In a year that was unlike any TV year we’ve had: March was a struggle…for a month known for Spring there was no spring in the TV schedule.
January TV Highlights: Sammy’s #MustSeeTV!
Devs: Miniseries (FX on Hulu)
At The Time: “Devs follows the story of a young software engineer, Lily Chan, who investigates the secretive development division of her employer which she believes is behind her boyfriend’s murder.” Hmmm. This seems wonderfully creepy less Mr. Robot and more “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” 2001. Let’s give this a shot, shall we?
Sammy Verdict: Terrible! It was neither 2001 nor Mr. Robot rather was it a moody for no reason Demon Seed. Skippable.
Altered Carbon: Resleeved (Netflix)
At The Time: In 2003 the Wachowskis released The Animatrix. An anthology of anime like short films that detailed the backstory of the Matrix Universe. (It’s been a while since I’ve watched that but it was an American–Japanese production so it was pretty decent.) Similarly, Netflix is releasing Altered Carbon: Resleeved, an anime movie set (of course) in the nasty dirt in your eye Altered Carbon world. The description: “Altered Carbon: Resleeved is created and written by by Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop), and features an original story based around protagonist Takeshi Kovacs, who finds himself protecting a tattooist while investigating the death of a yakuza boss alongside a no-nonsense CTAC.” All of which sounds totally Altered Carbon. And bonus: Cowboy Bebop is outstanding; if you haven’t seen that do track it down. Just means that Dai Sato is the right man for this job.
Sammy Verdict: Strong visuals…I dunno that it added a lot to the overall live action TV show. Can you enjoy the Matrix movies without The Animatrix? Yup. Same deal here.
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (HBO)
At The Time: Fake News! In the same month HBO releases the miniseries The Plot Again America comes this honest documentary on the proliferation of disinformation. “The first casualty of War is Truth.” Right? You can blame social media, you can Alex Jones…but what about us? If anything is trending or spreading it’s because of our actions. So…well that’s awkward.
Sammy Verdict: Eventually we’ll hafta include American politics in the same negative framework as we bash Facebook; it’s just as detrimental. So while a solid contribution to detailing the problem…what’s the solution?
March 2020 TV Experiences & Expectations
March 5
Devs: Miniseries (Hulu)
Noughts + Crosses: Season 1 (BBC One)
-Added to Peacock on September 4, 2020
-Added to CBC Gem on November 27, 2020
March 6
Hillary: Docuseries (Hulu)
Amazing Stories: Season 1 (Apple TV)
March 15
Westworld: Season 3 (9 p.m. / HBO)
-In April 2020 HBO renewed Westworld for a fourth season.
Black Monday: Season 2 (10 p.m. / Showtime)
-In October 2020 Showtime renewed Black Monday for a third season which is set to premiere in 2021.
March 16
Supernatural: Season 15 (8 p.m. / The CW)
-Final Season (duh!)
Roswell, New Mexico: Season 2 (9 p.m. / The CW)
-In January 2020 The CW renewed Roswell for a third season.
The Plot Against America: Miniseries (9 p.m. / HBO)
March 18
Brockmire: Season 4 (10 p.m. / IFC)
-Final Season!
March 19
Altered Carbon: Resleeved (Netflix)
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (9 p.m. / HBO)
March 20
The Banker (Apple TV)
March 23
Freud (Netflix)
March 24
Dark Side of the Ring: Season 2 (Vice TV)
-In October 2020 Vice TV renewed Dark Side of the Ring for a third season.
March 27
Ozark: Season 3 (Netflix)
-In June 2020 Netflix renewed Ozark for a fourth and final season (which will consist of 14 episodes split into two parts).)
March 31
Coachella: 20 Years in The Desert (YouTube Originals)
