Big news from the WGA writers’ strike front: “The WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative deal!” CableTV.com’s Alex Kerai Slacked the team this morning. “However, this does not mean that the strike is over immediately. The WGA and AMPTP will now work to write a contract and dot each ‘i’ before sending it to the negotiating committee and board for a vote.” Still, a major breakthrough on strike day 146.
This week’s What to Watch recs include the premiere of The Golden Bachelor, Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl adaptation for Netflix, The Boys spinoff Gen V, new NBC series The Irrational, and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open soccer action. Welcome to fall (TV)!
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What’s premiering this week
Series premiere, Thursday, September 28: ABC’s latest Bachelor spinoff and indicator of the End Times, The Golden Bachelor, presents 72-year-old retired restauranteur Gerry Turner, a widower looking for a second chance at love. Since the 22 women vying for Gerry’s gold-painted roses range in age from 60 to 75, will all this maturity make for a, well, mature and drama-free reality show? Don’t count on it—one of the women is the mother of season 25 Bachelor Matt Turner. Next up: Teen Bachelor.
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Final | CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ | Sports, soccer
Coverage begins Wednesday, September 27, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 PT: The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open is a knockout tournament wherein 100 pro and amateur American soccer teams battle it out for $300,000 and a shot at the CONCACAF Champions Cup. In the 2023 final match, Houston Dynamo takes on Inter Miami at DRV PNK Stadium in Florida. The 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Final will be televised on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+, as well as Telemundo, UNIVERSO, and Peacock (in Spanish).
What to watch on Netflix this week
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | Netflix | Comedy, drama
Movie premiere, Wednesday, September 27: Director Wes Anderson’s first foray into streaming is an ambitious one: an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1977 short-story collection spread over four consecutive release days. After The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar comes The Swan (Thursday), The Ratcatcher (Friday), and Poison (Saturday), and the short-film series’ stars include Benedict Cumberbatch (as Henry Sugar), Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Rupert Friend, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade.
Django | Netflix | Drama, western
Series premiere, Sunday, October 1: An Old West drama co-produced by Italian and French studios, with the backdrop of Romania standing in for the American frontier of the 1800s? Sure, why not? The 10-episode Django follows the titular hero (Matthias Schoenaerts) as he searches for his lost daughter Sarah (Lisa Vicari), who survived the slaughter of their family years ago. He finds her in New Babylon, a Texas town in the midst of fending off the villainous Elizabeth (Noomi Rapace) and her gang.
What to watch on Prime Video this week
The Victoria’s Secret World Tour | Prime Video | Reality
Special premiere, Monday, September 25: The original 1995–2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was a broadcast TV jigglefest infomercial event that titillated teen boys and outraged moral watchdog groups with impossibly skinny models barely wearing expensive lingerie (and wings, for some reason). The new Victoria’s Secret World Tour promises to be more body-diverse and inclusive, showcasing fashions from Bogotá, Lagos, London, and Tokyo. Wonder if you can buy the featured VS products on Amazon …
Gen V | Prime Video | Drama, sci-fi
Series premiere, Friday, September 29: Superhero satire The Boys finally gets a legit spinoff in Gen V, about a Vought International-run college for young supes that looks to be as R-rated outrageous as its parent show. The Umbrella Academy, this ain’t. Look for guest drop-ins from The Boys’ A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford), Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Vought’s Ashley Barrett (Colbie Minifie), and even a Schwarzenegger (Patrick, son of Arnold). Three of eight episodes stream on September 29.
What to watch on Peacock this week
Series premiere, Monday, September 25: What’s this? A fresh scripted fall show from NBC? The network managed to produce a couple of new dramas before the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes hit in May, The Irrational and the upcoming Found. Of course, they’re both crime procedurals. The Irrational, based on the novel Predictably Irrational, is about a behavioral psychology professor (Jessie L. Martin) who consults on FBI cases (aka the Castle conceit). The Irrational is a bit generic, but at least it’s new.
NXT No Mercy | Peacock | Sports, wrestling
Coverage begins Saturday, September 30, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Not only is this the first time that WWE-owned NXT has used the No Mercy event brand, but it’s also the first WWE PPV since its merger with UFC—so many acronyms. On the No Mercy 2023 card: Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton (NXT Women’s Championship), Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov (NXT Championship), Dominik Mysterio vs. Mustafa Ali (North American Championship), and Bron Breakker vs. Baron Corbin.
W2W wildcards of the week
Season 3 premiere, Friday, September 29: The New York Times Presents: How to Fix a Pageant, the latest in the Old Gray Lady’s investigative journalism series, looks at the sketchy world of TV beauty pageants, which you would rightly assume no longer exist (but they do—more on that in a scroll). As the title suggests, How to Fix a Pageant explores pageant-rigging allegations behind the scenes of the Miss USA contest, which was already in decline in terms of relevance and credibility. Now, hold onto your tiara …
The Miss USA Pageant | The CW | Special
Special premiere, Friday, September 29: What a coincidence—the 72nd Miss USA Pageant airs live the same day that How to Fix a Pageant premieres. This year’s event, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, will be hosted by Keltie Knight (Superfan) and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton (E! News), and will most certainly not be bigly rigged because The New York Times is watching. The 2023 Miss USA winner will go on to the Miss Universe pageant, where she’ll presumably compete against women from other planets.
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