How about those season premieres of Yellowjackets and Succession last night? No spoilers, but whoa! I’m not sure which show is the bigger proponent of cannibalism, figurative or literal.
This week’s What to Watch recs include new sci-fi drama The Power, Rob Lowe comedy Unstable, the dramatized tale of Tetris, the final run of Riverdale, and WWE WrestleMania 39 squared-circle action. Better find that remote.
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What’s premiering this week
The Power | Prime Video | Drama, sci-fi
Series premiere, Friday, March 31: The Power, based on Naomi Alderman’s book of the same name, has been in production since 2019, going through several delays and cast changes along the way; Toni Collette and the ubiquitous John Leguizamo ended up sticking. The series is set in an alternate reality wherein teenage girls exclusively have the power to electrocute anyone, thus changing the balance of power—the title works on every level—around the world. The first three of nine Power episodes stream on March 31.
WWE WrestleMania 39 | Peacock | Sports, wrestling
Coverage begins Saturday, April 1, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Live from Hollywood, it’s the biggest event in pro wrestling, nicknamed “The Showcase of the Immortals” (subtle). WrestleMania 39 will feature matches like Edge vs. Finn Balor (Hell in a Cell Match), Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (SmackDown Women’s Championship), Austin Theory vs. movie star John Cena (U.S. Championship), Bianca Belair vs. Asuka (RAW Women’s Championship), and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed Universal Championship).
What to watch on Netflix this week
Unstable | Netflix | Comedy, drama
Series premiere, Thursday, March 30: You likely don’t remember The Lowe Files from 2017, a reality series that featured Rob Lowe and his sons (including John Owen Lowe) traveling the country investigating aliens, ghosts, and Bigfoot. Rob and John Owen are now working together again in Unstable: Rob plays an eccentric biotech CEO recovering from the death of his wife, and John Owen plays his introverted son doing his best to help dad with his grief and his company. They make a great comedic team, and Rob hasn’t been this funny in years.
Murder Mystery 2 | Netflix | Comedy, mystery
Movie premiere, Friday, March 31: Murder Mystery didn’t exactly wow critics in 2019, but after a gazillion Netflix streams, a cleverly titled sequel was inevitable. This time around, husband-and-wife detective team Nick (Adam Sandler) and Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) find themselves in the middle of an international abduction caper while attending a billionaire’s wedding, eventually leading them to Paris (hence the movie’s tagline, “Deux or die”). Murder Mystery 2 also stars Jodie Turner-Smith, Mark Strong, and Mélanie Laurent.
What to watch on Peacock this week
Knock at the Cabin | Peacock | Drama, horror
Movie, now streaming: Young Wen (Kristen Cui) and her two dads are taken hostage by an armed foursome (including Dave Bautista and Rupert Grint) in their remote cabin and given an ultimatum: Kill one of their own family and avert the apocalypse, or refuse and bring about The End. If that sounds like a bizarre setup, remember that Knock at the Cabin is an M. Knight Shyamalan movie, and it could have been much weirder. It’s a bit uneven, but it’s still a gripping flick featuring another killer film performance by Bautista.
Monk | Peacock | Comedy, mystery
Series, now streaming: Before The Walking Dead, USA Network’s Monk was the most-watched original cable series during its 2002–2009 run. Now that titular star Tony Shalhoub is free from his role (and mustache) on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a Peacock sequel film, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie is in production. Which makes this the perfect time to relive, or experience for the first time, the comic mystery cases of the most multi-phobic detective ever over eight quaint seasons on Peacock. We’ll let you know when the movie’s out.
What to watch on Apple TV+ this week
The Big Door Prize | Apple TV+ | Comedy, mystery
Series premiere, Wednesday, March 29: A vending machine that promises to dispense any person’s “true destiny” for a couple of bucks mysteriously appears in a small-town Southern grocery store. As the townsfolk (including Chris O’Dowd, Bridesmaids) give “Morpho” a spin, they begin making (mostly) positive changes in their lives and careers. The Big Door Prize, based on M.O. Walsh’s book of the same name, is a feel-good comedy that plays like a mashup of The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek in the best ways.
Tetris | Apple TV+ | Drama
Movie premiere, Friday, March 31: Despite what you’re thinking, Tetris isn’t a post-apocalyptic videogame adaptation designed to cash in on The Last of Us—but imagine what Pedro Pascal could do with that. Tetris is a dramatized origin story of the game, starring Taron Egerton as the Dutch entrepreneur who braved late-eighties Soviet politics to help Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) launch one of the most popular videogames in history. It’s like The Social Network with blocks.
W2W wildcards of the week
Riverdale | The CW | Drama
Season 7 premiere, Wednesday, March 29: The long, strange trip of the Archie gang is coming to an end as Riverdale wraps with an 11-installment final season—who expected this to last 128 episodes? As season 7 opens, the destruction of Bailey’s comet has sent the town of Riverdale back to 1955, but only Jughead (Cole Sprouse), now stuck with his dumbest hat yet, remembers that they’re actually from the 21st century. A cast of now-late-20s actors playing teens only ups the camp factor, and it looks like Riverdale is going to blow it all up—dig, Daddio?
Royal Crackers | Adult Swim, HBO Max | Animation, comedy
Series premiere, Sunday, April 2: What if Succession, but instead of a multinational media empire, it’s an on-the-skids Bakersfield cracker factory? Perfect. Royal Crackers, featuring the voices of Andrew Santino and Jessica St. Clair, looks like a low-budget ’90s cartoon because show creator Jason Ruiz (who also voices characters) meant it to replicate the hand-drawn feel of the original Beavis & Butt-Head. Fun fact: Ruiz created the cop cartoon Murder Police 10 years ago for FOX, but the network refused to air a second of it. Rude.
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