#SetTheVCR: February 19-25, 2024

Say It Loud: we got TV recommendations for this week from James Brown to Albert Einstein to Giannis Antetokounmpo to Priscilla Presley. If none of that makes you #SetTheVCR no worries: there’s also Zombies.

Monday, February 19

Players (Anytime / Netflix)

New York sportswriter Mack has spent years devising successful hook-up “plays” with her friends (Damon Wayans Jr.!). But when she unexpectedly falls head over heels for one of her targets she must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps. Because with this group, love is a team sport.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: JAMES BROWN: SAY IT LOUD (8:00 P.M. / A&E)

The documentary examines James Brown’s incredible life that was as innovative as it was influential. The two part special examines Brown’s legacy through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen archival footage and his beloved music catalog.
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This is an incredible Black History Month saga: James Brown ladies and gentlemen. As much as funk is the first thing you think of with James Brown that should be closely followed by Black. It wasn’t just a Black identity rather it was Black culture. Which is really American culture. You know how many times James Brown has been sampled in hip hop? “Across four hours, James Brown: Say it Loud traces the incredible trajectory of Brown’s life and career from a 7th grade drop-out arrested and jailed at the age of 16 for breaking into a car in the Jim Crow-era South, to an entertainment legend whose groundbreaking talent and unique perspective catapulted him to become a cultural force. His words, songs, style and moves inspired musical revolutions and molded a nation’s view of Black Pride and Black masculinity.” This is powerful. Programming Note: This airs on Monday, February 19 (Parts 1 8 p.m. and 2 9 p.m.) and Tuesday, February 20 (Parts 3 8 p.m. and 4 9 p.m.).

Tuesday, February 20

The Rookie: Season 6 (9:00 p.m. / ABC)

After five successful seasons, The Rookie: Season 6 celebrates a monumental milestone for the hit series. When the new episodes start airing, the countdown to The Rookie’s 100th episode officially begins. The special occasion occurs with the second episode of season 6. Over the course of five seasons, the show has not only taken John from the oldest trainee with the LAPD to the newest trainer of future officers, but it has also expanded the perspectives of the show, often portraying the ups and downs of John’s fellow officers.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: EINSTEIN AND THE BOMB (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Will combine archival footage with dramatization and explore key moments in science genius Einstein’s life, and how his work have changed history’s course. Everything he says in the film is taken from words he said or wrote.
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Einstein and the Bomb is an BBC Studios docu-drama which will use archived footage and dramatizations of Albert Einstein’s life and his scientific work’s impact on the world. The TV Guide reads: “The docudrama is set to detail Einstein’s relationship with Adolf Hitler, and his escape from Nazi Germany before eventually making it to the United States, where he would help persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt to start a U.S. Nuclear program out of fear that Germany was developing an atomic bomb. Later in life, it was reported that Einstein regretted his involvement in the creation of the atomic bomb, and in hindsight, had he known Germany would fail in their attempt to create one, he would not have signed the letter to President Roosevelt. Notably, it has been reported that the script of Einstein and the Bomb has taken everything from anything Einstein was recorded or heard saying and everything he wrote down.” Programming Note: Oppenheimer is streaming on Peacock and Prime Video-Canada and tomorrow on CBC Gem you can watch The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain. It’s all connected.

Wednesday, February 21

Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 3 (Anytime / Disney+)

This is the third and final season of the animated series, which is a spinoff from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Premieres with the first three Episodes (out of 15): the Batch will have their limits tested in the fight to reunite with Omega as she faces challenges of her own inside a remote Imperial science lab. With the group fractured and facing threats from all directions, they will have to seek out unexpected allies, embark on dangerous missions, and muster everything they have learned to free themselves from the Empire.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: CONSTELLATION: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

An astronaut who returns to Earth after a disaster in space – only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing.
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Series Premiere: Apple TV’s latest is a “conspiracy-based psychological thriller drama.” Oh, I like all of those things. It’s also a German production. Tell me, more. Following a fatal accident on board the International Space Station, a lone astronaut makes the journey back to Earth. Good so far…only there’s more trouble on Earth. Key aspects of her life―including her young daughter―have changed or are missing. If you can’t trust reality you got my attention. Is there a strange cost to space travel? Can astronauts get PTSD? This has got Interstellar vibes. Let’s see where this all goes. Programming Note: Constellation premieres with the first three episodes, followed by one episode weekly, every Wednesday through March 27.

Thursday, February 22

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent: Season 1 (8 p.m. / City TV)

Series Premiere: A local adaptation of the legendary Law and Order brand based on the classic TV series created by Dick Wolf. As a psychological thriller wrapped in a criminal investigation, Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent follows an elite squad of detectives who investigate high-profile crime and corruption in metro Toronto.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: GIANNIS: THE MARVELOUS JOURNEY (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

The story of Giannis Antetokounmpo, global NBA superstar, from the streets of Athens to becoming an NBA champion and two-time league MVP.
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It’s way too early for Giannis to have a Last Dance. As the documentary recounts “born to Nigerian immigrants in Greece, Giannis grew up humbly in Athens, selling trinkets on the streets to make ends meet. One day at an internet cafe, a young Giannis got ahold of images of NBA stars and was instantly captivated. He picked up a basketball and the rest is history.” Notably Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson are two of the talking heads in the doc. Always fun to hang out with the Inside guys. NBA games resume today, following the All-Star Weekend though the season has shifted to the final third…legacies will rise and fall based on what unfolds from now until June.

Friday, February 23

Through My Window: Looking at You (Anytime / Netflix)

After the events of last summer, Ares and Raquel can’t find a way to carry on their relationship and decide to go their separate ways. But, when they see each other again in winter in Barcelona, the love and attraction they feel for each other is undeniable. Will they find their way back to each other again?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: PRISCILLA (ANYTIME / HBO MAX)

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.
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That Priscilla follows 2022’s Elvis movie renders it redundant. We not only covered this already but in the grand scheme of things it’s lazy TMZ junk. This is selling me salaciousness not a scintillating feature. Priscilla’s story warrants a post-Elvis death focus but as a documentary. Not a cheap biopic. What she’s done with Graceland is impressive. (She established a template!!) Plus Naked Gun. Her post-Elvis life is fascinating. That’s the good stuff; let’s get into that. Not this. Yet here we are.

Saturday, February 24

Joan Baez: I Am A Noise (Anytime / Hulu)

Facing the end of a 60-year musical career, legendary singer and activist Joan Baez takes an honest look back and a deep look inward as she tries to make sense of her large history-making life and reveals, for the first time, personal struggles she’s kept private, until now.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE ABYSS (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

As the Swedish town of Kiruna sinks, Frigga finds herself torn between her family and her job as security chief at the world’s largest underground mine.
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Everyone Report To The Dance Floor! We’re getting a new disaster movie: The Abyss (Avgrunden). It’s Swedish for Common Ruckus. The ground is reclaiming and swallowing whole the mining town of Kiruna (northern Sweden). Eat It. This is The Big One. Foreign Disaster now that’s good diversity. Into The Abyss we go. Programming Note: The Abyss is the 1989 James Cameron movie. That’s currently on Hulu. The Abyss (Avgrunden) is a 2024 Swedish disaster movie on Netflix.

Sunday, February 25

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 1 (Anytime / Netflix)

Series Premiere: Avatar: The Last Airbender is a live-action reimagining of the beloved animated series following Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, and Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE (ANYTIME / AMC+)

Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before?
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Series Premiere: Nerd Confession: I haven’t watched any of The Walking Deads since I dropped the original series back on November 27, 2011. (Season 2, Episode 7: Pretty Much Dead Already.) The Ones Who Live will be the sixth spin-off…the Dead do shuffle along in herds, right? This is set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead series. So Rick Grimes is presumed to be dead (guess he’s not?) and Michonne has gone on a Lord of the Rings quest to find him. I dunno if I’m ready to come back to The Walking Dead. I’ll hafta kick that around a bit more.