#SetTheVCR: Canadian Broadcast Premieres

My Summer Lair

#SetTheVCR: Canadian Broadcast Premieres - March 2024

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#SetTheVCR: Canadian Broadcast Premieres - March 2024

Plus #PantsWorthy: My Summer Lair at Toronto Comicon!

Sammy Younan

Mar 07, 2024

March 2024 ushers in lots of fresh TV to Canada from America.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s I’d visit family in Egypt and after a large meal, I’d food-coma crash in front of the television.

If I was lucky I’d score some American (English) television shows: M*A*S*H or Hart to Hart. It was always strange how they were two or even three seasons behind us.

Thank the Good Dude for globalization and streaming…everybody is in temporal alignment. Well, mostly.

Here in Canada we’re not two or three seasons behind Americans (or even Brits) but we do fall behind. March aims to rectify that.

Like…Priscilla has been streaming on HBO Max since February 23rd. It came to Canada on March 2nd. (Priscilla Presley is so good in the Naked Gun movies!)

Heh…Nice Beaver. #Gold

(Get behind me, Satan! news: No. We ain’t talking about or even properly acknowledging the impending Naked Gun Reboot. The cultural doomsday clock is inching towards midnight and total doom with the expected Timothée Chalamet Back to the Future remake/reboot. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time as this point. Like, Michael Keaton is gonna be Doc Brown. We’re so doomed.)

Dream Scenario starring Nicolas Cage is another one of "those movies:" March 15 on HBO Max (for Americans); March 22 on Paramount+ Canada (for Canadians). That one is not so bad. (Actually, it’s already for free on Hoopla if you have a Toronto Library card.)

(Praise Baby Jesus! news: Speaking of the Toronto Library: “140 years young. 100 branches strong. Toronto Public Library opened on this day in 1884…” Yes March 6, 1884…it’s incredible to have The Library back post-cyberattack. That hyperlink is a TPL blog post sharing their origin story. When you read it, it’s notable “public” libraries followed the same-ish evolution as hospitals. It took us (society) a long time to understand libraries and hospitals are for and should be for everyone. Both those noble intuitions have never fully resolved the private vs public tensions.)

And, yo. I’m not writing outta overlooked privilege or anger or anything selfishly negative like that. I’m too old for FOMO.

Personally, I don’t care when Priscilla streams. I recognize that a lot of (Canadian) viewers care. Sweet, enjoy it. Make microwave popcorn. Elvis is cool.

Beyond that though my primary concern is the Canadian cultural eco-system. Canada is filled with bloggers and podcasters and movie reviewers and more…their cultural contributions depend on these releases. (I write a weekly #SetTheVCR post as a modern TV Guide in part because it’s all so messy.)

And, it goes both ways…we’re getting Anatomy of a Fall on Prime Video-Canada on March 8th. Americans get it on March 22nd on Hulu. Ina yo’face!

Temporal sync also benefits the filmmakers. I’m so curious about Anatomy of a Fall. It’s a foreign movie, those are hard to read and decide if they are worth pants. I bet you big money this’ll hit hard when it shows up on streamers. Streamers can create hits in a slow burn sorta way going to the movies no longer can.

Well now: what can Canadians (and Americans) expect on TV this March?

Shall, we #SetTheVCR, eh?

Friday, March 15
Beacon 23: Season 1 (Anytime / Prime Video-Canada)
Originally Streamed: November 12, 2023 - December 17, 2023 on MGM+
~~
Beacon 23 takes place in the farthest reaches of the Milky Way and follows Aster, a government agent, and Halan, a stoic ex-military man, whose fates become entangled after they find themselves trapped together inside one of many Beacons that serve as a lighthouse for intergalactic travelers.

And now a science-fiction mystery thriller. That’s my jam. Plus an Artificial Intelligence humanoid? Oh Yes. Indeed every Beacon is run by one highly trained human and a specialized Artificial Intelligence. Aster is a government agent while Halan is ex-military and the lonely Beacon-keeper. Got it.

But how exactly did Aster end up here? Halan is starting to doubt her and question her agenda…paranoia in space is so deadly. Is Aster is friend or foe? I didn’t read the Hugh Howey novel this is all adapted from; have you?

So, I dunno what to expect except shifting alliances and lots of tension because space comes with so much pressure. Hopefully this is the latest contribution to the flourishing in space no one can hear you scream genre.

Programming Note: Beacon 23: Season 2 will premiere on April 7th on MGM+.

Sunday, March 17
In The Know: Season 1 (12 a.m. / Adult Swim-Canada)
Originally Streamed: Binge Release - January 25, 2024 on Peacock
~~
Just so you know: Lauren Caspian (Zach Woods) is NPR’s third most popular host. He’s a well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod. He’s also a stop-motion puppet.

This is an interesting concept from co-creator Mike Judge. In the Know blends intricate stop-motion animation by ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) with live-action interviews. Each 30 minute episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s NPR show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real-world human guests. The NPR staff are stop-motion animated while the guests are…yeah humans.

So…Beavis and Butt-Head meets Office Space?

Human guest interviewees include Ken Burns, Finn Wolfhard, Norah Jones, Tegan and Sara, Nicole Byer, Roxane Gay, Mike Tyson and Hugh Laurie. If you don’t know…now you know!

Programming Note: Six 30-minute episodes, originally a binge release on Peacock…here in Canada it’ll be a weekly release. Boo!

Sunday, March 17 & Sunday, March 24
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (9 p.m. / MGM+ & Crave)
Originally Streamed: On the same day! Woot, Woot!
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In Restless Dreams follows Paul Simon inside the studio making his new album Seven Psalms while looking back on his six-decade career with countless musical peaks from Sounds of Silence to Graceland.

Excellent: we can all go to Graceland, together. Crave has picked up this two-part Paul Simon docuseries airing simultaneously on MGM+. Dreams is directed by Alex Gibney whose previous musical docs were Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, Sinatra: All or Nothing at All, Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge (the magazine not the band.). I highly recommend all 3.

(He’s best known for his 2015 documentary: Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief. Oh yeah, remember that one?)

The doc’s official description promises that it is Simon’s “definitive musical biography.” More? “Granted unprecedented access to the making of a new album [last year’s Seven Psalms], the filmmakers also show never-before-seen footage of Simon’s extraordinary career, from Simon & Garfunkel to the phenomenal global success of Simon’s solo album Graceland.” Graceland is an incredible and sublime album. If you don’t care about this documentary, all good. Do check out Graceland. Enjoy that.

Programming Note: In Restless Dreams premieres on March 17 and 24 on MGM+ on Crave both nights at 9 p.m.

Annoying the trailer is fully blocked in Canada. Another example of the frustrating crap I’m talking about…

Thursday, March 21
Apples Never Fall: Limited Series (9 p.m. / W Network)
Originally Streamed: Binge Release - March 14, 2024 on Peacock
~~
The Delaney family seems happy but Joy disappears, forcing her husband and four adult children to reassess their family history.

This is an annoying Canadian Broadcast Premiere. On Peacock Apples Never Fall is a Binge Release: all 7 episodes drop on March 14th. Here in Canada, we’re getting it weekly…so you gotta watch it for 7 weeks.

Therefore, if you hate spoilers ya gotta stay off the internet for about 8 or 9 weeks.

This is based on Liane Moriarty’s novel with the same name and you know most of the cast: Annette Bening, Sam Neill and Alison Brie. It’s your classic nothing and nobody is what it seems deal, you know?

“When Joy (Annette Bening) suddenly disappears, her children are forced to re-examine their parents’ so-called perfect marriage as their family’s darkest secrets begin to surface.” It’s a limited series so it’s kind to have a self-contained story.

Wednesday, March 27
Kings from Queens: The Run DMC Story (9 p.m. / The History Channel (Canada))
Originally Streamed: Binge Release - February 1, 2024 on Peacock
~~
The never-been-told story of RUN DMC, a group that met on the streets of Queens and went on to legitimize a criticized genre of music: hip-hop. RUN DMC have earned a Last Dance.

When this aired on Peacock it was an impressive pop culture two-fer. Airing on February 1st it effectively kicked off Black History Month and extended #HipHop50 celebrations. Now, near the end of March in Canada it lacks that same cultural punch.

(That’s a bit mean…on March 27th Netflix will stream: Testament: The Story of Moses. Yup: Moses got a three-party Last Dance. Hah: that’s outstanding. That’s a decent companion piece considering RUN DMC were Rap Moses…they took us to the promised land.)

Still, RUN DMC rocks! I’m reminded of the My Summer Lair conversation I had with DMC: an MC who lost his voice and had to rediscover who he is. It’s one of my favourite MSL conversations because it’s just two dudes sitting around talking about comic books and old school hip hop. And yet there’s so much vulnerability and openness and reflection. Those traits and those stories are stamped on Kings From Queens.

This documentary is a story about comic books and about New York City and about rap when it was derided as crap and how big things start real small. You know everyone in this, too: from the Beastie Boys to Ice Cube to LL Cool J to Questlove to Ice-T to Chuck D to Tom Morello and oh so much more.

This is the story about Kings from Queens.