Home SCREENS TV & Video October Television Preview: "Spielberg" and "Stranger Things"
October Television Preview: "Spielberg" and "Stranger Things"
If you can find a chunk of time between picking apples, brainstorming Halloween costume ideas and carving pumpkins, you might want to spend it watching a little TV. This month we've got spooky returns of Netflix's '80s inspired Stranger Things and the CW's teen comic drama Riverdale. The schedule for the next few weeks will make you want to cuddle up under a fleece blanket with as many pumpkin spice-flavored food items as you desire.
Steven Spielberg is crazy rich, decorated with awards and enjoys almost unlimited creative freedom. He's worked with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, and has directed iconic films including Jaws, the Jurassic Park series, Schindler's List and countless others. Long story short: Spielberg doesn't need your praise or admiration. He's made it to the top, and will have an HBO documentary full of testimonials from Hollywood's elite. It's no secret how successful Spielberg has been, but what I'm interested in is learning more about him as an individual. How did he rise to the top? What makes him tick? What excites him creatively? I'm always fascinated by well-made documentaries — and whether you're a film buff or a casual movie-goer, Spielberg seems like it's worth your time.
Growing up, my friends and I devoured Archie comics. We loved the high school drama and the love triangle between Betty, Archie and Veronica. We adored all the colorful characters, so when Riverdale, a teen drama loosely based on the comic book series, premiered last year, I was skeptical. However, I genuinely like the dark and twisted turns Riverdale took in its first season and am looking forward to new episodes. The show is about how teens in a small community are rocked by a classmate's mysterious disappearance and death, not to mention other nefarious activities and individuals in the not-so-idyllic-anymore town. Plus, it has Cole Sprouse as Jughead, the goofy yet brooding film nerd who narrates the story from his point of view. If you like thrillers or mystery teen dramas (where the Pretty Little Liars fans at?) you need to be watching Riverdale.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is what happens when a TV network gives a show to a brilliant, hilarious, weird and musically inclined individual like Rachel Bloom — and thank god they did. In 2016, Bloom won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical for her performance in the show, and it's well-deserved. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is about a young, accomplished woman missing the happiness she once had when she was younger, particularly one summer at camp. She becomes convinced that in order to be happy again, she must find her former camp boyfriend, Josh. Bloom's character moves from New York City to the not-so-happening West Covina, California, to start anew. The show integrates snappy dialogue with original musical theatre numbers that not only make you laugh but are well-written and sonically great. If you march to the beat of your own drum and want to watch a great comedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the one for you.
Too Funny To Fail is a documentary streaming on Hulu about the failed comedy sketch program The Dana Carvey Show from Saturday Night Live's Dana Carvey. Carvey was a huge hit on SNL in the late 1980s and early '90s, pioneering characters like Garth in Wayne's World, The Church Lady and doing impressions of George H.W. Bush and countless others. Many of his characters had a trademark silliness, innocence, or sometimes both. In 1996, he got his own comedy sketch show on ABC. The content was notably more controversial than anything Carvey had done during his time on SNL, and the show struggled to find its footing despite a staff stacked with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and writer Louis C.K. So why didn't it work? Too Funny to Fail tells the story of The Dana Carvey Show, how it came together and how it went so wrong. I'm often fascinated by television history and am eager to watch this documentary.
Stranger Things was a major pop culture phenomenon in 2016, so much so that it seemed every man, woman and child was dressing up as the powerful oddball Eleven for Halloween. After dangerous supernatural studies go awry, a demogorgon (a terrifying monster that takes people and devours them in its "upside down" world) wreaks terror on the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Around the same time, a young boy named Will Byers and young woman named Barb Holland (#justiceforbarb) disappear. A girl appears out of nowhere with no parents and no sense of the world, but a love for frozen Eggo waffles (Eleven!!) While things appeared to be getting better at the end of last season, the trailer for season two looks just as creepy, nerve-wracking and intriguing as ever. At first, I was pretty scared by this show, because I'm a big chicken when it comes to the horror genre. However at its core, Stranger Things is a coming-of-age drama about friendship, reality and the dangers of power. In short, it's a fantastic show worth watching.