#SetTheVCR: March 31 – April 06, 2025

Monday, March 31

The Last Anniversary: Limited Series (Anytime / AMC+)

Limited Series Premiere: Based on Liane Moriarty‘s novel; the captivating six-episode drama stars Teresa Palmer as Sophie Honeywell, a young woman finding herself drawn into a complex web of family secrets after inheriting a house on a remote island. The Last Anniversary is set on the remote, but beautiful Scribbly Gum Island, a place of many secrets. The one that made it famous – the disappearance of a young couple decades ago – might have made the island a destination for true crime tourists, but when Sophie Honeywell (Palmer) inherits a house on the island, it’s the fresh start she’s craving. After the unwelcome reception she receives on arrival, she begins to investigate the mysteries of the island and finds herself drawn into a complex web of long-held family secrets spanning three generations of women, uncovering far more than ever expected.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: NUMBER ONE ON THE CALL SHEET (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

The two-part documentary film takes us on an intimate journey with some of Hollywood’s most extraordinary leading Black men and women as they shine a light on the joys and challenges of being a Black actor, share breakthrough moments, discuss blueprints for success and honor legends, while recognizing the next generation’s enormous potential.
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“People wanted to put me Number One on the call sheet and I was superstitious about it and I was like you know what? Just make me Number Two.” Recently, Sterling K. Brown was promoting Paradise (fun show, check it out on Disney+). And in the interview he reflected on the superstition of being Number One On The Call Sheet. Interesting; I don’t subscribe to the superstition but actors have many of them so I get it. Rather what stands out when you watch the trailer is this: “It just really comes down to The Work.” Denzel wonderfully bottom lines it. Number One isn’t a notable accomplishment if you ain’t good. S’like going viral…what exactly did you accomplish? Still, I like how kids measure height on door frames, similarly…this is progress.

Tuesday, April 01

Fight for Glory: 2024 World Series (Anytime / Apple TV+)

Directed by R.J. Cutler, and with executive producers including five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, the 3-part series takes viewers deeper than ever into the Fall Classic, capturing the intensity, drama and defining moments of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees as they reignite one of baseball’s most storied rivalries in pursuit of a World Series Championship. Following the Tokyo series with The Dodgers, the 2025 Major League Baseball season has opened; it closes on my birthday (September 28, 2025).
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: RAPTORS DOUBLE FEATURE (ANYTIME / CRAVE)

We The North: From Prehistoric to Historic details the Raptors’ rich history over the franchise’s first three decades, while Inbound documents the growth of basketball and shifting demographics around the sport since the NBA began its on-the-ground presence in the country.
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On the subway…the row of 3 seats. After a couple of stops a small kid sits beside me and his mom sits beside him. The kid is decent; he’s just sitting there…legs dangling off the seat, not fidgety or anything. I keep reading my book. However, the kid somehow decided this was awkward silence and he volunteered: “I like dinosaurs.” I look down, realize he’s talking to me. “What, now?” “Dinosaurs!” He’s impatient for me to keep up. He launches into this unprovoked diatribe of his favourite dinosaurs including Triceratops (he says the name properly on the second attempt), T-Rex and Raptors. To which I interject this observation: “Raptors are good at playing basketball.” (Which is a kind thing to say after this season.) He’s all annoyed with me, shooting me a Whatcha Talkin Bout Willis face. “That’s silly! Raptors don’t play basketball.” Which while an accurate reflection about a 27 and 47 team…I gotta wonder: we don’t do stranger danger anymore?

Wednesday, April 02

Lockerbie: The Bombing of Pan Am 103 (Anytime / HBO Max)

Did you watch the “You Can’t Handle The Truth!” limited series from Peacock. Lockerbie was based on the 2021 non-fiction book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph. That 5-part limited series offers a poignant exploration of grief, resilience and the relentless quest for accountability. Now this 4-part docuseries features heartrending interviews with Lockerbie residents and family members of the passengers who detail their personal experiences of the tragic event. It deftly tracks the complex web of theories that emerged during the global investigation that followed, and the unprecedented trial that played out on the world stage. Though a conviction was upheld in 2000, questions remain about those responsible for one of the most extreme terrorist acts on the United States in history.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING: ONE DAY IN AMERICA (8:00 P.M. / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)

The 3-part series is an unprecedented moment-by-moment account of the Oklahoma City bombing, including extraordinary stories of survival, heroic rescue efforts, the nationwide search that followed, and a city’s need for justice and healing after the tragedy.
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A direct quote from the FBI website: “On the morning of April 19, 1995, an ex-Army soldier and security guard named Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.” Timothy McVeigh would officially become a domestic terrorist when at 9:02 a.m. the truck bomb exploded. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. The FBI adds: “The human toll was…devastating: 168 souls lost, including 19 children, with several hundred more injured.” McVeigh wanted revenge against the United States federal government for the 1993 Waco siege, as well as the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident. Which sounds incredibly elementary. Just as we’ve done with 9/11 docs this Nat Geo docuseries is “a raw and unflinching account of that tragic day, told by those who lived through it.” All 3 parts are broadcast tonight: Episode 1 at 8 p.m. is Explosion, Episode 2 at 9 p.m. is Manhunt and Episode 3 at 10 p.m. is Justice. Programming Note: The docuseries will stream on Hulu and Disney+ tomorrow. Also? I was confused. This series is called Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America. However on April 18 Netflix offers Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror. Why are we double dipping? It’s the 30th anniversary of the awful Oklahoma City Bombing. Finally, McVeigh a 2025 biopic is now streaming on Hoopla.

Thursday, April 03

SurrealEstate: Season 3 (10 p.m. / SYFY)

Set three years after the events of the sophomore season, the upcoming episodes find Luke Roman, Susan Ireland and the rest of the ghost-busting team at the merged Roman Ireland Agency ridding “metaphysically engaged properties” — aka haunted houses — of recalcitrant spectral squatters. While Luke is stalked by an old, demonic childhood nemesis who threatens him and everyone he cares about… dead or alive.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE BONDSMAN: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Kevin Bacon stars as undead bounty hunter Hub Halloran in this series from Blumhouse Television. After being murdered, Halloran gets a new lease on life from the Devil, who employs him to seek out and capture demons who have escaped from Hell. Along the way, he’ll get a second chance at life, love, and … a country music career.
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Series Premiere: So this is R.I.P.D. (a 2013 Ryan Reynolds movie: it’s terrible!!) meets Supernatural? Bacon (mmm, Bacon…) plays Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter resurrected by the Devil to capture demons who have escaped hell. “By chasing down those demons with the help and hindrance of his estranged family, Hub learns how his own sins got his soul condemned — which pushes him to seek a second chance at life, love, and country music,” according to the official logline. I dunno about 8 episodes. I could do a movie but 8 episodes? I’m not really a Bond..ed Man to this concept. Programming Note: This is Binge release: all 8 episodes are now streaming.

Friday, April 04

Dying for Sex: Limited Series (Anytime / Hulu)

Limited Series Premiere: Adapted from the Wondery podcast of the same name, this FX-produced miniseries is inspired by the true story of a woman who, after being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, decides to leave her husband after 15 years of marriage to begin exploring her sexuality with the aid of her best friend. It Is What It Is.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SECRETS DECLASSIFIED WITH DAVID DUCHOVNY (10 P.M. / THE HISTORY CHANNEL)

The ten-part series will reveal the latest evidence behind some of the government’s most secretive, strange and mind-blowing activities that have been declassified throughout history.
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On March 20 President Trump released the unredacted JFK files. And? What did we learn? That even more Secrets should be Declassified. “Duchovny will investigate well-known but mysterious stories such as the Area 51 conspiracy, the real-life story behind the Hollywood film Argo, and the Cold War race for supersonic flight. Declassified documents and investigators will feature to unearth hidden information.” Thing is…there are many mysteries created by American secrecy. MKUltra was a real CIA experiment. Operation Paperclip was a covert US intelligence program. So was The Canadian Caper (which is now known by the movie Argo). So all those three are real and wildly absurd. What else is going on? The Truth…Is Out There.

Saturday, April 05

Lazarus: Season 1 (Midnight / Adult Swim)

Saturday Morning Cartoons & Series Premiere: The latest sci-fi anime series from Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe centers on a team of secret agents in the year 2052 who have just one month to find a vaccine to save humanity from a major side effect from a popular new miracle painkiller called Hapna: death. (Do not take Hapna if you are allergic to Hapna. Contact your doctor if you experience death or other side effects.) (Some action sequences were designed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski.) Programming Note: This’ll be streaming on HBO Max starting April 6.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: GONE GIRLS: THE LONG ISLAND SERIAL KILLER (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Inside the 30 year hunt for a serial killer who targeted sex workers.
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“For more than a year, investigators discovered human remains along a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County, Long Island. The victims who could be identified were young women, many from the New York City area, who had worked in the sex industry and gone missing — in some cases, more than a decade before they were found. It became clear that a serial killer was targeting this particularly vulnerable population, but for more than 13 years, the case languished.” Your latest True Crime fix. This 3-part docuseries is directed by Liz Garbus who also directed 2 episodes of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark the HBO docuseries about Golden State Killer. True Crime is the pitch but Liz Garbus is fantastic and that’s the real hook here. (I recommend Becoming Cousteau here 2021 documentary on Jacques Cousteau.)

Sunday, April 06

Y2K (Anytime / HBO Max)

On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Years Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives in this dial-up disaster comedy. So…A24 just issued a remake of Maximum Overdrive set on December 31, 1999?! his is less an apocalyptic rager and more like Ask Jeeves. You Got Mail has more charm. Hard Pass: in any Millennium. Programming Note: for Canadians this is on Hoopla.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING (ANYTIME / SUPER CHANNEL ON DEMAND)

Fran, who likes to think about dying, makes the new guy at work laugh, which leads to dating and more. Now the only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.
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Daisy Ridley, who you know from recent Star Wars movies plays Fran and sometimes she thinks about dying. Fran works in a deadpan office although even when she’s at work she’s not always there. She’s in her head a lot. The character study deepens when Dave Merheje shows up. (You know Dave from Ramy.) He plays Robert and he’s excited to join Fran’s office. Their unusual and slightly awkward connection prompts her to sometimes think about life especially as they start dating. A tidy summary: “Lost on the dreary Oregon coast, Fran (Ridley) finds solace in her cubicle, listening to the constant hum of officemates and occasionally daydreaming to pass the time. She is ghosting through life, unable to pop her bubble of isolation, when a friendly new coworker, Robert (Merheje), persistently tries to connect with her. Though it goes against every fiber of her being, she may have to give this guy a chance.” When nothing used to happen now something’s happening. Check out the popular indie as well this recent My Summer Lair interview with Dave Merheje and Rachel Lambert, the director.

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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.