#SetTheVCR: September 23-29, 2024

What’s Next for this week’s TV recommendations? Wolfs and Evolution prompt the desire to #SetTheVCR.

Monday, September 23

Brilliant Minds: Season 1 (10 p.m. / NBC)

Brilliant Minds is an upcoming American medical drama television series inspired by the Oliver Sacks books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. The show follows the work of Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto), a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: WHAT’S NEXT? THE FUTURE WITH BILL GATES (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

The tech visionary and global health and climate philanthropist invites viewers to join him on a learning journey to explore pressing issues facing our world today.
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Now this is way cooler and way more informed than Oprah’s recent AI TV special. Dunno how on this earth she is qualified to speak on that dense and developing topic. It takes a long time to be well-read. Though on that note this five-part docuseries oddly includes politicians. I’m not sure why? The series features Anthony Fauci, Bono, Greg Brockman, James Cameron, Lady Gaga, Mark Cuban, Phoebe Gates, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Mitt Romney, and more. (Sanders of course is the grade-A moron whose talking point is “Billionaires Should Not Exist.” Which is an asinine thing to say out loud: what happens when an NBA team goes on sale, fool?) That this follows PBS’ stirring A Brief History of the Future…does this mean we’re embracing hope and rejecting fear? Fear is foolish. That it spreads so easily and so quickly speaks to the volumes of fools we’re surrounded by. Hope is a choice. And the better choice. It’s 2024 we have all the resources and all the technology and more…to tackle and solve poverty and even address climate change. What we lack is the will.

Tuesday, September 24

Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal: Season 1 (Anytime / Hulu & Disney+ Canada)

Takes you inside eight true crime cases with shocking encounters with the paranormal world – through eyewitness accounts, expert interviews, and all-new investigations. In each case, amidst an agonizing search for answers, one rumor emerges from the pack: something inhuman is afoot. At the end of the road, the investigations unearth new truths – about the power of mythology, the allure of the paranormal, and the monsters among us.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE TRAGICALLY HIP: NO DRESS REHEARSAL (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Good bands make an impact, great bands make history. Uncover an emotional look at the origin, impact and legacy of the iconic Canadian band.
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Back in 2001, Gord Downie released Coke Machine Glow his first solo album. I ended up working on the crew shooting the live special…think it was for CBC? I can’t remember where the special ended up. I was working with the jib operator. My task was spotter…make sure the jib didn’t land on a person or hit anything on the set. Anyways, after the audience left, show is all done, we’re packing up the gear…Gord came back out to hang with the crew…telling us funny Kingston sailing stories. Cool. The Tragically Hip is the most Canadian band name of all time. And this is their story.

Wednesday, September 25

Heels: Complete Series (Anytime / Netflix-US)

Two brothers and rivals – one a villain, or “heel,” in the ring; the other a hero, or “face,” war over their late father’s wrestling promotion, vying for national attention in small-town Georgia.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MR. MCMAHON (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Mr. McMahon is a six-episode documentary series chronicling the rise and fall of the WWE’s controversial founder. From Chris Smith, executive producer of Tiger King and Bill Simmons.
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Upfront: I don’t care about any of the “sexual misconduct allegations:” all that TMZ junk is strictly a legal matter and has absolutely nothing to do with me or my entire life. I’ve no desire to wrestle with tawdry celebrity gossip. Mr. McMahon is a six-episode docuseries: I wanna consume a detailed business breakdown…how wrestling as a business works. Show me that. How did it go mainstream? How does it make money? What about the wrestling business of minting new action stars? Wrestling is Hollywood’s farm team for actors…how did that happen? How have they navigated the generations of wrestlers and how is that different from SNL for example? I’m not a wrestling fan so I don’t know who Vince McMahon is. Is this gonna be nuanced or opt for cheap WrestleMania sensationalism? So I suppose that’s my final question: who is Vince McMahon?

Thursday, September 26

Nobody Wants This: Season 1 (Anytime / Netflix)

A comedy centered on the unlikely relationship between an outspoken, agnostic woman, Joanne (Kristen Bell), and an unconventional rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody). More? An agnostic podcast host and an unconventional rabbi on the rebound walk into a party. When they walk out – together – the unlikely pair, Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody), can tell there is something between them. But also potentially between them, with their differing outlooks on life, all of the modern obstacles to love, and their sometimes well-meaning, sometimes sabotaging families – including her sister Morgan (Justin Lupe) and his brother Sasha. It is What It Is.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: EVOLUTION OF THE BLACK QUARTERBACK (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

The three-part docuseries follows retired NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick as he travels across America to explore the history and impact of Black quarterbacks on and off the field.
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This is fascinating: the Evolution of the Black Quarterback. Though the political ramifications edge into nonsense: it’s sports. You gotta win. You gotta be The Best. That has nothing to with race, gender, politics…anything really. Don’t matter if you’re Larry Bird or Michael Jordan. Winning is paramount. That’s why sports is beautiful: it’s one gold standard for all players. Look at the NFL work that QBs like Joe Montana and Tom Brady have done: that’s the GOAT and gold standard. That was always the lesson from Michael Jordan: be so good you transcend race (and politics and most hashtag nonsense.). It’s strange this mainly focuses on the experiences of the Black quarterbacks. I wanna hear from scouts and owners and coaches. I dunno that it’s always gonna be racism, right? Drafts have revealed many QBs to be busts. Brady was famously picked 199th. Drafting quarterbacks well is hard: you gotta align coach and team and owner…so much has to come together that it’s a difficult thing to do. It’s a three-part docuseries though. Three parts allows for dedicated time to provide lots and lots of historical context. And lots and lots of nuance. And lots and lots of perspectives. Show me both sides of the dance…it takes a village to raise a quarterback: let’s tour the village.

Friday, September 27

Doctor Odyssey: Season 1 (Anytime / Hulu)

Royal Pains meets The Love Boat: Max is the new on-board doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: WOLFS (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

George Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime. But when a second fixer (Brad Pitt) shows up and the two “lone wolves” are forced to work together, their night spirals out of control in ways neither one of them expected.
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I guess, I can do Wolfs. Clooney is hit or miss with guns (Out of Sight is strictly a Tubi movie!) but I trust Brad Pitt. He rarely lets me down. (Wolfs is written and directed by Jon Watts who did solid work with the first two episodes of The Old Man on FX.) The limited theatrical release was never gonna be opening weekend money. Fixers, decent ruckus, Frank Sinatra music, bad people doing bad things…yeah sure. Why not? Programming Note: Who knows if this means anything however…Apple Original Films has tapped writer, director, and producer Jon Watts to write a sequel.

Saturday, September 28

Saturday Night Live: Season 50 (11:30 / NBC)

A famous guest host stars in parodies and sketches created by the cast of this witty show. Programming Note: Saturday Night (the movie) opens on October 4th.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SO LONG, MARIANNE: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / CRAVE)

Set in the 1960s in Greece, Norway, and Canada, this series is an intimate tale of two lonely people falling in love, during a period of their life when they are trying to figure out who they are, and their place in the world, while one is becoming one of the most famous singers of all time.
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Today is my birthday. So behold: I present to you Leonard Cohen. “So Long Marianne is the story of Leonard Cohen’s self-imposed exile, to finish writing a novel, in the idyllic Greek island of Hydra. Here he has a fateful meeting and subsequent love affair with beautiful Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. A time of passion and music, sun and romance which saw the transformation of Cohen from a fiction writer into the international songwriter, poet, and performer he was born to be.” This eight-part series reveals the legendary love story between Cohen, and Marianne Ihlen that inspired countless Cohen songs. This the spark…the muse of Leonard Cohen. This is when (and how) he became Leonard Cohen. This is the crack that lets all the light in. Celebrate my birthday with a soulful poet and a true Ladies Man.

Sunday, September 29

The End Of the 2024 MLB Season (Various Times / Various Channels)

The 2024 Major League Baseball season comes to a close this afternoon. 15 games all starting on or around 3 p.m. The postseason is scheduled to begin on October 1st with a potential World Series Game 1 expected on October 25th and a Game 7 is roughly set for October 30 or November 1.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE SIMPSONS: SEASON 36 (8 P.M. / FOX)

The satiric half-hour adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.
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Last season—Season 35—was only 18 episodes due to the Hollywood strikes. And yes, shortened or not I watched all 18. Look, one of two things is gonna happen: either The Simpsons concludes before I do. Or, I perish before the show ends. And I’ll be deeply upset if that happens. Somewhere along the way I made a formal commitment to The Simpsons: I became a ride or die viewer. I’m one of the dumb reasons why this damn show keeps going. And I won’t defend this lifestyle choice. But, as married people who don’t have kids will tell you, you get judged all the time. So know: it makes me laugh. That’s the bottom line. After 35 seasons, it still makes me laugh. This (Sassy) Sammy Suggestion could include researching upcoming celebrity guest voices…but it doesn’t matter. You can expect old ones and new ones every season. Or I could look up what movies will be delightfully parodied in the upcoming Treehouse of Horror…but again it doesn’t matter. It’s Season 36…no scoop, no news and truly nothing I write is going to offer you a tantalizing reason to check out this long-lasting cartoon. I’m simply sharing what’s in my heart. By now you’re either in or you’re out. I’ve made my commitment. You’ve made yours. Hence the nerd recommendation. If you want to join me, great…there’s always room on the living room brown couch. Here’s a recap of Season 35.