinating online modern-day middle of the video store. The Blockbuster walls featured Jurassic Park or True Lies, safe blockbusters. Even if you didn’t enjoy those movies you knew what you were getting into. But if you wandered into the middle of the video store, you’d spy strange action movies. Or be attracted to lurid horror VHS covers. These movies were always risks. But to Gabriel that’s the Tubi Thrill: rolling the dice on a strange unknown movie. It’s a cinematic surprise party. I haven’t offered a valid reason to check out Gabriel’s Sawtooth Mountain, right? Granted, the trailer is below. And Google is free. Or you can test The Tubi Thrill. Just press play and see how big of an imprint this Bigfoot horror movie leaves on you.

Wednesday, August 12

Mile End Kicks (Anytime / Crave)

In 2011, Montreal’s indie music scene, Grace Pine, a 24-year-old music critic moves to the Canadian city to write a book on Alanis Morissette’s classic Jagged Little Pill album. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she gets romantically involved with members of an indie band for whom she serves as their publicist. Programming Note: This is streaming on Netflix-US.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: REACHER: SEASON 4 (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Based on the 13th book in Lee Child’s global best-selling series, Gone Tomorrow, in the fourth season of the action-packed series, when a chance encounter with a distraught stranger on a subway goes horribly wrong, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power.
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That third Reacher season was tepid, slow and silly. Season 4 offers this simple Reacher philosophy: “Your sister’s involved in something big enough that the federal government’s worried…and people are trying to work me over on the street because of it.” Yup. We’ve all been there. To that Jack Reacher affirms: “I’m good at not letting people get away with things.” Basically what the TV series has been about for 3 seasons. Season 4 is based on Gone Tomorrow, the 13th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. Programming Note: Reacher: Season 4 premieres with three episodes on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, followed by weekly episode releases culminating with the debut of Neagley on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Thursday, August 13

MLB at Field of Dreams game (6:30 pm / Netflix)

The Phillies face the Twins as Major League Baseball returns to the Iowa cornfields for a nostalgic night of America’s favorite pastime. (This’ll be played at the newly renovated ballpark complex right next to the iconic 1989 movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. See? If you build it…they will come…)
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TRAVIS BARKER: LOUDER THAN FEAR (ANYTIME / HULU & DISNEY+ CANADA)

After surviving a devastating plane crash that nearly took his life, legendary and electrifying drummer Travis Barker embarks on a raw and redemptive journey. Once a trash collector in Laguna Beach, his life changed when he stepped in as a replacement for Blink-182’s drummer — igniting a meteoric rise that would make him the driving pulse of a generation.
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I wonder after his plane crash if Travis Barker had any…Transplants. I dig this line from the press release: “A tribute to those who keep going when the music almost stops.” While I like Travis Barker’s Blink 182 work (solid mainstream hits) I have a soft spot for his Transplants work because I’m a fan of Diamonds and Guns. Who doesn’t enjoy both those things? Transplants songs are much more dirty and raw…punk I suppose. 100% IN for this “Behind The Music” doc. Let’s discover what beat this drummer marches to.

Friday, August 14

The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn (Anytime / Hulu)

Experience the brand new, never-before-seen R-rated Chris Carter Director’s Cut, faithfully restoring the filmmaker’s original vision. When a group of women is mysteriously abducted, it becomes a case right out of The X-Files.Years after walking away from the FBI, Fox Mulder and Dr. Dana Scully are pulled back from the shadows when a federal agent vanishes without a trace. In a case you’d never see on TV, their only lead is a disgraced, defrocked priest claiming to have horrific psychic visions of the crime.Forced to confront the ghosts of their past, the partners must navigate a chilling winter landscape and an even darker human monstrosity. The truth of these crimes is out there somewhere… and it will take Mulder and Scully to find it.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NORMAL (ANYTIME / HBO MAX)

In the aftermath of a bank robbery, interim sheriff Ulysses uncovers a criminal conspiracy at the heart of his small-town Minnesota community.
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Middle Class John Wick is not…Normal. Nobody was decent: way better than the Tubi Trash Treats that Gerard Butler, Liam Neeson and Bruce Willis issue with alarming regularity. I appreciate Bob Odenkirk’s current ruckus phase.

“Normal is a crime thriller film directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Derek Kolstad, based on a story by Kolstad and Bob Odenkirk.”

That’s the entire hook.

Derek Kolstad created the John Wick franchise: Tick…
You know (and like) Bob Odenkirk. He’s not a Nobody: Tick…
And Fonzie is in this! Henry Winkler displays some casual duplicity that is impressive: Boom!

Programming Note: Normal streams on Prime Video-Canada on August 28.

Saturday, August 15

The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Series (Anytime / Tubi-US)

You’ll hafta cross the “tv streams” to watch this Ghostbusters documentary on US-Tubi! Ghostbusters was released on June 8, 1984 (I know…we’re all old!) and quietly launched a fantastic franchise. The Ghostbusters logo, Ectomobile, and Proton pack are hallmarks that have appeared in Ghostbusters II (1989), The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991), and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997). Whew. I mean there’s no way any of that should have happened right?HERE
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN (ANYTIME / HULU)

In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever. Putin and Baranov’s reign of chaos begins with lies and corruption, and quickly escalates to assassinations, tyranny, and eventually all-out war.
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Mad Men with vodka. I was saving this movie for streaming. It looks like Wag the Dog meets Thank You for Smoking.

Sunday, August 16

Busboys (Anytime / Hulu)

A pair of idiot friends (David Spade & Theo Von) believe that if they become waiters, all of their problems will be solved. They aren’t entirely wrong, but they aren’t entirely right.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LANTERNS: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

The series follows new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery with cosmic ties as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
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“What the fuck?” is how the Lanterns trailer opens. Indeed. It’s difficult to generate nerdy enthusiasm for Lanterns, the next chapter in the revamped DCU. Like, it’s Damon Lindelof; hacks for nothing James Gunn. Remember how wretched and devoid of all value Watchmen was? Lindelof also hacked up The Leftovers. And Star Trek: Into Darkness. (At least that was well-named.) And Prometheus. Lindelof is a vacuum: he just sucks. Like, with a frowzy track record like that: why would Lanterns be embraced with hope?! Like, this dumb TV show is called Lanterns plural but what…based on the lackluster HBO trailers so far, there’s just 1 ring? Like, it truly doesn’t matter how Lanterns will justify a cloth suit. Yet another disappointing trailer moment. No matter what…the explanation will be dumb: Stewart is in training, Hal’s Danny Glover too old for this, Coast City is gone, this is what Alan Scott wore etc. The reveal will be dumb bad…bad writing. Like, Lanterns is TV writing. “Something is off here. I can feel it.” Oh, come on man. Really? Like, Lanterns is a TV show about space cops taking on ruthless moonshiners in a backwater town?! Welcome to Smallville. Like, remember how Watchmen sucked? Lindelof is not even close to Alan Moore. Rise up as a vicious choir and sing loudly: because as terrible as Watchmen is…this DC Comics TV show is desperate to be even worse. Like, Tom King is one of the writers, too. Oh boy. So far nothing shown indicates quality. What else ya got? Like, it’s hard to muster up much enthusiasm for this Emerald Dawn when it looks like a lame True Detective. Can HBO get back on track in 2026 following the It: Welcome to Derry debacle? Apparently this HBO show has the Green Light to be even worse than the Ryan Reynolds debacle. And there’s nothing to like about that.