This week is the midway mark of 2020. Arduous to consider, as this yr has felt concurrently like one very lengthy day and three years in a single. The whole lot is loopy, however at the very least there’s nonetheless TV to look at (for now). So hearth up your set and get to watchin’ this week’s picks.
Our suggestions this week embody the annual BET Awards, which took a unique form due to the pandemic, the premiere of an HBO docuseries in regards to the late crime author Michelle McNamara and her journey to deliver the Golden State Killer to justice, and a pair of reveals — Netflix’s Warrior Nun and Amazon Prime’s Hanna — about teen ladies who kick main ass. Oh, and the long-awaited film model of the Broadway sensation Hamilton.
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2020 BET Awards
Sunday at 8/7c on BET and CBS
BET’s award present celebrating Black excellence in leisure turns 20 this yr, and the community is celebrating the milestone with a digital award present hosted by Insecure‘s Amanda Seales. Performers embody Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Lil Wayne, Megan Thee Stallion, Nas, and Public Enemy. Drake leads all nominees with six nominations, with rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Roddy Ricch following intently behind with 5 nominations every. It guarantees to be an important present that is knowledgeable by the Black Lives Matter motion, and it will likely be very fascinating to see how an awards present occurs by way of teleconference. The present can also be airing on a broadcast community for the primary time, now that CBS and BET are company siblings beneath the ViacomCBS banner.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
Restricted collection premiere accessible to stream on HBO
This six-part collection is predicated on the bestselling e book of the identical identify and explores author Michelle McNamara‘s investigation into the identification of the serial predator she referred to as the Golden State Killer, which led to the arrest of a suspect in 2018. Sadly, McNamara was not round to see the payoff of her work, as she died in 2016. This docuseries, directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus and executive-produced by McNamara’s widower Patton Oswalt, is a tribute to McNamara’s life and work in addition to a harrowing true-crime documentary.
Welcome to Chechnya
Tuesday at 10/9c on HBO
This highly effective documentary from director David France chronicles the state of affairs within the Russian republic of Chechnya, the place a brutal state-sanctioned marketing campaign of extrajudicial disappearances, torture, and homicide of homosexual women and men has been occurring since 2017. It embeds with LGBTQ activists working to help victims and assist get them out of Chechnya, and consists of heartbreaking tales of people who find themselves leaving their dwelling nation to flee persecution. The documentary makes use of a novel, refined approach to guard the identities of escapees, whose faces and voices are digitally altered in a refined however efficient manner that enables the viewer to type an emotional connection to them whereas retaining their precise faces hid. It is a tough watch, however an vital one, particularly throughout Pleasure Month, because it reveals the merciless stakes that LGBTQ individuals nonetheless face and their bravery within the face of them.
Unsolved Mysteries
Wednesday on Netflix
Unsolved Mysteries, the…I do not know if venerable is the suitable phrase, nevertheless it’s definitely an establishment within the chilly case/paranormal occasion investigation/reenactment style, is again as a Netflix reboot. Within the decade the present’s been away, the principles of true crime TV have modified, and the brand new model has greater manufacturing worth and a higher concentrate on character as bizarre individuals strive to determine what this extraordinary occasion that occurred to them or their beloved one was. The reboot comes from the creators of the unique docuseries, Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, and 21 Laps Leisure, the producers of Stranger Things.
Warrior Nun
Thursday on Netflix
Netflix’s newest supernatural teen motion collection has a humorousness and a quasi-religious taste. It is about an bizarre orphan woman named Ava (Alba Baptista) who, after waking up in a morgue, discovers that she now possesses superpowers because the chosen Halo-Bearer for a secret sect of demon-hunting nuns referred to as The Order of the Cruciform Sword. Yeah child. It is primarily based on a cult favourite ’90s comedian e book referred to as Warrior Nun Areala and simply may be our new favourite present.
Hamilton
Friday on Disney+
In case you by no means received tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, and the remainder of the unique solid — and likelihood is you did not, as a result of tickets value about as a lot as a yr of tuition at a state college — that is the following smartest thing. This movie model of the epochal musical in regards to the lifetime of founding father Alexander Hamilton was constructed from reside performances taped in June 2016, and was presupposed to be launched in theaters, however that did not occur. As an alternative it is going straight to Disney+, which is able to value you only a few {dollars} a month. You could know the songs from listening to the soundtrack, however now you possibly can have the visible accompaniment, minus two f-words which are being edited out to maintain the musical from getting a R score.
Hanna
Season 2 premieres Friday on Amazon Prime Video
The primary season of Hanna wasn’t in any respect unhealthy, nevertheless it was too acquainted as a retread of the superior artsy motion movie of the identical identify (which is now streaming on HBO/HBO Max). In Season 2 of the collection, Hanna finds itself with out the boundaries of the unique story and grows up as its personal factor, following younger Hanna as she infiltrates the key authorities group that educated her to be a supersoldier to be able to rescue her good friend from its brainwashing. Esme Creed-Miles is superior as Hanna, and Mireille Enos has carried Hanna’s frenemy Marissa Wiegler to new heights as that character adjustments so much from the movie. In case you’re into younger ladies snapping the femurs of armed males twice their measurement, Hanna‘s the place it is at. –Tim Surette
Ju-On: Origins
Friday on Netflix
Japan’s hottest exports are both very cute (kawaii!) or completely horrifying (tentacles!). Put Ju-On within the latter class. The franchise has delivered 13 horror movies (identified stateside as The Grudge) and expands with the Japanese Netflix collection Ju-On: Origins. There’s nothing difficult about Ju-On‘s traditional ghost story lore; it is a haunted home story the place the cursed ghosts of useless individuals terrorize the residing, and the collection is a prequel that facilities the motion on a mom and her unborn little one. However Ju-On nails suspenseful environment and horror tropes that may make you pee your pants somewhat. –Tim Surette
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