What’s Worth Watching: ‘Mrs. Maisel’ Hits the Road, ‘Marriage Story’ on Netflix, Apple’s ‘Truth Be Told,’ War Memories on ‘Magnum’
A selective critical checklist of notable Friday TV:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (streaming on Amazon Prime Video): She took Manhattan. Now Las Vegas, Miami and points beyond will bow to the whimsy and wonder of 1960s stand-up sensation “Mrs. Maisel” (aka Miriam, or Midge) as she goes on the road in the third season of the delightful period comedy. Rachel Brosnahan as Midge, and Alex Borstein as her cantankerous fireplug of a sidekick/manager Susie, are great company as they celebrate Mrs. Maisel’s name going up in lights for the first time. Back home, the series is on rockier ground as Midge’s parents — unemployed Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and underappreciated Rose (Marin Hinkle) lose their bearings when evicted from Abe’s spacious university-owned apartment. Maybe they should all indulge their wanderlust, because everything involving Midge and Susie is marvelous indeed. (See full review.)
Marriage Story (streaming on Netflix): Joining the streaming giant’s The Irishman (currently streaming) as a front-running Oscar hopeful, this quietly moving drama from Noah Baumbach stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a married couple with child (Azhy Robertson) whose union dissolves as they split their time between New York and Los Angeles. Baumbach understands the pain in love that refuses to die even when a marriage doesn’t work out. The supporting cast includes Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta as lawyers helping the couple through these difficult times.
Among the typically too-many Netflix premieres: the five-part true-crime docuseries The Confession Killer, telling the story of Henry Lee Lucas, a convicted murderer whose confessions to hundreds more killings made him infamous, even when many turned out to be a hoax; the six-episode Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show, featuring a New York-based ensemble, from black-ish creator Kenya Barris; the first half of a fifth season of Fuller House; the romantic drama Virgin Drama, starring Alexandra Breckenridge (This Is Us) as a nurse practitioner who moves from L.A. to a remote town in Northern California. Martin Henderson (Grey’s Anatomy) and Tim Matheson co-star; and Glow Up, a reality competition show from the U.K. featuring makeup artists.
Truth Be Told (streaming on Apple TV+): A strong cast including Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul and Lizzy Caplan can’t salvage this earnest, sluggish mystery drama about a podcaster (Spencer) who feels guilty about her part in the murder conviction 20 years ago of a possibly innocent teenager. When new evidence emerges, she investigates the case of Warren Cave (Paul), now a hardened con with Nazi tattoos.
Apple’s signature drama, The Morning Show, features flashbacks of former co-anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) in happier times on TMS before his scandalous fall from glory.
Magnum P.I. (9/8c, CBS): The original Magnum series often dealt with its hero’s past in Vietnam, and so it is with the reboot, when Thomas (Jay Hernandez) flashes back to his tour of duty in Afghanistan when helping the brother (Louis Lombardi) of his fallen comrade Sebastian (Domenick Lombardozzi). The missing: search for a now-grown Afghan boy who may have been a victim of trafficking.
Inside Friday TV: As if The Mandalorian (Disney+) didn’t already have his hands full with “the Child (aka “Baby Yoda”), he now has to help a rookie bounty hunter who’s in over his head… The latest addition to Marvel’s Hero Project (Disney+) is “Mighty Rebekah,” who’s opening hearts and minds as she raises awareness for LBGTQ youth… Logo pays tribute to the late Shelley Morrison with a marathon of 16 “Best of Rosario” episodes of Will & Grace (starts at noon/11c)… Blake Carrington (Grant Show) goes on trial in the midseason finale of The CW’s Dynasty (9/8c)… Abigail Spencer (Timeless) stars in Hulu’s lurid revenge thriller Reprisal as a woman seeking violent payback after being left for dead by her brother and his gang of gearheads.
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