I don’t know about you, but I watched more hours of The Weather Channel this weekend than I ever have before—holy nor’easter snowpocalypse! Major props to the blue-jacketed reporters who shot live right in the middle of the massive East Coast blizzard for hours, and also condolences for how boring the rest of their winter will probably be.
This week’s What to What gets in on the 2022 Winter Olympics and NHL All-Star Game action, marvels at the hyper-drama of Pam & Tommy and Nightmare Alley, and takes an improv trip to Murderville. Dig yourself out of that snowbank and watch some TV!
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What’s premiering this week
Coverage begins Friday, Feb. 4, 6:30 a.m. ET: The 2020 (’21) Summer Olympics just happened six months ago, but here we go again—U-S-A! U-S-A! The Beijing Games will feature over 100 medal events, with NBC and streamer Peacock handling most of the coverage (with assists from USA Network, CNBC, Olympic Channel, Telemundo, and NBC Universo—get the whole scoop in our How to Watch the Winter Olympics guide). Delayed primetime broadcast begins 8:00 p.m. ET.
Pam & Tommy | Hulu | Comedy, drama
Series premiere, Wednesday, Feb. 2: Notorious celebrity couple Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee invented the “sex tape” in the early internet days of 1997 when a stolen VHS video was leaked online. The eight-part Pam & Tommy dramatizes the incident in an appropriately gonzo fashion, with Sebastian Stan (a reasonable facsimile of Mötley Crüe drummer Lee) and Lily James (a dead ringer for Baywatch star Anderson) at the center of this love story/crime caper that’s far better than you’re imagining it to be.
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What to watch on Netflix this week
Raising Dion | Netflix | Drama, sci-fi
Season 2 premiere, Tuesday, Feb. 1: It’s been two years since the first season of Raising Dion dropped, so a refresher is in order: Widow Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) tends to her 7-year-old son Dion (Ja’Siah Young) alone, a situation complicated by the fact the Dion has recently begun manifesting superpowers. She keeps Dion’s powers secret with the help of bioengineer Pat (Jason Ritter), who has a dark secret of his own. If you’re missing Stranger Things (aren’t we all?), Raising Dion could be the family sci-fi drama you need.
Murderville | Netflix | Comedy, mystery
Series premiere, Thursday, Feb. 3: Based on the popular British series Murder in Successville, Netflix’s Murderville is a comic homicide mystery with a dash of improv. Detective Terry Seattle (Will Arnett) investigates a new murder scene with a different celebrity sidekick for each episode (Kumail Nanjiani, Conan O’Brien, Annie Murphy, Sharon Stone, Ken Jeong, and Marshawn Lynch). The twist: the sidekicks have no script and have to improvise their way through the episode to help solve the crime.
What to watch on HBO Max this week
Nightmare Alley | HBO Max | Drama, thriller
Streaming premiere, Tuesday, Feb. 1: Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley opened in theaters the same day as Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021 but has raked in $199 million less than Spidey at the box office. You can’t blame a lack of big names: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchette, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, and more star in this stylish psychological thriller about a 1930s criminal (Cooper) who reinvents himself as a psychic to rob New York’s societal elite. Nightmare Alley is also available on HuluFeb. 1.
Raised by Wolves | HBO Max | Drama, sci-fi
Season 2 premiere, Thursday, Feb. 3: Remember Raised by Wolves? It was among HBO Max’s first originals in 2020, a hard sci-fi drama produced and partially written by Ridley Scott. It’s called Raised by Wolves because Raised by Atheist Androids doesn’t have the same ring: In the 22nd century, Earth has been destroyed by war, and androids Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim) have escaped to planet Kepler-22b to raise a new colony of human children free from religion. The universe has other plans.
What to watch on Prime Video this week
Reacher | Prime Video | Action, drama
Series premiere, Friday, Feb. 4: Move over, Jack Ryan—there’s a new novel-to-movie-to-series action hero in Primetown. Reacher is truer to Lee Childs’ original Jack Reacher books than the films in at least one aspect: Alan Ritchson (Titans, Smallville) is waaay closer to the character’s six-foot-five height than Tom Cruise ever was. When ex-military police investigator Reacher (Ritchson) inadvertently runs into trouble (and, of course, a conspiracy) in a small Georgia town, crime-solving and ass-kicking ensue.
Book of Love | Prime Video | Comedy, romance
Movie premiere, Friday, Feb. 4: Just in time for Valentine’s month, Book of Love is a new romantic comedy with a, ahem, novel slant: British author Henry’s (Sam Clafin) flop book has suddenly become a surprise hit in Mexico, so he travels there for a promotional tour. But soon, he learns that Spanish translator Maria (Verónica Echegui) has rewritten his drab text as a spicy erotic novella, thus accounting for its local popularity. Will outraged Henry and sly Maria fall in love during the contemptuous book tour? Duh.
W2W wildcards of the week
Coverage begins 3:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5: Imma let my CTV colleague Taylor Kujawa drop the puck on this one: “Some fans might view all-star games as just another opportunity for their favorite players to pick up injuries. But the 2022 NHL All-Star Game is a nice change of pace, especially after the cancelation of the 2021 edition. The best players from the NHL’s four divisions will face off at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, so you can bet the Golden Knights’ Zamboni will be pretty busy that day.”
Suspicion | Apple TV+ | Drama, thriller
Series premiere, Friday, Feb. 4: Before her debut playing Ariana Huffington in SHOWTIME’s Super Pumped biopic about Uber arrives later this month, Suspicion is the Uma Thurman TV performance to watch. Here, she stars as an American media mogul whose son’s kidnapping becomes a tense international incident. Based on the Israeli series False Flag, Suspicion also stars Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory), Elizabeth Henstridge (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Noah Emmerich (The Americans). Two of eight episodes premiere on Feb. 4.
