SHOW OF THE WEEK: Raya and the Last Dragon (March 5, Disney Plus)

Raya, voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, with dragon Sisu, voiced by Awkwafina, in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Disney

I’d love to say that I love this latest feature from Disney Animation Studios. It was co-written by a Vietnamese-American playwright, Qui Nguyen; it features a largely Asian cast voicing Asian characters; and it’s a female-led story. And yet . . .

I felt emotionally detached in the early going from the tale of teenaged Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), on a quest to find the last dragon (Awkwafina) and save the world from the Druun, amorphous purple blogs of smoke and light that turn people into stone.

The story rolls along — literally when Raya rides her pet part-armadillo Tuk Tuk (yes, you can already buy the toy) — with Raya and cuddly-looking dragon Sisu (yep, another toy) seeking the broken pieces of a powerful dragon gem, which are spread throughout the warring nations of the formerly peaceful land of Kumandra.

Those pieces prove relatively easy to obtain, even with Raya under attack from her arch-enemy, fellow teenage warrior Namaari (Gemma Chan), with whom she engages in some eye-catching martial arts battles. Raya has help from a motley crew of adversaries turned friends, including warrior Tong (Benedict Wong), “con baby” Noi (Thalia Tran) and her monkey-like companions, and “shrimporium” boat captain Boun (Izaac Wang). The addition of these teammates marks when the story began to resonate more with me, which is fitting since it’s all about trust and people working together to achieve mutually beneficial ends.

Will Raya learn to trust her fellow humans, defeat the Druun once and for all, and bring her beloved father (Daniel Dae Kim) and other lost loved ones back to life? Take a wild guess.

“Raya and the Last Dragon” is bright and colourful and has its heart in the right place, which is not nothing in these crazy times we live in.

For Heaven’s Sake (March 4, CBC Gem)

Comedians Mike Mildon and Jackson Rowe investigate the disappearance
of Mike’s great-great-uncle Harold in “For Heaven’s Sake.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of CBC Gem

When a true crime series is produced in association with Funny or Die, you know it’s not going to be your typical murder documentary. In fact, it’s unclear whether murder is even involved in the disappearance of Harold Heaven in October 1934 from a cabin on Horseshoe Lake in Haliburton.

The unlikely investigators are Mike Mildon and Jackson Rowe, better known as the comedians behind the comedy sketch series “Trophy Husbands.” Whatever their day jobs, they seem to be genuinely interested in solving the disappearance of Harold, who was Mike’s great-great-uncle.

Mike describes the disappearance as an “open wound” within the family.

Almost as big a mystery as what happened to Harold — and it is a tantalizing case — is whether Mike and Jackson stand a chance in hell of solving it. Mike’s own family members, who are interviewed throughout, openly express their skepticism.

What the family does believe is that Harold didn’t kill himself, which was the police conclusion after a week-long search turned up no trace of Harold, described as a nature-loving loner. As his relatives rightly point out, if it was a suicide where’s the body?

Mike and Jackson consider murder a more likely scenario, but cases don’t get much colder than 86-year-old ones. Harold seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth, leaving his oil lamp still burning and his front door open, clad in just a suit, dress shoes and a fedora, and carrying a .22-calibre rifle. And the people who might have direct knowledge of his fate are all dead.

But Mike and Jackson persevere and, despite feeling their quest would ultimately prove a futile one, I found myself rooting for them and curious to know just how far they would get.

Short Takes

Rohan Campbell and Alexander Elliot as Frank and Joe Hardy in “The Hardy Boys.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Hulu/Corus Entertainment

Vikings (March 3, 9 p.m., History)

Another Ireland-shot saga of family and war comes to an end, albeit with much less fanfare than “Game of Thrones,” as “Vikings” concludes after six seasons. The spirit of Ragnar (former series lead Travis Fimmel) is very much present in this finale, not least because of the presence of Ragnar’s old friend Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard), who’s repented his former bloodthirsty ways and found relative peace among a group of North American Indigenous people. Having only dipped in and out of the series over the years, I can’t say how well this finale will satisfy fans, but it’s entertaining enough as an episode of television. It wraps up the stories of the remaining sons of Ragnar, Ivar (Alex Hogh Andersen) and Hvitserk (Marco Ilso) in England, and Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) in the new land; gives us one last bloody battle and ends on a surprisingly gentle note.

Punky Brewster (March 4, 8 p.m. W; March 5, 8 p.m., YTV, STACKTV)

The pig-tailed tot who was the eponymous star of the 1980s comedy is all grown up and a divorced mother of three in this reboot. Punky (original star Soleil Moon Frye) is a photographer just like her late adopted father Henry and living in his old apartment. She maintains a cosy relationship with her ex, Travis (Freddie Prinze Jr.); has best friend Cherie (original star Cherie Johnson) for moral support; and her kids, a daughter and two adopted sons, seem well-adjusted if occasionally, triflingly annoying. When social worker Cherie asks Punky to foster Izzy (Quinn Copeland) who, like Punky, was abandoned by her mother, it seems obvious that sitcom history will repeat itself. What keeps the whole thing from tipping over into laugh-tracked shlock are the moments of sweetness between the characters.

The Hardy Boys (March 5, 9 p.m., YTV, STACKTV)

If you’re in the mood for something nostalgic, wholesome and that walks a line between adult and youth entertainment, this might fit the bill. The newest TV adaptation of the venerable Hardy Boys mystery novels sets the action in the 1980s. Frank (Rohan Campbell) and Joe Hardy (Alexander Elliot) end up in Bridgeport, the hometown of their father Fenton (James Tupper) and mother Laura (Janet Porter), after a family tragedy. There they become embroiled in a mystery involving a missing person, a car accident, a sunken boat and a strange artifact. The boys, backed by friends Chet (Adam Swain), Phil (Cristian Perri), Biff (Riley O’Donnell) and Callie (Keana Lyn), are smart, intuitive and capable, and Campbell and Elliot are likeable and believable in the roles.

Wynonna Earp (March 5, 10 p.m., CTV Sci-Fi Channel, Crave)

It’s the beginning of the end for our favourite demon hunter unless producer Seven24 Films finds an American distributor for the Calgary-shot series. If that doesn’t happen these next six episodes will be the last we see of Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano), Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon) and the rest of the gang in Purgatory. As we begin, Wynonna and Doc are still at odds, while Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole (Katherine Barrell) plan their engagement party. But there are complications thanks to a Cupid the ladies encounter when Wynonna throws the happy couple a bachelorette bash at a strip club, resulting in some of the loopy comedy that the show is good at. Jann Arden guest-stars.

Odds and Ends

CTV has a new docuseries debuting March 6 at 10 p.m. “This Is Pop” promises to dive into “pivotal moments in pop music history over the past seven decades.”

On the subject of documentaries, Netflix has a couple that sound worth checking out: “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell” (March 1), about late rapper Notorious B.I.G., and “Murder Among the Mormons” (March 3), about a series of pipe bombings among the LDS community in Salt Lake City in 1985.

Amazon Prime Video has the movie “Coming 2 America” (March 5), the sequel to the 1988 comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem, with Wesley Snipes, Arsenio Hall and John Amos all reprising their roles.