From a trippy new Spider-Man animated series to an SNL musical anniversary special, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week
1. From Roger Moore with Love – Saturday, January 25, KTLA
British actor Roger Moore portrayed suave super-spy James Bond for more than a decade, beginning with 1973’s Live and Let Die through to 1985’s A View to a Kill. This biographical documentary traces his rise to global superstardom, from his breakthrough role in British TV hit The Saint to his non-007 roles. The late actor’s friends, family and co-stars share their remembrances of Moore, with rare home movie footage offering a peek into his private life. Among those interviewed are Joan Collins, Dick Cavett, Pierce Brosnan and Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, while Steve Coogan provides narration.
2. My Pet Ate What? – Sunday, January 26, CTV Wild | Series Premiere
Follow the veterinary exploits of Vancouver’s Dr. Eugene Gorodetsky, who specializes in endoscopy, using a minimally invasive instrument combining a camera, light and grasping tools to reach down the digestive tracts of various animals to extract the unusual, sometimes dangerous and often surprising items they’ve ingested. Among the 14,000 or so objects he’s recovered have been doorknobs, rubber duckies and Mr. Potato Head’s toupee. Click here to watch trailer.
3. Saturday Night Live: Ladies and Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music – Monday, January 27, NBC
As Saturday Night Live marks its 50th anniversary this year, the spotlight is shining on the groundbreaking series that revolutionized television comedy. Yet music has also been an intrinsic part of the show, and a new documentary celebrates the important cultural impact that’s been made on SNL’s musical stage.
Directed by Amir “Questlove” Thompson and Oz Rodriguez, this three-hour extravaganza boasts a half-century’s worth of highlights, featuring some of the show’s most unforgettable performances from a show that’s hosted a staggering array of musical guests over the years, from The Grateful Dead to Nirvana and everything in between.
The doc boasts more than 50 interviews, including such musicians as Bad Bunny, Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Dave Grohl, Mick Jagger, Dua Lipa, Tom Morello, Kacey Musgraves, Olivia Rodrigo, Paul Simon, Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake, Jack White and many more.
Also interviewed are SNL creator Lorne Michaels and cast and creatives from the show’s present and past, including Fred Armisen, Conan O’Brien, Jane Curtin, Jimmy Fallon, Al Franken, Bill Hader, Steve Higgins, Eddie Murphy, Ego Nwodim, Andy Samberg, Paul Shaffer, Howard Shore, Robert Smigel, Kenan Thompson and more.
“Everyone knows the most famous SNL appearances, whether it’s Elvis Costello, Prince or the Beastie Boys, but they’re the tip of a huge iceberg,” said co-director Thompson, best known as drummer for The Roots. “The process of going back through the incredible archival footage was like being in a time machine, DeLorean or other. I’m so happy I went on the trip and now get to share it with everyone.
4. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives – Monday, January 27, ABC | Series Premiere
The reality TV exploits of Mormon families have mostly been restricted to TLC up till now. But ABC brings them to broadcast on Monday via an eight-part series with a most salacious hook.
The show follows a group of female Mormon influencers who rose to fame online, coining the viral #MomTok. But just as their burgeoning empire of lifestyle goals, product recommendations and parenting advice was reaching its peak, this tight-knit crew found themselves all but torn apart by what ABC describes in the press release as a “swinging sex scandal.”
“Now, their sisterhood is shook to its core. Faith, friendships and reputations are all on the line. Will #MomTok be able to survive and continue to give the rulebook a run for its money, or will this group fall from grace?”
5. Based on a True Story – Monday, January 27, W Network | Season Premiere
Having spent season one blackmailing a serial killer into taking part in their true crime podcast, Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan Bartlett (Chris Messina) seek a return to bland suburban normalcy in season two. She wants to get back into the swing of things with her real estate business, he with his tennis coaching — while the both of them adjust to life as new parents.
The big hitch in this plan? The Westside Ripper himself, Matt Pierce (Tom Bateman), careens back into the couple’s orbit, returning from his sojourn to Mexico a seemingly changed man — having quit murder cold-turkey and gotten engaged to Ava’s little sister Tory (Liana Liberato). For his part, Nathan is quick to believe that Matt can kick his homicidal habits. But Ava isn’t so sure — especially when a slew of “copycat” murders hit the news.
As the bodies pile up, everyone’s loyalties will be tested, suspicions intensified and the question of exactly what makes a murderer answered in unexpected, darkly comedic new ways.
Among the additions to the cast/suspect list in season two is Brooklyn Nine-Nine fave Melissa Fumero as Drew, a single mom who befriends Ava . . . but who might just be hiding some dark secrets of her own.
Speaking with Deadline, Cuoco, also an exec producer here, teased: “We answer a lot of questions from season one quickly and then kind of go into a whole new storyline where new murders start happening, we automatically think it’s Matt and then he’s like, ‘I’m sober killer. I don’t kill anymore.’ And now he’s joining our family, and it’s chaotic. But this all stemmed from a terrible decision these two people made two years ago and unfortunately, it’s turned into this. Now they’re stuck in this nightmare.” Click here to watch trailer.
6. Paradise – Tuesday, January 28, Disney+ | Series Premiere
The last time writer Dan Fogelman and star Sterling K. Brown joined forces, the result was This Is Us, one of the most popular TV dramas of the past decade — and a show that netted Brown an Emmy.
Now, this duo set out not to warm our hearts but pound our pulses with a series set in an elite community that’s home to the world’s most powerful people. Among them is former U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), who is guarded by Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins (Brown). But when Cal winds up dead, Xavier comes under suspicion, soon finding himself immersed in a conspiracy — and forced to reflect on his fraught bond with the now-dead POTUS. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Fogelman teased: “I grew up with these great propulsive action movies that are about dynamics, but have heavy-duty plots. The driving place for me was the relationship between those with ultimate power and the people that are charged with protecting them. I thought it could be best covered by the idea of a Secret Service agent whose job it is to take a bullet for a president — and the complexity of that relationship.” Click here to watch trailer.
7. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – Wednesday, January 29, Disney+ | Series Premiere
The origin story of Spider-Man is told like never before in this new animated series, following Peter Parker’s journey to becoming a hero via a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots — and even includes the classic theme song from the 1960s Saturday morning cartoon, “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can.” This version of Spidey’s journey, however, is set in an alternate universe; imbued with superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive spider, teenage Peter (voiced by Hudson Thames) is taken under the wing of Norman Osborne (Colman Domingo), who becomes Spider-Man’s nemesis, the Green Goblin, in the original iteration, but here becomes Peter’s mentor, even gifting him a high-tech suit. Other familiar characters include Aunt May (Kari Wahlgren), Doctor Octopus (Hugh Dancy) and Daredevil, with Charlie Cox reprising his role from the live-action series.
8. The Recruit – Thursday, January 30, Netflix | Season Premiere
Season two of the quirky CIA thriller picks up directly where season one left off, with young Agency lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) in shock after watching his partner Max (Laura Haddock) gunned down by her own daughter. With both his life and freedom now in jeopardy, the wily attorney winds up on a mission in South Korea to unravel a plot that may have connections to his own government. “This show lives in propulsion,” creator Alexi Hawley told Tudum. “So we immediately throw Owen in the deep end, which is where he’s the most fun . . . Owen knows that if he does not walk away with a win this season, his career is going to be over. He might go to prison. Depending on what people are into, they can show up for the big, flashy, splashy action stuff, but they can also be on a journey with this guy who’s just trying to fix something that he broke.” Click here to watch trailer.
9. Scamanda – Thursday, January 30, ABC | Series Premiere
Based on the hit podcast, this docuseries delves into how duplicitous Amanda Riley faked having cancer, and then hoodwinked more than 300 generous people into contributing US$100,000-plus in donations to pay non-existent medical bills and other bogus costs.
Riley cleverly harnessed the power of social media, using strategically shot selfies to bolster claims that she was fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma. During a period spanning from 2012 to 2016, Riley claimed that she’d gone into remission and then relapsed no less than four times, while she and her husband also welcomed two sons — “miracle babies,” she called them — and became a popular speaker in churches, sharing her totally fake story to illustrate the power of God. It all came crashing down when investigative journalist Nancy Moscatiello received an anonymous tip claiming that Riley had been faking cancer the whole time. She passed along what she’d discovered to authorities, leading to Riley being hit with federal charges in 2020. The docuseries — which was originally scheduled to air back in October before being delayed by ABC — features interviews with church members, Riley’s ex-friends, members of her community and Moscatiello herself, in addition to clips of Riley’s various sermons, interviews and social media videos. Click here to watch trailer.
10. Tom Green Country – Friday, January 31, Prime Video
In addition to a new comedy special this week (Tom Green: I Got a Mule, streaming Tuesday, January 28 on Prime Video), a new reality series also coming to Prime this week offers even more insight into notorious Canadian funnyman Tom Green’s new existence off the grid.
The show tracks Green as he “pulls up stakes and relocates from the bright lights of Hollywood to a simpler life on his newly purchased country farm . . . joined by his 1,500-lb. mule, a donkey and six chickens.” It offers a “heartwarming glimpse into the hilarious life on the farm — as only Tom Green can.” Speaking with Postmedia just before making this move to rural Ottawa, the ever-eccentric icon gushed about his beast of burden, Fanny: “A year ago, if you asked me what a mule was, I would have thought a mule was a donkey. A mule is a hybrid. Half the people know this, half the people don’t: a mule is a half-horse, half-donkey. They are really interesting animals. They are incredibly smart, strong, tough animals. They have been used in war. They have been used to settle the West. George Washington brought mules to North America and really encouraged them because they were great for farming. I’ve had her for a year now. I get up in the morning, I saddle her up, I ride around the trails on the farm. No previous experience with horses or anything like that. It was a bit unexpected. Click here to watch trailer.