#SetTheVCR: May 26 – June 01, 2025

Monday, May 26

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders (Anytime / Netflix)

Who really laced Tylenol with cyanide? This true-crime series examines alarming theories behind the unsolved killings — and tracks down a key suspect.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE GOOD LIFE (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Mike Birbiglia—who merges storytelling, theater, and comedy in a way that The New York Times has called “Birbiglian”—opens up about his father’s recent stroke and discusses how it has prompted him to reevaluate his own approach to fatherhood. Drugs. Marriage. Kids’ parties. Mike Birbiglia reevaluates life as a son – and as a father – in this hilarious and deeply personal comedy special.
~~~

In The Good Life Mike Birbiglia reflects about his father’s recent stroke and how that experience made him reevaluate his own approach to parenthood. “Over the years I’ve done a lot of personal shows but somehow this one is the most personal because it’s not in my past. It’s my life right now. So there’s really no filter,” Birbiglia said in a statement. “At certain points during the tour I literally thought on stage: ‘Whoa. Am I really gonna tell this story?’ But that’s sort of the idea behind these shows. I try to probe into what’s most painful in order to figure out what’s most funny.” Oh, yes he’s switched it up. This is his fourth comedy special for Netflix. If you wanna live The Good Life watch em all.

Tuesday, May 27

Sitting Bull (9:00 p.m. / The History Channel)

Narrated by Mo Brings Plenty and starring Kul Wičaša Lakota actor Michael Spears (Dances with Wolves, 1923), the four-hour documentary series charts the heroic life and legacy of the renowned leader of the Lakota people from his origins as a tribal warrior, to his involvement in defending native lands, to his leadership in guiding the Lakota people through a tumultuous time in American history. Programming Note: this is a two-night documentary event on Tuesday, May 27 at 9 pm and 10 pm and Wednesday, May 28, at 9 pm and 10 pm.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

Fountain of Youth follows two estranged siblings (John Krasinski and Natalie Portman) who partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an epic adventure that will change their lives … and possibly lead to immortality.
~~~

It’s all standard: John Krasinski is Luke Purdue, an adventurer looking for the fountain of youth. Same old, same old. While Natalie Portman is Charlotte Purdue, Luke’s younger sister and ready for this? She used to be in the adventure business but abandoned it to live a normal life. With that cliched premise you can already here her say to her brother: I grew up. You didn’t. Look it’s directed by Guy Ritchie…you know all the actors in it….yet is it Indiana Jones derivative? Absolutely. Watch it to check out Cairo…did they really go there? It’s a streaming movie…it could be fun, right?

Wednesday, May 28

Little Fires Everywhere: Limited Series (Disney+ Canada)

Canadian Limited Series Premiere: Following the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. Set in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the 1990s. The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (ANYTIME / DISNEY+)

After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
~~~

The 35th MCU movie freely offers an oxymoron: “Brave New World?” By now that just comes across as tired and stale; with little to “Marvel” at lately. I didn’t bother with Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) which concluded Phase 4. For Phase 5 I wisely skipped The Marvels (2023) but I enjoyed the MCU movie before this one: Deadpool & Wolverine. (Phase 5 kicked off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Blah: it was all so rudderless.) However, as Marvel movie tapped out as I am…I will watch this on streaming. And I kinda sorta wanna check out Thunderbolts now playing at cinema near you. See? I’m making an effort. Phase 6 kicks off with the poorly named The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25, 2025. Also not a “Brave New World” as we’ve done lousy Fantastic Four movies before.

Thursday, May 29

And Just Like That… Season 3 (Anytime / HBO Max & Crave)

And Just Like That… follows Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, Seema, and LTW navigating the complicated reality of life, love, sex, and friendship in their 50s in New York City.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: DEPT. Q: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

A brash but brilliant detective (Matthew Goode) leads a cold case unit in this Edinburgh-based drama by the writer and director of The Queen’s Gambit.
~~~

Series Premiere: The Netflix Algorithm has produced Slow Horses. (Though to be fair Department Q is based on novels of the same name by Jussi Adler-Olsen.) Matthew Goode plays a good yet abrasive cop in Edinburgh. So of course he’s shuffled off to the back office with some other misfits and mavericks. And there they dump numerous cold cases on his desk which is fine…it’s all police PR. Only…what if he starts to investigate a case or two? And what if he uncovers something he shouldn’t have? Why then you’d have a season of UK TV on Netflix. Programming Note: Department Q were adapted into Danish movies back in the day. You see any of them?

Friday, May 30

Missing Presumed Dead (9:00 p.m. / Nat Geo)

Missing Presumed Dead tells the fascinating and shocking stories of real disappearances—how the victims survived their experiences and were found or rescued. Each episode focuses on one unbelievable true crime story told through a combination of stylized, cinematically shot interviews with the missing person, their family and friends, and experts in abduction, surviving hostile environments and hostage negotiation, along with archive footage of news reports documenting the disappearance, home videos and photos, and stock footage recreating key moments.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: BONO: STORIES OF SURRENDER (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

Bono: Stories of Surrender is a vivid reimagining of Bono’s critically acclaimed one-man stage show, Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief.
~~~

Bono’s one-man stage show Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief was a surprise. I didn’t know what to expect; it was a unique experience. I saw it with Henry back in 2022: November 6 at Meridian Hall in downtown Toronto. Capacity: 3191 so it was an intimate affair. It wasn’t just him reading passages from his biography and taking audience questions. He was performing like an actor. There was stagecraft. Props. He talked about growing up in Ireland, connecting with his father as an adult and he grieved the loss of his mother. Bono performed U2 songs in stripped-down arrangements with musicians none of whom are in U2. His experiences and his stories put the classic U2 sons into a fresh context. They injected them with a life. If you dig Mike Birbiglia (who you can see on Netflix on Monday in The Good Life: I like that these two specials bookend this week) and John Leguizamo’s one-man shows…you too (U2!) will dig Bono’s Stories of Surrender. The TV special is directed by Andrew Dominik and oddly enough produced by Brad Pitt.

Saturday, May 31

Rock Paper Scissors: Season 1 (Anytime / Paramount+)

Saturday Morning Cartoons & Series Premiere: Inspired by the age-old tradition of settling things with your best friends, the game comes to life through the adventures of pals Rock, Paper, and Scissors – a trio of best friends and roommates who lovingly compete over everything in sometimes laughable but mostly wildly absurd ways.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: FLIGHT RISK (ANYTIME / STARZ)

A pilot transports an Air Marshal accompanying a fugitive to trial. As they go across the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested as not everyone on board is who they seem.
~~~

It’d be a bald-faced lie if I didn’t admit I wanna see Flight Risk. Yo: why is Marky Mark bald as an egg in the movie? How does that add to the character? Does that make him more evil??! It’s mesmerizing. This is probably a Tubi movie but here it is filled with Starz. I’ll take a Flight Risk and watch this.

Sunday, June 01

Mickey 17 (Anytime / HBO Max & Crave)

Mickey 17 is an “expendable”, a disposable employee, on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of its memories intact.
~~

SAMMY SUGGESTION: ALFRED HITCHCOCK COLLECTION (ANYTIME / NETFLIX-US)

Horror and suspense continue to dominate entertainment and we’re tracing back to the roots of this enduring appeal. The influences that Hitchcock drew from and the techniques he pioneered during his career still cast a long shadow over modern audiences’ ever-growing thirst for thrills and chills.
~~~

Starting June 1, a collection of classic Alfred Hitchcock films will be available to stream in the U.S. They include Vertigo, Rear Window, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Family Plot, Psycho and The Birds. Streaming means no one has excuses. You cannot have pop cultural gaps: it doesn’t matter your age or any other factors. (Especially youths…by the time you’re in high school you should be well-versed in Hitchcock and many other classics. Be good at pop culture and do all The Work. No excuses of any kind.) Vertigo still to this day has the best movie opening of all time. Now that’s how you open a movie. Fire, fire, fire out the gate. Let the audience catch up and if they don’t catch up leave them behind. So gather the kids around the TV it’s “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” time.

-28-

Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.