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Because I love television. How about you?

Month: December 2022

Watchable on Super Channel, PBS, Netflix Dec. 26-Jan. 1, 2023

December 26, 2022 /

I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. Not a lot of new stuff out this week and a lot of what is new I didn’t have screeners for, but the floodgates will open in earnest as January continues.

Short Takes

A scene from “Ice-Breaker: The ’72 Summit Series.” PHOTO CREDIT: Super Channel

Ice-Breaker: The ’72 Summit Series (Dec. 27, 9 p.m., Super Channel Fuse)

If you’re having a sense of deja vu, yes, I did write about a show connected to the 1972 hockey “Summit Series” between the Russians and Canadians back in September, when I made the CBC docuseries “Summit ’72” my show of the week. This documentary film by Robbie Hart (“I Am Not a Rock Star”) covers some of the same ground — the shocking Game 1 loss to the Soviets, the Canadian fans booing in Vancouver, Phil Esposito’s rousing speech, the Canucks’ underdog status going into the final games, Paul Henderson’s series-winning goal — but it also puts a bigger focus on the geopolitical implications of the games, which is not surprising since it’s based on a book by former diplomat Gary J. Smith, “Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics at the 1972 Summit Series.” Smith is interviewed along with hockey folks like Wayne Gretzky, Ron Maclean, Harnarayan Singh, Angela James and Daniele Sauvageau (interviews with a handful of the Canadian ’72 players appear to be archival). The doc also includes footage shot in Moscow and fresh interviews with Russian players Vladislav Tretiak, Alexander Yakushev and Boris Mikhailov. The film’s thesis is that the Summit Series changed the game of hockey forever and even changed Canada’s national identity. If that’s true — and having been only 10 when the series was played I can’t vouch for that — then I believe it’s also true that the national identity is in constant flux as Canada grows and diversifies. And I can’t help but wonder whether hockey will play as big a part in the mythology of this country 50 years from now.

Groucho Marx and Dick Cavett on “The Dick Cavett Show” in June 1969. PHOTO CREDIT: Ron Baldwin

“American Masters: Cavett & Groucho” (Dec. 27, 8 p.m., PBS)

Speaking of nostalgia, this episode of the PBS series “American Masters” takes viewers back not just to the 1960s and ’70s when comedian Groucho Marx made seven appearances on his friend Dick Cavett’s talk show, but to the age of vaudeville and early film when Groucho and the other Marx Brothers became famous. Groucho went on to achieve individual fame as the host of TV quiz show “You Bet Your Life.” By the time he started appearing on “Cavett,” he was in his late 70s, but he and Cavett had been friends since meeting at the funeral of playwright George S. Kaufman when Groucho was 70 and Cavett 25. Cavett, now 86 — the same age Groucho was when he died in 1977 — says he got “perhaps the last of Groucho’s prime” on his talk show. Whether that translates to modern audiences for whom Groucho’s comedy style will seem old-fashioned remains to be seen, but the story of the friendship between the men is a touching one and it’s clear that Cavett still has nothing but the highest regard for his comedy hero.

PBS also has the concert special “Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2023” (Jan. 1, 8 p.m.), featuring music by Strauss and others conducted by Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst, performances by the Vienna State Ballet and host Hugh Bonneville of “Downton Abbey.”

Odds and Ends

Charlie Cox stars in “Treason.” PHOTO CREDIT: Netflix

The Netflix series I would have screened had it been available last week is “Treason” (Dec. 26), starring Charlie Cox (“Daredevil”) as an MI6 agent whose future is called into question after he’s reunited with a Russian spy with whom he had a past. Netflix also has Season 5 of “The Circle” (Dec. 28); a Spanish comedy series called “Alpha Males” (Dec. 30); the Noah Baumbach film “White Noise” (Dec. 30) starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig; the special “Best of Stand Up 2022” (Dec. 31); the heist series “Kaleidoscope” (Jan. 1); the Brazilian series “Lady Voyeur” (Jan. 1) and other stuff.

My pick for Crave this week, just based on the description, is “Kingdom of Dreams” (Dec. 30), a docuseries about the global fashion business from the early 1990s to the 2010s. Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker is a producer. Crave also has “The Rocky Collection” dropping on Dec. 30, which includes all six films plus the documentary “40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic,” narrated by Sylvester Stallone. Its New Year’s offering is “Lizzo: Live in Concert” (Dec. 31, 8 p.m.).

Speaking of New Year’s, CBC TV and CBC Gem have “Canada’s New Year’s Eve: Countdown to 2023” at 11 p.m. on Dec. 31, hosted by Rick Mercer and featuring music from Chad Price, Devon Cole, James Barker Band, JJ Wilde, Kardinal Offishall, Leela Gilday, OKAY TK, Savannah Ré and Vincent Vallières.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.

Watchable on PBS, Disney, Crave Dec. 19 to 25, 2022

December 19, 2022 /

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Call the Midwife Holiday Special (Dec. 25, 9 p.m., PBS)

Leonie Elliott, Helen George and Megan Cusack in the “Call the Midwife Holiday Special.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Neal Street Productions and BBC Studios

If you want to feel good about the human race at this time of year I can think of few things more likely to engender that sentiment than the annual “Call the Midwife Holiday Special.”

Is it unbashedly sentimental? In spades, but that doesn’t mean it’s Pollyanna-ish.

Truth be told, I resisted watching the show for some years, despite it being a favourite of my late mother-in-law’s. Alas, by the time I had succumbed to its charms, it was too late to share that appreciation with her. But I shall share it with you.

Essentially, the British series is about a group of midwives — both nuns and laywomen — working out of a convent in an impoverished area of East London. It begins in 1957. Season 11, released earlier this year on PBS, advanced the time period to 1967.

(In Canada, you can catch up on previous seasons on BritBox and CBC Gem, which starts streaming Season 11 on Dec. 22.)

Obviously the show deals with subjects historically pigeonholed as women’s issues, including pregnancy and childbirth, infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, maternal mortality, birth control, sexual assault and lack of access to safe abortions. But it also deals with general social ills: poverty, mental illness, spousal violence, alcoholism, racism, homophobia, gentrification, and medical ignorance and prejudice, to name just some. (A quibble: I suspect in real 1960s London, Jamaican nurse Lucille would have been subject to a lot more racism than the show portrays.)

This year’s Christmas special reintroduces Rhoda and Bernie Mullucks (Liz White and Chris Reilly), who had a thalidomide baby in Season 5 (thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women to fight nausea in the 1950s and early ’60s, and was found to cause birth defects).

Rhoda is pregnant with her fourth child, fearful that her new baby will also have disabilities, and dreading having to divide her attention between an infant and daughter Susan, who was born with deformed arms and legs. Susan is being discriminated against at school because of her disability, and Bernie is spending his free time at the pub rather than deal with his worries for the new baby and his guilt over Susan’s condition.

Another plot line involves a young, pregnant woman just released from jail who’s subjected to total indifference by the welfare official supposedly there to help her and is kicked out of her rooming house when she goes into labour.

If you’re familiar with past iterations of the “Call the Midwife Holiday Special,” you probably suspect both these situations will be resolved with happy endings, although that’s not always the case in the series.

The episode’s feel-good plot involves a Christmas talent show organized by handyman Fred (Cliff Parisi) and wife Violet (Annabelle Apsion) to help mitigate the after-effects of Season 11’s fatal train crash.

Besides Day 1 character Fred, the special also checks in with originals Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann, the real-life husband of series creator Heidi Thomas), Shelagh Turner (Laura Main) and Nurse Trixie (Helen George).

Trixie and Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) undergo some significant plot developments, but Nurse Lucille (Leonie Elliott) and husband Cyril (Zephryn Taitte), Nurse Nancy (Megan Cusack), Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett), receptionist Millicent (Georgie Glen), Fred’s cousin Reggie (Daniel Laurie), the Turners’ son Timothy (Max Macmillan) and Trixie’s rich boyfriend, Matthew (Olly Rix), also figure in the action.

One of the beauties of “Call the Midwife” is that its revolving cast of characters doesn’t lessen enjoyment of the show. Sure, you miss people who have left the series, but the new characters fit easily into the ebb and flow of life in Poplar, and it seems we’re in for more additions when Season 12 debuts in 2023.

In the meantime, there’s this holiday special with the show’s usual mix of comedy and drama, sorrow and joy, and an abundance of kindness. Enjoy and keep the tissues handy.

Short Takes

The Flagmakers (Dec. 21, Disney+)

For the immigrants and refugees who work at Eder Flag in Oak Park, Wisconsin, sewing and shipping five million American flags a year is part of their American dream. They’ve come from countries like Serbia, Iraq, Bosnia, Puerto Rico, Tanzania, Mexico, fleeing war and other hardships, or just seeking better lives for themselves and their families. They toil alongside native-born Americans like SugarRay and Barb, a Trump supporter who nonetheless forms seemingly genuine connections with her diverse co-workers. Sewing manager Radica, who left Serbia with her husband after her house was bombed, believes every flag created at Eder has a soul, but she also feels betrayed when the Stars and Stripes are brandished during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, even used as a weapon against a police officer. SugarRay, meanwhile, is trying to reconcile the country he loves with the country where fellow Black man George Floyd was murdered. “When you start to learn more about how this country was built for Black and brown people it really doesn’t kind of include you,” he says. And Ali, who fled war in Iraq with his wife and children, initially believes life in America is beautiful, a belief that is challenged when he’s hit and knocked unconscious while shopping at Walmart with his family. Radica theorizes that while America isn’t perfect, that’s its beauty, but she also ends up moving back to Serbia. The work at Eder, meanwhile, goes on. This doc, which runs just 36 minutes, was co-directed by Sharon Liese and Oscar winner Cynthia Wade.

Disney also has the streaming debut of “Strange World” (Dec. 23), the animated film starring the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union and Dennis Quaid.

Things get tense between Dan (K. Trevor Wilson) and Stewart (Tyler Johnston) as Wayne (Jared Keeso) steps in during the Season 11 premiere of “Letterkenny.” PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Letterkenny (Dec. 25, Crave)

On the surface, “Letterkenny” would seem to be merely a clever and sometimes strange comedy in which the jokes fly at the speed of light. However, there are decidedly serious things going on under the surface, which is how a group discussion about the merits of various types of potato chips in the Season 11 premiere is really about topics like loneliness, racism, familial love and friendship. And underneath all of that, always, is a love of Canada. Only one episode of the new season was made available for review, but the synopsis put out by Crave says the new episodes will also encompass “lost dogs, an influencer invasion, Skid business, a mystery at the church bake sale, unwanted guests at beer league and the Degens stirring up trouble.” Bottom line, if you’re already a fan of Jared Keeso’s ode to his small-town Ontario upbringing, expect more of what you love.

Odds and Ends

Lily Collins and Lucien Laviscount in Season 3 of “Emily in Paris.”
PHOTO CREDIT. Stéphanie Branchu/Netflix © 2022

I apologize to all the “Emily in Paris” fans, but I was unable to get through the first episode of the first season when it debuted, such was my revulsion. And while I have considered going back for a reassessment given its continuing popularity I just haven’t had the time, so I’m no use to you at all as Season 3 debuts on Netflix on Dec. 21. Also dropping on Netflix this week: drama series “Trolley” (Dec. 19), about a congressman’s wife and family secrets; Season 4 of the docuseries “I Am a Killer” (Dec. 21); Season 2 of Japanese sci-fi drama “Alice in Borderland”; the streaming debut of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Dec. 23); the streaming debut of “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” (Dec. 25); Brazilian comedy series “Time Hustler” (Dec. 25), in which a man is hit on the head and wakes up in 1927, where he’s mistaken for a famous bandit; and prequel series “The Witcher: Blood Origin” (Dec. 25), starring Michelle Yeoh and Lenny Henry (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”).

This just in: if you’re Team William and Kate or you just want to study their faces for signs of how they really feel about “Harry & Meghan,” BritBox will have “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas,” the special hosted by the new Princess of Wales, on Dec. 24. It’s dedicated to the late Queen Elizabeth II and, naturally, William, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were in attendance.

Anybody who has Paramount+ will no doubt want to watch box office megahit “Top Gun: Maverick” when it starts streaming Dec. 22.

Prime Video’s big debut this week is the third season of “Jack Ryan” (Dec. 21), starring John Krasinski as the titular action hero.

Apple TV+ has the animated short film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” (Dec. 25), based on the Charlie Mackesy book. And Apple is also making the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” available free between Dec. 22 and 25.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.

Watchable on PBS, AMC+, Netflix Dec. 12 to 18, 2022

December 12, 2022 /

Sorry folks, it’s another week without a show of the week, mainly because I spent my limited screening hours watching eight episodes of “Kindred” before realizing it’s debuting only on Hulu this week, which we don’t get in Canada. Onwards . . .

Short Takes

Rebuilding Notre Dame (Dec. 14, 9 p.m., PBS)

Notre-Dame de Paris before the 2019 fire that almost destroyed it.
PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Lawrence/Alamy Stock Photo

I know exactly where I was the moment I fell in love with Paris: atop one of the towers of Notre-Dame, gazing out at the city on a perfect blue-sky day, surrounded by some of the cathedral’s famous gargoyles. Certainly anyone who loves that city and has spent time in that ancient church was stricken when fire destroyed its roof and threatened the entire 850-year-old structure in April 2019. I returned on a recent visit; the plaza in front of the church was swarmed with people, but the building was off limits, surrounded by construction hoarding. This episode of “Nova” explains what’s going on behind the hoarding as hundreds of workers toil to rebuild the cathedral exactly as it was before the fire in time for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It’s a mammoth, painstaking task but one that promises to reveal a splendour that hasn’t been seen since the 13th century. This is an uplifting documentary and an interesting one for anyone with a love of history, architecture and/or the City of Light.

PBS has told me repeatedly that “American Masters: The Adventures of Saul Bellow” — about the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author — is debuting Dec. 12 at 8 p.m.,, but it’s not in the online listings for Buffalo’s WNED, so make of that what you will.

Margarita Levieva and David Tennant in “Litvinenko.” PHOTO CREDIT: ITVX/Sundance Now

Litvinenko (Dec. 16, AMC+/Sundance Now)

If you’ve seen any advertising for this four-episode drama, you have likely seen the face of a bald-headed David Tennant, looking very ill in a hospital bed. In fact, Tennant is in only the first episode playing late Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko and, despite my enduring love of David Tennant, I have to say he is not overly convincing in the role apart from getting the hospital look right. The series is really about what happened after Litvinenko died in 2006 from ingesting Polonium-210 at a London hotel: about the police investigation that pointed the finger at two Russian assassins and the public inquiry that concluded the killing was likely approved by President Vladimir Putin himself — just as Litvinenko claimed on his death bed. The show is a pretty standard police procedural — aside from the fact the detectives get to interview the murder victim — but it’s loaded with very good actors whom you’ll know if you watch any British TV. Mark Bonnar (“Line of Duty,” “Shetland,” “Guilt”) and Neil Maskell (“Humans,” “Utopia”) play cops; Stephen Campbell Moore (“War of the Worlds,” “Titanic”) is a lawyer who pushes for a public inquiry; and Russian-American Margarita Levieva (“The Deuce”) is Litvinenko’s widow, Marina. At the very least the timing is interesting, providing another view of just what a murderous thug Putin is as he continues to try to destroy Ukraine.

Odds and Ends

David Letterman with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Netflix

It’s another jam-packed week for Netflix content. I know I’ll be watching the next three episodes of the docuseries “Harry & Meghan” (Dec. 15) — you can read my review of the first three for the Toronto Star here — and there will be huge interest in “My Next Guest With David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy” (Dec. 12), for which Letterman went to Kyiv, Ukraine, to meet with the Ukrainian president and Man of the Year. Also on my radar, “Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery” (Dec. 15), in which star Will Arnett’s friend and “SmartLess” podcast co-host Jason Bateman gets to improv his way through solving the slaying of Kris Kringle alongside Maya Rudolph. Then there’s the second season of “Last Chance U: Basketball” (Dec. 13); Polish 1970s-set drama series “Glitter” (Dec. 14); docuseries “Don’t Pick Up the Phone” (Dec. 14), about scammers who talked fast-food managers into strip-searching their employees; documentary “Kangaroo Valley” (Dec. 14), about a baby kangaroo trying to survive in the Outback; action drama “The Recruit” (Dec. 16), in which teen heartthrob Noah Centineo gets to play a grown-up CIA lawyer; Norwegian miniseries “A Storm for Christmas” (Dec. 16), about travellers stranded at the Oslo airport; the Alejandro G. Inarritu film “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Dec. 16); and documentary “The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari” (Dec. 16), about a New Zealand eruption in 2019.

Disney’s main offering this week is the series “National Treasure: Edge of History” (Dec. 14), a followup to the movie franchise with a new Latina heroine, Jess Valenzuela (Lisette Olivera). It also has the critically acclaimed movie starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Dec. 14).

If you’re not choking on baking shows yet, CTV has the new series “Cross Country Cake Off” (Dec. 15, 9 p.m.), starring Mary Berg and Andrew Han.

Finally, specialty channel Love Nature has the Africa-set docuseries “Chasing the Rains” (Dec. 18, 8 p.m.), narrated by Adjoa Andoh, a.k.a. Lady Danbury of “Bridgerton.”

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.

Watchable on Disney, Super Channel, Netflix Dec. 5 to 11

December 5, 2022 /

There is no Show of the Week this week. The spirit was willing, the screener selection weak.

Short Takes

Idina Menzel in concert in “Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?”
PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Maldin/Walkman Productions Inc.

Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage? (Dec. 9, Disney+)

Those of us who aren’t famous tend to think of it as a constant in the lives of those who are: you get famous, you’ve got it made. This documentary about singer and actor Idina Menzel reminds us that it’s more of a roller coaster with highs and lows. Menzel, a New York native, first hit it big in 1996 with “Rent,” but it was another seven years before she got her next big break, creating the Tony-winning role of Elphaba in “Wicked,” and then another decade before she was catapulted to even higher heights with the song “Let It Go” and the movie “Frozen.” This doc follows Menzel on a 2018 concert tour culminating in her dream gig of playing Madison Square Garden. It balances concert footage with archival film of her performing in high school musicals, and at weddings and bar mitzvahs, with personal moments: interacting with her father, husband and son, Walker, and undergoing ultimately unsuccessful IVF treatments. If you don’t know much about Menzel — or Adele Dazeem, as she was dubbed in a memorable moment at the 2014 Oscars — this doc is a reminder of her hits and of the glorious voice underlying them all.

Disney+ also has “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again” (Dec. 9), an animated sequel to the live action “Night at the Museum” films; the star-stuffed comedy caper film “Amsterdam” (Dec. 7); animated series “Alice’s Wonderland Bakery” (Dec. 7) and Season 2 of “The Mysterious Benedict Society” (Dec. 7).

Yannick Bisson and Cory Lee in “Baking All the Way.” PHOTO CREDIT: Vortex Media

Baking All the Way (Dec. 10, 8 p.m., Super Channel Heart & Home)

I am not a fan of holiday rom-coms, but I make allowances for Canadian offerings like this one. Sure, it’s set in Chicago and Wisconsin, but it was made in Ontario with a Canadian cast, led by “Murdoch Mysteries” star Yannick Bisson, who also directs. Bisson is Kris Thompson, widowed owner of a small-town bakery that’s being pummelled by an outpost of a corporate baked goods franchise. He also has the requisite precocious daughter (Bianca Sas) and wisecracking mother (Jayne Eastwood). Things start to turn around when cookbook author Julia Wilson (Cory Lee) comes to town because she wants to include Kris’s gingerbread recipe in her new book — it reminds her of the cookies she used to bake every Christmas Eve with her late mother. Colin Mochrie and wife Debra McGrath co-star as friendly B&B owners who take Julia under their wings. Baking and romance ensue, naturally. Let’s be honest, this is as saccharine as the treats Kris and Julia create to turn his business around, but such is the nature of Christmas movies. And if you get through it without raiding your kitchen for something sweet you’re a better person than me.

Also, if you are a Jayne Eastwood fan, I’m told she guest stars in “A Pink & Green Christmas” (Dec. 8, Bell Fibe TV1), the holiday episode of the comedy about a women’s prison in Hamilton.

Odds and Ends

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in “Harry & Meghan.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The big Netflix release this week is “Harry & Meghan,” an explosive new docuseries about the royal runaways that drops on Dec. 8. I have only seen the trailer, like everyone else, but if you thought the Oprah Winfrey interview put the monarchy in a bad light, hoo boy, I think this will probably have royal knickers in a twist when it’s released.

Netflix also has “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Dec. 9), the Oscar-winning director’s stop-motion, animated vision of the classic story, in which the wooden boy (Gregory Mann) is brought to life by a bereaved father (David Bradley) in Italy in the 1930s. It boasts a stacked voice cast, with Ewan McGregor, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard and more. Also releasing on Netflix, the Mexican coming-of-age series “The Most Beautiful Flower” (Dec. 7); Spanish gay rom-com series “Smiley” (Dec. 7); the documentary “The Elephant Whisperers” (Dec. 8), about a couple in India who devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant; doc “In Broad Daylight: The Narvarte Case” (Dec. 8), about a corruption and murder case in Mexico; and lots of other stuff.

I wasn’t able to get a look in time for today’s post at Jann Arden’s Christmas special, “Jann: Alone for the Holidays” (Dec. 9, 9 p.m., CTV/CTV.ca), in which Arden’s sitcom character finds herself with just her assistant Trey (Tenaj Williams) for company at Christmas. The special includes Arden performing holiday standards, and guest appearances by Michael Buble and Bryan Adams.

Also in the Bell Media family, Crave via HBO has the third season of “His Dark Materials” (Dec. 5, 9 p.m.); the docuseries “Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo” (Dec. 6, 9 p.m.), about a sex abuse scandal at a Christian church; and Season 2 of “Random Acts of Flyness” (Dec. 9, 9 p.m.). Also on Crave, Season 4 of “Doom Patrol” (Dec. 8, 9 p.m.); the Jennifer Lopez rom-com “Marry Me” (Dec. 9); and supernatural crime series “The Rising” (Dec. 11), in which a dead woman in purgatory has to find her killer.

Apple TV+ has the Will Smith comeback film “Emancipation” (Dec. 9), which was not offered for review, at least not on Apple’s press site. Antoine Fuqua directed the movie, in which Smith plays a runaway slave. Apple also has Season 2 of “Little America” (Dec. 9), the first episode of which was directed by Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, who has firsthand knowledge of the immigrant experience.

Prime Video has British World War II series “SAS: Rogue Heroes” (Dec. 9), starring Connor Swindells (“Sex Education”), Jack O’Connell (“Godless”), Alfie Allen (“Game of Thrones”) and Dominic West (“The Crown”).

CBC Gem has comedy series “Avoidance” (Dec. 5), starring Romesh Ranganathan (“Cinderella”); Season 2 of “The History of Comedy” (Dec. 8) and the New Zealand comedy series “Kid Sister” (Dec. 9), about a young Jewish woman facing family pressure in Auckland.

Finally, if you’re a fan of “As Time Goes By,” the long-running British sitcom that starred Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, BritBox has the “As Time Goes By Reunion Special” on Dec. 6.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.

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