#SetTheVCR: November 03-09, 2025

Monday, November 03

The Cut (Anytime / Paramount+)

After a career-ending defeat, a former champion boxer (Orlando Bloom) trains for redemption – but as obsession takes hold and reality unravels, he may be spiraling into something far more terrifying.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: CRUTCH: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / PARAMOUNT+)

Crutch centers on its titular character Francois “Frank” Crutchfield (Morgan), who goes by “Crutch,” a brash, yet beloved Harlem shop owner whose world is turned upside down when his highbrow son and free-spirited daughter move back into the family home.
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Tracy Morgan returns to TV in Crutch, a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. (Never watched an episode of the Cedric the Entertainer sitcom. An eighth and final season premiered on October 13, 2025.) Crutch sets that classic Morgan mischief in Harlem. He plays Francois “Frank” Crutchfield — or just Crutch — a loud, proud, say-it-like-it-is shop owner (in other words Tracy Morgan) whose dream of an empty nest goes up in smoke when his millennial son and free-spirited daughter boomerang back home… with kids. This has got Cosby Show vibes only more modern so cell phones and Fortnite. Suddenly, Crutch, the man who’s never needed a filter, now needs patience. Morgan’s signature chaos meets family sitcom is TV comfort food. Here’s your TV Crutch if you need it. Programming Note: I dunno, it’s kinda weird to watch a sitcom in 2025. This is a binge release, too. All eight episodes of the series are released on November 3, 2025.

Tuesday, November 04

The Diplomat: Season 3 (Anytime / Netflix)

The official Season 3 trailer reveals a world on edge as Kate and Hal Wyler navigate an unprecedented constitutional crisis as Grace Penn officially steps into the Oval Office.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

At a remote military outpost, an unidentified incoming missile is detected, setting in motion an escalating series of actions and reactions across all levels of the United States government. With her trademark dynamic kineticism, Kathryn Bigelow puts the viewer in the center of a crisis in which decisions must be made in limited time, based on incomplete and evolving information and untested protocols.
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In the new HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry, Episode 1features a Bert the Turtle cameo. This was a prominent character from the moronic 1950s movie Duck and Cover. Grown educated adults foolishly believed “Duck and Cover” would somehow help in the event of a launched nuclear missile. Idiots. I grew up in the ’80s during a tense cold war. There was still some moronic “Duck and Cover” sentiment still lingering like a fart in a car. Fast forward to 2025 and what if the unthinkable happened? And we can watch it unfold in real time? Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite drops on Netflix like a bomb. Written by former NBC News President Noah Oppenheim (yes I misread that as Oppenheimer, too), this tense political thriller imagines the U.S. government’s minute-by-minute scramble after an unidentified nuclear missile is launched toward America. This doomsday scenario shows viewers the same sequence three times from different perspectives. This is Tom Clancy if he did “reality TV” so every decision, every failure and every quiet realization is documented. Dynamite only has one purpose in this life…it’s to go BOOM! And when that happens the best thing for us to do is Duck and Cover.

Wednesday, November 05

The Manipulated: Season 1 (Anytime / Hulu & Disney+ Canada)

Driven and compassionate, Taejoong is a model citizen who works tirelessly to make his dream a reality. Surrounded by a loving group of friends and family, everything is moving in the right direction for Taejoong until his kind-hearted nature betrays him. Suddenly arrested for the rape and murder of a woman he claims to have never met, Taejoong will have everything he loves ripped from him as he’s sentenced to life in prison. A shell of his former self, Taejoong’s life passes in a daze until a new inmate with a shockingly similar story tips him off to the fact that someone out there is framing innocent people. Fueled by an uncontrollable rage over everything he’s lost, Taejoong swears to find the people responsible and make them pay.HERE
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (ANYTIME / DISNEY+)

Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing face their most daunting challenge yet as they defend Earth from Galactus and Silver Surfer.
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I called it: Ebon Moss-Bachrach isn’t close to Ben Grimm. That’s not Jewish-Brooklyn at all. That’s disrespectful to Jack Kirby. And Pedro Pascal isn’t intelligent…at all. Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards?! That’s not even close. That’s so rude. Aside from growing a beard there was nothing Fantastic about John Krasinski either. Terrible casting. How are they getting worse with this casting?! This Fantastic Four movie isn’t First Steps it’s more like Backward Steps. Is this better than Corman’s Fantastic Four? Time to find out as it streams today. I refused to see this at the cinema. Hype doesn’t quell doubts, only amplifies em. And that’s a Fantastic premise you can bank on.

Thursday, November 06

Death by Lightning: Limited Series (Anytime / Netflix)

Death by Lightning is a four-part drama series that brings to life the epic and stranger-than-fiction true story of James Garfield, reluctant 20th president of the United States, and his greatest admirer Charles Guiteau – the man who would come to kill him.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ALEX VS AROD (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

From the pinnacle of athletic success to the depths of scandal, Alex Rodriguez saw his prolific baseball career marred by a high-profile suspension for performance-enhancing drug use. Told through a series of intimate interviews with Rodriguez, “Alex vs ARod” explores the dualities of one of the most polarizing figures in sports.
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I don’t watch any baseball but lately the algorithm has been “pitching” me MLB on Fox clips and moments. (Especially since the Toronto Blue Jays reached the World Series.) Often the goal for every network (and fans!) is to (re)create Inside The NBA. And these boys seem to have pulled it off. Ball busting analysis makes good sports TV. I don’t know anything about Alex Rodriguez other than the MLB on Fox clips I’ve watched. (Clips don’t make an authority. Nothing’s more gross than some random loser posting an out of context Joe Rogan with SEE! I’ll never click on those, never. I don’t trust the post-ers agenda.) So coming to a doc with ignorance is one of the best ways to consume em but also? This 3-part docuseries is directed by Gotham Chopra. His sports work is fantastic. I often Play Ball with his work.

Friday, November 07

Pluribus: Season 1 (Anytime / Apple TV+)

The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness. Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows author Carol Sturka, who seems to be the only person immune to an unexplained virus that transforms the world’s population into content and optimistic citizens. Programming Note: Debuts with its first two episodes on Friday, November 7, followed by new episodes every Friday through December 26.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: FRANKENSTEIN (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
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Ah, yes Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Sigh. First…as a big fan of Toronto del Toro knows Toronto traffic is the real monster. About the gothic horror movie? The first chapter leading up to passionate creation of the creature is spellbinding. There’s a large and strange laboratory and yeah sure, Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein recycles his Ex Machina performance. But it all works and steadily pushes forward like a determined train. (I mean Victor Frankenstein was an O.G. startup with his fascinating pitch to conquer death. In the movie Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), is an arms merchant, who offers to finance his research. That makes him the VC.) Then (spoiler??) Frankenstein succeeds! The egotistical scientist brings a creature to life conquering death. (Ironically, so…the creature ushers in so much death after that. The novel has been around since 1818 so the idea of a spoiler is silly.) The other Alanis irony is that when the creature comes to life…the film’s relentless momentum halts. The Euphoria loser (Jacob Elordi) is no Boris Karloff. His weak casting makes Frankenstein a slightly different cautionary tale. Dude fails to generate empathy and lumbers through most the film taking ESL lessons and learning how to read. The pace is slow and sluggish and if it wasn’t gothic horror, it’d practically qualify as zombie horror. Imagine a rom-com where the boy and girl meet and he chases after her at the airport, gives her the big speech and that’s all in the first 30 minutes. What’s the next hour gonna offer? Even though it’s streaming in November; I added here since it’ll open at cinemas in a limited release. (The movie is more gothic than horror but it fits in neatly with the Halloween vibes.) Look, I’ll be Frank…it’s Frankenstein and it’s Guillermo del Toro.

Saturday, November 08

Solar Opposites: Season 6 (Anytime / Hulu & Disney+)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Once their alien diamond making machine gets destroyed, the Solar Opposites must face their greatest challenge yet: living their expensive lives on a budget! When their consumerist habits and expensive hobbies are gone, only their true selves will remain… but will they like who they find? ALSO: The epic story of the people of The Wall has all built to this thrilling and shocking conclusion…
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: 2025 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY (8:00 P.M. / DISNEY+)

Streaming live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, this year’s ceremony features rare once-in-a-lifetime performances and moments celebrating the legacy and influence of this year’s Inductees: Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes in the Performer category, along with Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon for Musical Influence, Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye for Musical Excellence, and Lenny Waronker for the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
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Ready to Rock & Roll All Nite? Disney+ has your backstage pass to Break On Through, Start Me Up and We Will Rock You wild fun with the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Featuring performances by Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes. Enjoy a 2017 throwback to when David Letterman inducted Pearl Jam into the Rock & Roll Hall. He’s back this year to induct Warren Zevon. Aren’t you glad you didn’t throw your TV outta a hotel window, now?

Sunday, November 09

Citizen Minutes: Season 3 (Anytime / Crave)

Ordinary Canadians doing extraordinary things to make their communities better places; bold and unlikely change-makers inspire to jump in and get involved in civic issues close to homes and hearts.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: GOD SAID GIVE ‘EM DRUM MACHINES (ANYTIME / TUBI)

The story behind the electronic music phenomenon created by Black artists in the 1980s that blossomed into and transformed the realm of EDM today.
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In 2008 Marvel Studios released Iron Man. This is how it all started. By 2012 all of Marvel’s cinematic superheroes had assembled in Avengers. The MCU was up and running; having established a formidable pop culture experience. Similarly, Detroit was home to a group of techno DJs…a sonic Avengers: The Techno Six. The electronic-music phenomenon called techno was created by Detroit DJs in the 1980s…big banged by The Techno Six. That spark transformed dance music internationally and blossomed into the multibillion-dollar industry of EDM today. And just who were The Techno Six who gifted us all with this incredible techno music? That’s the exploration of Kristian R. Hill’s God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines. Drop the needle on this music documentary and prepare to groove with history. Programming Note: I interviewed Kristian R. Hill the director of God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines in 2022. Enjoy that MSL Conversation.

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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.