A Memorable Sister Act, French Fashion Drama, iHeartRadio Music Festival, PBS Confronts Deadlock

His Three Daughters

The family ties that bind have also been known to set siblings against each other. So it is in director/writer Azazel Jacobs’ searing and moving drama, featuring an expert cast led by Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face) and Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) as sisters sharing their dying father’s cramped New York apartment as he lies mostly offscreen. Coon is the abrasive Katie, Lyonne a virtual pot-smoking chimney as Rachel, with Olsen attempting to play peacemaker when things get too tense. There’s pain but also humor as these grown daughters cope with impending loss, sharing grievances but also undying memories.

La Maison

Once again, the Apple TV+ streamer’s emphasis on quality over quantity pays off in another of its impressive foreign-language treats. Presented in French with English subtitles, this juicy drama explores the dark side of the luxury fashion industry when the deluxe LEDU brand, about to celebrate its centennial, is rocked after the high-profile face of the company, the temperamental designer Vincent Ledu (Lambert Wilson), melts down with a racist rant that goes viral. This sets off a power struggle for LEDU’s future, while a rival brand schemes to take advantage. Both sides of the fashion war pursue the industry’s latest disruptor: a young revolutionary talent, Paloma (Zita Hanrot), who has her own personal connection to LEDU. Launches with two episodes.

iHeartRadio Music Festival

Because he’s not busy enough, Ryan Seacrest is tapped to host the annual two-night musical festival (continuing Saturday) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Fans can listen on iHeartRadio nationwide or watch the livestream, which will be available for replay throughout the weekend. (A highlights special will be available for streaming through Oct. 7.) Headliners include Camila Cabello, Doja Cat, Gwen Stefani, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block, Paramore, The Black Crowes, Thomas Rhett, Victoria Monét and a special appearance from Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Deadlock: An Election Story

Can’t we all get along, or agree on anything? With our nation seeming to be at an ideological impasse, PBS presents a provocative special that hopes to bring civil discourse to several of today’s most hot-button issues. Gathering experts and thought leaders from academia, journalism and all sides of the political spectrum, the special (filmed earlier this month at the New York Historical Society) is introduced by Supreme Court Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett, reflecting the diversity of opinion on hand. They’ll present a hypothetical situation designed to provoke deep discussion, and perhaps even consensus, on ethical dilemmas relevant to today’s divisive society. Aaron Tang, professor at UC Davis School of Law, moderates the panel.

Three Women

Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie, GLOW) is extraordinary in an erotically charged episode focusing on her character of Lina, a deeply unhappy Indiana housewife who shares her most private feelings of pain and neglect with her therapist (Ravi Patel) and a women’s support group—observed by Gia (Shailene Woodley), who’s desperate to find someone to write about. Lina’s journey of self-discovery and sexual fulfillment leads to a reunion with a high-school crush she still considers the love of her life, played by Austin Stowell (soon to be seen as the young Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS: Origins).

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Secret Celebrity Renovation (8/7c, CBS): In a special episode, baseball all-star Mookie Betts heads to Nashville to surprise his dad with a home renovation. For fun, the Dodger makes a bet with contractor “Boston Rob” Mariano, a devoted fan of the Red Sox (with whom Betts formerly played), that if Rob can’t hit a ball at Major League speed, he’ll wear a Dodgers hat back to Boston.
• True Crime Watch: ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) examines the 2017 murder in Ketchikan, Alaska of Dr. Eric Garcia by his secret lover, Jordan Joplin, who was convicted of poisoning the surgeon with morphine and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of his goods. On Dateline NBC (10/9c), Keith Morrison reports on the death of a Michigan mother whose body was found on a patio by her teenage daughter.
• Frontline (10/9c, PBS): A special edition of the documentary series teams Frontline with the Associated Press to report “South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning,” with disturbing findings of adoptees from South Korea who’ve returned to their homeland as adults to discover fraud including false identities and made-up backstories.

ON THE STREAM:

• Pachinko (streaming on Apple TV+): The end of World War II brings devastation to Japan, with Yoseb (Han Jun-woo) working in Nagasaki at the time of the blast, and Sunja’s (Kim Min-ha) family returning from the countryside to an Osaka in ruins.
• How to Die Alone (streaming on Hulu): “My mother’s (Ellen Cleghorne) love language is criticism,” sighs Mel (Natasha Rothwell) as she endures a family Thanksgiving while baiting her unfaithful brother (Bashir Salahuddin) in a memorable episode of the new comedy series.
• RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars (streaming on Paramount+): The queens participate in the Snatch Game of Love after posing for profile pics for a dating app. Spanish Drag Race judges Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi join the judging panel.
• Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison. (streaming on Hulu): A three-part true-crime docuseries from ABC News Studios explores the conviction of Kaitlyn Conley in the 2015 killing of Mary Yoder, her former boss and the mom of her ex-boyfriend, a murder that stunned the small town of Sauquoit, N.Y.
• Dandelion (streaming on ALLBLK and AMC+): If Beale Street Could Talk star Kiki Layne is the title character, a struggling singer-songwriter pursuing her musical ambitions to a motorcycle rally/festival in South Dakota, where she encounters a guitarist (Thomas Doherty) who’s put his own dreams aside.
• I Saw the TV Glow (streaming on Max): Making its streaming debut, Jane Schoenbrun’s film about suburban teens who lose themselves in their obsession with a Buffy-style TV show in the late 1990s is something I can relate to.