#SetTheVCR: December 15-21, 2025

Monday, December 15

Words + Music (Anytime / MGM+)

Elvis Costello, joined by the Imposters and guests, blends classics and new songs with family photos and art projected on immersive screens. The music series premiered on November 30 with John Legend followed by Sheryl Crow. I wasn’t interested in either episode of this weekly series which “features iconic artists sharing stories about songs pivotal to their careers, followed by all-new performances of those songs either solo or with a band.” Following this episode of the final episode on December 21 with Alanis Morissette. Also another skip.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ROOFMAN (ANYTIME / MGM+ & PARAMOUNT+ CANADA)

Based on an unbelievable true story, Roofman follows Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
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Career Opportunities is a romantic comedy movie from 1991 written and produced by John Hughes, starring Frank Whaley and a supa fit Jennifer Connelly. Not a John Hughes classic but still decent. Frank Whaley plays Jim Dodge, who is locked overnight in a Target store as an overnight janitor. Of course, he’s trapped in there with Jennifer Connelly. While now, Roofman is a crime movie, released back in October 2025, starring Channing Tatum as the criminal Jeffrey Manchester, who is hiding for six months, living undetected inside a Toys “R” Us store in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jennifer Connelly is replaced by Kirsten Dunst. Got it. Some similarities, some differences…I suppose. Either way who is up for some after hours retail shopping?

Tuesday, December 16

F1 (Anytime / Apple TV)

In the 1990s, Sonny Hayes was Formula 1’s most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team’s hotshot rookie, Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone. I can’t stand car racing. Worse this a terrible movie genre…I didn’t even bother with Gran Turismo. Like why? Now then if F1 was closer to Moneyball (a baseball movie that isn’t about baseball) I’d be down. But I dunno about Days of Thunder with Brad.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MY NEXT GUEST WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: SEASON 6 (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

In 27 episodes across five seasons and three specials, My Next Guest has featured notables including Barack Obama, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, JAY-Z, Robert Downey Jr., Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, Will Smith, Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Durant. It’s David Letterman, you’re either in or you’re out.
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Letterman’s sixth season features conversations with Michael B. Jordan, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and Jason Bateman. I’m not sure if I can sit through MrBeast. I don’t care about him or his accomplishments, such as they are. Still Letterman’s Netflix work is proving to be insightful, creative and worthy of recognition as part of his incredible TV legacy. We’ve seen that with Conan O’Brien who has also thrived post-late night talk TV. It’s a defective (and wholly bogus) narrative Stephen Colbert is “losing” late night. He’s not good at it. Set him free to dream up better fitting work. What’s next for Colbert and more importantly, Season 7 of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman are two talk show hosts highlights we can expect in 2026.

Wednesday, December 17

In Flight: Limited Series (Anytime / Hollywood Suite)

Gripping crime thriller with Katherine Kelly. When her teenage son is jailed for murder in Bulgaria, flight attendant Jo enters a murky world of drug smuggling and will stop at nothing to save him. Programming Note: The 6 episode limited series is now streaming in Canada. It was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK during August 2025.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: FALLOUT: SEASON 2 (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two-hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind – and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.
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Season 1 ended with Lucy searching for her dad following his betrayal and the Ghoul is looking for his family…who may have survived the Great War. (He’s not gonna look for a nose?!) Not a video game dude but I enjoyed Fallout: Season 1. According to Prime’s official description: “The new season will pick up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.” Season 1 was some yummy sci-fi: it’s a dark world, filled with dark humour. Ghoul-ishly violent: what you’d expect from post-apocalyptic fiction. I’m a sucker for a Waste Land Saga. Recently I’ve seen the first two episodes of Season 2. And that’s all I can say about that. Programming Note: The eight-episode season premieres on December 17, 2025, with one episode rolling out weekly until the season finale on February 4, 2026.

Thursday, December 18

Paying for It (Anytime / Crave)

When an introverted cartoonist’s girlfriend wants to redefine their relationship, he begins sleeping with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy in the process. An adaptation of the Graphic Novel by Chester Brown, yes this is a comic book movie.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MUSIC BOX: COUNTING CROWS: HAVE YOU SEEN ME LATELY? (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

An intimate documentary chronicling the rise of the band Counting Crows and the unrelenting pressure that followed their breakout success. Centered on frontman Adam Duritz, the film explores the emotional aftermath of the band’s landmark studio album debut August and Everything After and the pressures and creative process of making their follow-up album Recovering the Satellites.
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“A guy walked up to me and said, “Man, you’re so lucky, because you guys are terrible. Does that make you feel weird to be so shitty and be so famous?” I don’t agree—Hootie & the Blowfish were utter rubbish—but the honest guy always makes me laugh. The talking heads for this Counting Crows doc are wild: Chris Martin, Mary-Louise Parker, Cyndi Lauper, Jeff Ross and Steve Kerr. Round Here that collection simultaneously seems bizarre and yet totally correct. This is the third, Music Box documentary, this season on HBO Max. I highly recommend It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley which premiered on December 4. Now, then…shall we start Hanginaround with the Counting Crows?

Friday, December 19

Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts (Anytime / Hulu)

After nearly a decade away, Kumail Nanjiani returns to Chicago, where he got his start in standup, in a new special that tackles anxiety, the perils of buying drugs pre-legalization, and most importantly, cat medication.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: BREAKDOWN: 1975 (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

In 1975, as America faced social and political upheaval, filmmakers turned chaos into art. This documentary explores how a turbulent era gave rise to iconic movies like Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Network.
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Ready for this? Albert Brooks, Bill Gates, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Rich, James Wolcott, Jefferson Cowie, Josh Brolin, Kurt Andersen, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Patton Oswalt, Peter Bart, Peter Biskind, Rick Perlstein, Sam Wasson, Seth Rogen, Dr. Todd Boyd, and Wesley Morris sit down to discuss 1975 movies. Such as Spielberg’s Jaws, Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon and Coppola’s The Godfather Part II. More classics released in 1975? One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Death Race, Tommy and countless others. In 2023 I welcomed Mark A. Altman to My Summer Lair so we could discuss Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982. 1982 was that special and so was 1975. Cue the Wonder Years narrator.

Saturday, December 20

Adult Swim’s The Elephant (Anytime / HBO Max)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Known for creating some of the most beloved and groundbreaking animated series in history, Patrick McHale (“Over the Garden Wall”), Ian Jones-Quartey (“OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes”), Rebecca Sugar (“Steven Universe”), and Pendleton Ward (“Adventure Time”) have reunited to push the boundaries of conventional storytelling – resulting in an animated adventure so mysterious, even they don’t know what it’s about. Adult Swim’s The Elephant” is a rare creative experiment in which each of the three-acts are made in isolation. With Sugar and Jones-Quartey working as a duo and McHale and Ward overseeing their own separate parts, the special is guided by “game masters” and “Adventure Time” alums Jack Pendarvis and Kent Osborne for a storytelling experiment that unfolds as a collaborative surprise, ultimately merging into a single, unexpected narrative.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ICK (ANYTIME / HOOPLA)

An unlucky high school science teacher, a sarcastic student, and her mother must deal with a parasitic alien entity known as “The Ick” that is encroaching upon their small town.
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In a charming sci-fi twist, this time it’s The Faculty who are tasked with saving Earth and other high school students from an imminent alien threat. Brandon Routh (without his Super powers) is a science teacher who lives in Eastbrook. A town where the “Ick”, a parasitic, plant-like substance that appears to be mostly benign freely grows throughout most of the town. Of course…it’s not benign, is it? In an interview with Variety, director Joseph Kahn cited the Steven Spielberg monster films Jaws (1975) and Jurassic Park (1993) as inspiration for Ick. Kahn is great so it’d be Ick…y if you missed this movie.

Sunday, December 21

Safehaven: Season 1 (Anytime / Tubi)

After the death of her friend, teenage artist Jenna Frost finds herself trapped in a dystopian world straight out of her comic book and turns to a new school counselor named Rayburn for help. Safehaven was created by James Seale, based on his graphic novel. A comic book TV show!
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: KEROUAC’S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Exploring how the legacy of Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel On the Road reflects in today’s America. The documentary interweaves stories of modern-day “on-the-roaders” who share connections to Kerouac’s life, alongside those influenced by him or knew and loved him.
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Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation is now streaming; all roads lead streaming. Josh Brolin, Jay McInerney, Natalie Merchant, and more explore Kerouac as well as On The Road and its lasting impact on America. In pop culture, you can be either popular or relevant. Kerouac remains relevant. In 2026 prepare to hit the open highway in a beat-up car in a pop culture pilgrimage. More road trips, more adventures…more being on the road. That’s the good life.

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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.