Thursday 25
Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story (Discovery+ streaming) Having written and/or directed some 40-plus extreme winter sports documentaries over the course of his long career (Miller passed away in 2018), filmmaker Warren Miller finally gets the cameras turned on him for this biographical documentary. It even includes Miller’s final interview, conducted at the ripe old age of 93.
“High-Rise Invasion” (Netflix streaming) Based on the popular manga by Tsuina Miura and Takahiro Oba, this brutally bizarre anime is described as an “unhinged and gory death-game” about a high school student lost in an “abnormal space” in which towering skyscrapers stretch from horizon to horizon and mysterious “masked figures” slaughter confused victims as they flee from building to building atop vertiginous suspension bridges.
“Punky Brewster” (Peacock streaming) After nearly 34 years, Soliel Moon Frye returns to her plucky orphan character from the intolerably cute mid-’80s sitcom of the same name. This time around she’s a single mom trying to raise her own daughters. (Spoiler alert: She’s also fostering a plucky young orphan girl—presumably with a rainbow-inspired fashion sense.)
“She’s the Boss” (USA 8:31pm) This reality show bills itself as an “unscripted sitcom” about a jet-setting entrepreneur named Nicole Walters and her “nerdy” husband, who take in three orphaned sisters. … Good news, kids: You’ve got new foster parents! The bad news? You better pull in good ratings for mom and dad, or you’re back on the street!
Friday 26
The United States vs. Billie Holliday (Hulu streaming) Lee Daniels (Precious) directs this biographical drama about singer Billy Holiday and the years in which she was targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics in an undercover sting operation. Singer Andra Day stars.
Tom & Jerry (HBO Max streaming) After getting shoehorned into a series of extraordinarily weird team-up cartoons (Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Warner Bros.’ animated cat and mouse duo get upgraded to live-action movie status. T&J are still animated, but they’re surrounded here by real people, including Chloë Grace Moretz (who deserves an easy paycheck as much as anyone, I suppose). Still the same old slapstick violence, though.
“Black Renaissance” (YouTube streaming) YouTube Originals offers up this Black History Month Special showcasing Black creators, artists, writers, storytellers and history makers who have shaped our nation’s history. Among the guests: Barack and Michelle Obama, Jason Reynolds, Killer Mike, Desus Nice & The Kid Mero, Jemele Hill, artist Shantell Martin and Nigerian-American rapper Tobe Nwigwe.
Saturday 27
“Bigfoot: I Saw It!” (Reelz 6pm) Hunters Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin set out to search for the fabled hairy beast. Unlike the hundreds of other basic cable docu-reality shows that have gone looking for cyptozoological beasts, this one will definitely produce the real thing. Or not.
Sunday 28
“The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards” (KOB-4 6pm) Despite the whole pandemic thing (and the fact that movie theaters have been shut down for 12 months or so), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association kicks off Award Season. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host. Just like they did last year. Before everything went to hell.
Monday 1
“Easter Basket Challenge” (Food Network 8pm) As far as holiday-based cooking challenges go, filling Easter baskets with treats is kinda … eh. But we’re still in a “we’ll take what we can get” entertainment environment.
“Debris” (KOB-4 9:01pm) When mysterious metallic debris starts falling from the sky and imbuing people and places with weird science-fictional powers, two government agents (Riann Steele, Jonathan Tucker) travel the Western Hemisphere doing the “X-Files” thing.
Tuesday 2
“Soul of a Nation” (KOAT-7 9pm) ABC News correspondents and anchors Adrienne Bankert, Linsey Davis, T.J. Holmes, Sunny Hostin, Janai Norman, Steve Osunsami, Byron Pitts and Deborah Roberts examine the “authentic realities of Black life by exploring specific themes, including spirituality, Black joy, activism in sports and the racial reckoning that erupted after George Floyd’s death.”
Wednesday 3
“Murder Among the Mormons” (Netflix streaming) Netflix turns its true crime eyeballs toward our Utah neighbors to document a mysterious trio of bombings that rocked Salt Lake City in 1985. This BBC series is produced by docu-king Joe Berlinger (Brothers Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) and directed by Napoleon Dynamite helmer Jared Hess (who was raised in the Mormon faith).
“The Con” (KOAT-7 9pm) Whoopi Goldberg narrates the spring premier of this documentary news series taking a look at people whose claims and promises have proved “too good to be true.” Tonight’s topic: the infamous Fyre Festival.