With so many different streaming platforms and cable offerings to navigate, choosing what to watch has never been harder. To make things easier, here are our best tune-in tips for the week ahead.
TUESDAY
Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jessica Dimmock is behind the third season of “Crime Scene,” a docuseries exploring the roles locations play in aiding criminal activity. This time around, the “Texas Killing Fields” are investigated as an area where young girls went missing and were often found dead: three in the 1980s with a fourth discovered in 1991. The region features marshes and oil refineries, and runs along an interstate that connects Houston and Galveston.
Netflix
WEDNESDAY
Snack vs. Chef
This new reality series features 12 chefs who recreate classic snacks in an effort to make them their own. The winner takes home a $50,000 prize.
Netflix
Take Your Pills: Xanax
While it has been described as a cure for some but a polarizing curse for others, what’s clear is that Xanax is controversial. The history and effects of the drug are looked at in this new documentary.
Netflix
THURSDAY
Branson
This four-episode doc series allows viewers to learn more about British billionaire Richard Branson. Known for his addiction to daredevilry, the renegade is the founder of Virgin Group. This HBO series tracks Branson’s 70-year journey from the tough-love household he grew up in to an interview he did just before blasting off in a Virgin Galactic rocket, making him the first passenger to reach space in his own aircraft.
Crave
The Masked Scammer
From a real billionaire to a fake one. “The Masked Scammer” chronicles the curious case of Gilbert Chikli. He is the man who created a custom silicon mask of France’s former defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and used it to conduct video meetings with victims from whom he bilked millions. The con man would appeal to targets under the guise of needing to urgently and discreetly raise funds to help free French residents captured by terrorists.
Netflix
FRIDAY
Three Pines
Adapted from Louise Penny’s bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache book series, this eight-episode whodunnit follows the title character (played by Alfred Molina) as he investigates cases that take place in a small Quebec village. Along with murders investigated, the show includes a serialized storyline that attempts to address missing and murdered Indigenous women that were not investigated as thoroughly as they should have been. The social commentary really elevates this new show to new heights.
Prime Video
Cocaine, Prison & Likes: Isabelle’s True Story
You have to love TV wars. I remember back in 2006 when CTV would issue press releases touting “Canadian Idol” putting “Prison Break” behind bars in the Canadian ratings battle at the time. It’s still fun to see a little shade every now and again. Just two weeks after Prime Video released “Sugar” (a movie based on the true story of Quebec influencers arrested for smuggling drugs into Australia in 2016), Crave releases a documentary about what really happened with the “Cocaine Cowgirls.” This new series features one of the actual convicts presenting her side of the story, as Isabelle Lagacé details how she became a mule for an international drug trafficking network.
Crave
“Sr.”
Like father, like son? Robert Downey Jr. pays tribute to his late father in this new documentary that tells the pioneering story of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.
Netflix
Hot Skull
Going out on a limb for the pick of the week this time around. This Turkish series is set in a dystopian world where an epidemic spreads through verbal communication. Yes, talking is an actual disease. In an effort to combat what’s happening, a tyrannical institution pursues a linguist who appears to be the one of the few who remains immune to the disease. Where does the title of the show come in? Well the protagonist tries to discover why he is safe and what’s behind his … hot skull. At a time when almost everything on TV is a repurposed reboot, this seems fresh.
Netflix
Pentatonix: Around The World for the Holidays
The popular a cappella group is featured in this Christmas special as they struggle to find the inspiration to finish their annual holiday album. To make matters worse, the group’s manager accidentally locks them in a magical mailroom.
Disney Plus
SUNDAY
George & Tammy
Jessica Chastain seems to love characters named Tammy. Fresh off of winning an Oscar for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” the actor stars in a new Showtime series about Tammy Wynette’s relationship with George Jones (played by Michael Shannon). In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Chastain admitted she asked her co-star personally to accept the role as he was the only one she felt could play the country star. Both actors reportedly had vocal training to prepare for their singing on the show.
Crave
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