Thursday night marks the star of the 2023 NBA Finals, in which the 1-seed Denver Nuggets will play host to the 8-seed Miami Heat. Denver rolled through the Western Conference, while Miami had to scratch and claw its way to the top of the Eastern Conference, taking a path that went through the Play-In Tournament and nearly saw them blow a 3-0 series lead to the Boston Celtics.
But still, there are plenty of similarities between the two teams. For example: There are only two players in the NBA are from Serbia, have the first name “Nikola,” and have a last name that starts with “Jo” and ends with “ic.” Funny enough, both of them happen to be playing in this series. Ahead of Game 1 on Thursday night in Denver, we decided to rank those guys in an effort to see who is the best player of the bunch.
2. Nikola Jovic, PF, Miami Heat
The No. 27 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Jovic has taken quite the path to the NBA. Originally born in England, Jovic became one of the top prospects in all of Europe during his time with the Serbian side Mega Basket and as a member of the national team. In fact, back in 2022, Jovic was named the top prospect in the Adriatic League, an honor that previously was given to someone else who will appear on this list, but we won’t spoil who it is.
Like many rookies who end up with the Heat, Jovic spent some time this season as a member of the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League. During the regular season, all of his playing time in Miami came before the start of the new year, and he ended up flashing some promise when he got onto the floor — in 15 games (eight starts) with the team, Jovic averaged 5.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game. His best game came against the Washington Wizards on Nov. 18, when he had 18 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes of work.
1. Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets
While Jovic is level with him on number of times making the NBA Finals, Jokic has a leg up in, well, everything else. The two-time NBA MVP has taken his play to another level during the 2023 postseason, as Jokic is making as emphatic of a case for being the best player in the world as he has at any point in his career.
It’s a high bar, but the case can be made that Jokic is one of the best runs of postseason dominance on the offensive end of the floor that we have ever seen. His numbers are out of a video game: 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.9 blocks in 38.9 minutes per game while connecting on 53.8 percent of his shots from the field and 47.4 percent of his attempts from behind the three-point line. There is no really good way to stop him — and, by extension, Denver’s offense — which is why the Nuggets have lost three times in three rounds, picked up a sweep in the Western Conference Finals, and are undefeated at home in the playoffs.
As Lil Uzi Vert fans await news of the Philadelphia rapper’s new album The Pink Tape and Uzi makes surprise appearances at Paramore concerts, the genre agnostic, gender non-conforming artist recently appeared on the cover of 032c magazine with a feature that delved into what Uzi’s been up to since we last heard from them. In addition to working on The Pink Tape, they also got sober — an evolution that they credited to Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, who sent them to seven months in rehab.
“I’m lucky to have people in my life who truly care about me and my well-being,” Uzi admitted. “Specifically, Desiree Perez, who helped me get into this program. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to — and I can say now that it was a great thing to do. I spent seven months in rehab. The first month and a half were hard, but after that, it was easy, because the people there became my family. They showed me so many different outlets and ways to cope with life. We did a lot of group talks, a lot of writing on whiteboards. I was so sure that it wasn’t going to work, but surprisingly it’s pretty effective.”
Perhaps stepping into sobriety is what’s helped make Uzi so productive lately. According to producer Lyle Leduff, they have recorded over 1,500 songs for the project and now have to narrow it down to a reasonable number for an actual release.
Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
As Lil Uzi Vert fans await news of the Philadelphia rapper’s new album The Pink Tape and Uzi makes surprise appearances at Paramore concerts, the genre agnostic, gender non-conforming artist recently appeared on the cover of 032c magazine with a feature that delved into what Uzi’s been up to since we last heard from them. In addition to working on The Pink Tape, they also got sober — an evolution that they credited to Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, who sent them to seven months in rehab.
“I’m lucky to have people in my life who truly care about me and my well-being,” Uzi admitted. “Specifically, Desiree Perez, who helped me get into this program. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to — and I can say now that it was a great thing to do. I spent seven months in rehab. The first month and a half were hard, but after that, it was easy, because the people there became my family. They showed me so many different outlets and ways to cope with life. We did a lot of group talks, a lot of writing on whiteboards. I was so sure that it wasn’t going to work, but surprisingly it’s pretty effective.”
Perhaps stepping into sobriety is what’s helped make Uzi so productive lately. According to producer Lyle Leduff, they have recorded over 1,500 songs for the project and now have to narrow it down to a reasonable number for an actual release.
Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
“I’m stuck with this for the rest of my life, and I’m just so overwhelmed,” Kim said, noting that it “affects my kids.”
The conversation continues as Kim talks to her mother, Kris Jenner, in the emotional scene. “That’s the tragic part of the whole story,” Jenner responded.
“I still feel the need to not talk about it and protect it from my kids and I always will feel that way, but God, if people knew,” Kim continued. “I just would never do that to my kids. It just is really crazy.”
The reality star divorced West in 2021. Throughout last year, the rapper went on antisemitic social media rants and posted other troubling content. Despite the downward spiral, Kim told her mom how she’s trying to shield the four children from the headlines, particularly the oldest, North.
“She actually doesn’t know and that’s what’s so crazy,” Kim said. “When stuff is said, it’s a chain to my whole household. No TV, only Apple TV. I can’t risk an Access Hollywood […] or anything on the news coming up with their dad mentioned and they want to watch. I have to figure out a way to protect and so they still haven’t seen anything, but then I go into crisis mode.”
“Sometimes I feel like if he were to hit rock bottom, that’s his journey that he needs to figure out on his own,” she added. “I used to run around and call everyone behind his back, and be like, ‘It’s gonna be OK, it’s gonna be OK, don’t worry. Just give him another chance.’ I used to spend hours and hours and hours of my day to be the clean-up crew. I just don’t have that energy.”
“I’m stuck with this for the rest of my life, and I’m just so overwhelmed,” Kim said, noting that it “affects my kids.”
The conversation continues as Kim talks to her mother, Kris Jenner, in the emotional scene. “That’s the tragic part of the whole story,” Jenner responded.
“I still feel the need to not talk about it and protect it from my kids and I always will feel that way, but God, if people knew,” Kim continued. “I just would never do that to my kids. It just is really crazy.”
The reality star divorced West in 2021. Throughout last year, the rapper went on antisemitic social media rants and posted other troubling content. Despite the downward spiral, Kim told her mom how she’s trying to shield the four children from the headlines, particularly the oldest, North.
“She actually doesn’t know and that’s what’s so crazy,” Kim said. “When stuff is said, it’s a chain to my whole household. No TV, only Apple TV. I can’t risk an Access Hollywood […] or anything on the news coming up with their dad mentioned and they want to watch. I have to figure out a way to protect and so they still haven’t seen anything, but then I go into crisis mode.”
“Sometimes I feel like if he were to hit rock bottom, that’s his journey that he needs to figure out on his own,” she added. “I used to run around and call everyone behind his back, and be like, ‘It’s gonna be OK, it’s gonna be OK, don’t worry. Just give him another chance.’ I used to spend hours and hours and hours of my day to be the clean-up crew. I just don’t have that energy.”
This week, That ’70s Show and The Ranch actor (and lifelong Scientologist) Danny Masterson was convicted on two counts of rape two decades after the crimes in question. The verdict also arrived seven days after a jury began deliberations and nearly a decade after his accusers battles had begun. It’s been quite a winding saga, too. Masterson’s victims maintained that they’d been silenced by Scientology through various manners of harassment and stalking, and the actor was not formally charged with three rape counts until 2020. He had been dropped from Netflix’s The Ranchtwo years prior, and the allegations had been ricocheting around the LA county court system, stalling time and time again for several years.
This trial was actually a retrial, too, given that a former jury deadlocked on the three charges in 2022. This time around, the jury deadlocked on one count but found Masterson guilty “of raping two women in 2003,” as initially reported by Variety. He now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years to life behind bars.
What’s next for Masterson? Obviously, it’s not good for him. Entertainment Tonightreported that Masterson’s wife, fellow Scientologist Bijou Phillips, “let out a wail” upon the verdict with the judge reprimanding her (and instructing her to leave the courtroom if she could not do so). Masterson was then handcuffed in the courtroom and “immediately remanded into custody,” where he will remain without bail until sentencing, due to “posing a flight risk.”
As People further reveals, Masterson’s next court hearing will occur on August 4. Although he pleaded not guilty throughout his case (while asserting that he only had consensual sex with the accusers), no public mention has been made regarding an appeal. During this retrial as well, Masterson’s attorneys called no witnesses in his defense.
Deadline previously reported that sketchy business appears to have gone down with the L. Ron Hubbard-founded Scientology during the proceedings:
Somehow a lawyer representing the David Miscavige-led church, which is not a defendant in this criminal case, has come into possession of a large swath of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office’s discovery material in this matter. Going off like a legal landmine, the revelation might see the prosecution referring the leak of sorts to the LAPD and perhaps even the state bar.
And here’s Scientology’s official statement on the verdict via TV Line:
The prosecution’s introduction of religion into this trial was an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment and affects the due process rights of every American. The Church was not a party to this case and religion did not belong in this proceeding as Supreme Court precedent has maintained for centuries. The District Attorney unconscionably centered his prosecution on the defendant’s religion and fabrications about the Church to introduce prejudice and inflame bigotry. The DA elicited testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs and practices which were uniformly FALSE. The Court’s statement of Church doctrine was her own invention, DEAD WRONG, and blatantly unconstitutional. The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone—Scientologists or not—to law enforcement. Quite the opposite, Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. All allegations to the contrary are totally FALSE. There is not a scintilla of evidence supporting the scandalous allegations that the Church harassed the accusers. Every single instance of supposed harassment by the Church is FALSE, and has been debunked.
It’s more than worth noting that ex-second-generation Scientologist Leah Remini celebrated the verdict with “relief” in a lengthy post, including the following sentiments:
To Chrissie Bixler, whose count ended in a hung jury, I know Danny raped you; I know that Scientology tried to destroy you. However, this case would not have moved forward and resulted in two guilty verdicts if it were not for you. I am sorry you didn’t receive a guilty verdict on your charges; you deserved one. But please never forget that justice would not have been served if it were not for you.
Although Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, were not formal defendants, they played a significant role in obstructing justice in this case and other instances of sexual violence.
Remini has been instrumental in the public awareness of this ongoing case. She previously interviewed Masterson’s accusers on her Scientology and the Aftermath series, and she has vowed to never stop fighting against the church. And she sure won’t be stopping now.
This week, That ’70s Show and The Ranch actor (and lifelong Scientologist) Danny Masterson was convicted on two counts of rape two decades after the crimes in question. The verdict also arrived seven days after a jury began deliberations and nearly a decade after his accusers battles had begun. It’s been quite a winding saga, too. Masterson’s victims maintained that they’d been silenced by Scientology through various manners of harassment and stalking, and the actor was not formally charged with three rape counts until 2020. He had been dropped from Netflix’s The Ranchtwo years prior, and the allegations had been ricocheting around the LA county court system, stalling time and time again for several years.
This trial was actually a retrial, too, given that a former jury deadlocked on the three charges in 2022. This time around, the jury deadlocked on one count but found Masterson guilty “of raping two women in 2003,” as initially reported by Variety. He now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years to life behind bars.
What’s next for Masterson? Obviously, it’s not good for him. Entertainment Tonightreported that Masterson’s wife, fellow Scientologist Bijou Phillips, “let out a wail” upon the verdict with the judge reprimanding her (and instructing her to leave the courtroom if she could not do so). Masterson was then handcuffed in the courtroom and “immediately remanded into custody,” where he will remain without bail until sentencing, due to “posing a flight risk.”
As People further reveals, Masterson’s next court hearing will occur on August 4. Although he pleaded not guilty throughout his case (while asserting that he only had consensual sex with the accusers), no public mention has been made regarding an appeal. During this retrial as well, Masterson’s attorneys called no witnesses in his defense.
Deadline previously reported that sketchy business appears to have gone down with the L. Ron Hubbard-founded Scientology during the proceedings:
Somehow a lawyer representing the David Miscavige-led church, which is not a defendant in this criminal case, has come into possession of a large swath of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office’s discovery material in this matter. Going off like a legal landmine, the revelation might see the prosecution referring the leak of sorts to the LAPD and perhaps even the state bar.
And here’s Scientology’s official statement on the verdict via TV Line:
The prosecution’s introduction of religion into this trial was an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment and affects the due process rights of every American. The Church was not a party to this case and religion did not belong in this proceeding as Supreme Court precedent has maintained for centuries. The District Attorney unconscionably centered his prosecution on the defendant’s religion and fabrications about the Church to introduce prejudice and inflame bigotry. The DA elicited testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs and practices which were uniformly FALSE. The Court’s statement of Church doctrine was her own invention, DEAD WRONG, and blatantly unconstitutional. The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone—Scientologists or not—to law enforcement. Quite the opposite, Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. All allegations to the contrary are totally FALSE. There is not a scintilla of evidence supporting the scandalous allegations that the Church harassed the accusers. Every single instance of supposed harassment by the Church is FALSE, and has been debunked.
It’s more than worth noting that ex-second-generation Scientologist Leah Remini celebrated the verdict with “relief” in a lengthy post, including the following sentiments:
To Chrissie Bixler, whose count ended in a hung jury, I know Danny raped you; I know that Scientology tried to destroy you. However, this case would not have moved forward and resulted in two guilty verdicts if it were not for you. I am sorry you didn’t receive a guilty verdict on your charges; you deserved one. But please never forget that justice would not have been served if it were not for you.
Although Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, were not formal defendants, they played a significant role in obstructing justice in this case and other instances of sexual violence.
Remini has been instrumental in the public awareness of this ongoing case. She previously interviewed Masterson’s accusers on her Scientology and the Aftermath series, and she has vowed to never stop fighting against the church. And she sure won’t be stopping now.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
There’s a glut of good TV at the moment so even a modern remake of a bit of classic David Cronenberg-ian body horror needs some buzzwords to cut through the noise. Luckily, Dead Ringers has that. And we’ll list them out for you now: Rachel Weisz. Evil twins. Surrealist sci-fi. Fertility clinic. Power struggles. A shocking finale. And Rachel Weisz (again). Helmed by Alice Birch (Normal People) with a few episodes directed by horror maestro Karyn Kusama, this show takes Cronenberg’s central idea and gender-flips it, giving us twin obstetricians Beverly and Elliot Mantle whose day job sees them playing god at a cutting-edge fertility clinic. But, when their toxic relationship dynamics are threatened by both their professional success and personal entanglements, their bond reaches disturbing new depths.
We’re in a golden era of Hollywood satire, specifically when it comes to HBO’s offerings with Hacks and Barry (in and around all the murder and Chechen drug wars). Even Succession dips a toe into the mix from time to time (gotta get that franchise pump-pumpin!). But while The Other Two doesn’t have the same level of prestige or attention, nothing bites harder than this Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider created show that returns for its third season with the entire Dubek family thriving while also searching for meaning and connection.
Authorized celebrity documentaries often lack bite and feel like an extension of a PR campaign, but Still goes deeper than most, telling the story of Michael J. Fox’s life from his origins to his ’80s pop culture takeover, the courtship of his wife Tracy Pollan, his Parkinson’s diagnosis/decision to tell the word, and the aftershocks of that. It’s not just a linear unfolding of an icon’s life and the depth and care that’s used to paint a portrait of him now as he takes stock and counts his blessings while being challenged by the progressive and debilitating disease, it’s the way in which Guggenheim chooses to highlight key moments. As we see with Fox himself, there’s a lot of light and joy running through this as it weaves together re-enactments, voiceovers, archival footage, Fox interviews, and needle drops to give new life to familiar stories and creates montages so exhilarating you’ll think you’re watching the ’80s pop culture version of The Last Dance. Pair all that with Fox’s charm and candor, and Still feels special.
The Veep guys bring us the Watergate story that you never knew that you’d enjoy watching. Justin Theroux delivers a knockout performance in this David Mandel-directed adaptation of Egil Krogh and Matthew Krogh’s book, Integrity. In doing so, the team puts a satiric spin upon the experiences of Egil (played by Rich Sommer) during and after his time leading the Special Investigations Unit that was tasked with plugging information leaks. Yep, that’s where the “plumbers” comes from, and this show is fun and tragic but, fortunately, mostly fun.
What we have here is a Bridgerton prequel, a good one, that focuses on the real-life marriage of Charlotte to King George II, with the usual Bridgerton twist of Olde England being a racially integrated society. Shonda Rhimes serves as showrunner and gives it all the classic Rhimes-y snap and pizzazz, which works well with the show’s subject matter. If you like Bridgerton or history or a sexy/fizzy series about rich people who are kind of miserable, this might be your new favorite show… or at least a way to kill a rainy weekend.
Patricia Arquette finally gets wacky again as an ex-drug dealer who decides, what the heck, to be a private investigator. She is no Jessica Jones, but that’s alright because she’s much more chaotic with barely restrained energy. It’s an extremely weird show that co-stars other actors also very good at playing weird. That includes Matt Dillon and Bernadette Peters and Brad Garrett, along with Rupert Friend playing a guru. Underneath it all, the show explores the complex nature of grief, but fortunately, nothing gets too heavy.
“Heroes don’t retire,” reads the synopsis for FUBAR, the new Arnold Schwarzenegger starring action series from Netflix. Yeah, no kidding. We’re about to root for an 80-year-old Indiana Jones to conquer time, Nazis, and the box office. Remember when 2010’s The Expendables was supposed to be the last punch-throwing, throat-ripping ride for septuagenarian action stars from the ’80s? Anyway, Fubar promises a throwback thrill ride with Arnie as a freshly retired CIA badass who finds out, oops oh my, that his daughter inadvertently followed in his career path. Hijinks ensue, adding to the “Wait, you’re a spy!?” genre that just gave us Ghosted.
Primo has three big things going for it. One, it is loosely based on the life of bestselling author Shea Serrano, who is cool and funny. Two, it comes from Michael Schur, creator of Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, who is also cool and funny in addition to being good at making shows. Three, it’s, well, free, as it’s airing on Amazon’s FreeVee channel instead of on Prime. Tough to beat all of that on paper, you know?
The is a lot going on here. Let’s start at the top: American Born Chinese is a coming-of-age story based on a popular graphic novel about a teenager named Jin who attempts to navigate high school while keeping a big secret about superpowers under wraps. Spider-man vibes abound, with crushes on biology partners and angry demons and magical amulets aplenty, which is by no means a complaint. Nor is the thing where the show reunites a big chunk of the cast from Everything Everywhere All At Once. More shows should have Michelle Yeoh in them. Most of them, really. This is not an unreasonable request.
Well, guess what: We have Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Viola Davis in a movie about Nike landing Michael Jordan as a client back in the early 1980s. It’s a fun watch. Davis is a powerhouse as Jordan’s mother. Chris Tucker pops up every now and then and just steals whatever scene he’s in by giving it the full Chris Tucker. It’s one of those movies that, in another era, you’d get sucked into on basic cable at noon on a Saturday. Which works out well, because you can still just watch it on a Saturday. This Saturday, if you want. Look at that. Another problem solved.
Eric Andre is “dating Emily Ratajkowski”-level famous, so it’s nice that he still finds time to get naked and cause mayhem on The Eric Andre Show. The Adult Swim series is back for another season of absurdist comedy with guest stars Lil Nas X, Jon Hamm, Mia Khalifa, Jaleel White, Blac Chyna, and Natasha Lyonne. A fittingly chaotic group of famous people for one of TV’s most chaotic (and unpredictably hilarious) shows.
God only knows how Elle Fanning’s Catherine the Great and Nicholas Hoult’s Emperor Peter III somehow haven’t killed each other yet, but there’s still time for that to happen. Their arranged marriage has slid deeper into misery, but they must get their sh*t together to stay in power. History tells us that Catherine was Russia’s longest-reigning female empress and that she overthrew her husband, but god only knows where this show will actually go. Conventional history went out the door a long time ago.
The first season of Clone High aired 20 years ago on Canadian television and then, later, on MTV. It was a weird little show about famous historical figures — JFK, Abe Lincoln, Cleopatra — getting brought back to the present day as high school students, kind of like if you littered 90210 or some other teen melodrama with fictional depictions of real people from the part. It was fun. And good. And it got canceled after that one season. And now it’s back, with the original braintrust — Bill Lawrence, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, who have done okay for themselves in the 20 years between seasons — at the helm. Get in there for the nostalgia but also get in there for the good jokes about history.
What we have here is a television show based on a book by author Buzz Bissinger about the high school career of NBA legend LeBron James. Specifically, it’s about James and his three best friends on a journey to become the top high school basketball team in the county. Bissinger is no stranger to high school sports stories, as he wrote the book-length version of Friday Night Lights that eventually became the movie and the TV show. The pedigree here is interesting. Worth a shot on a slow weekend, if nothing else.
First comment under the trailer for the new White Men Can’t Jump is about what it can’t be, which is a direct sequel that came out 30 years ago with Woody and Wesley blowing us all away with their A+ chemistry.
From the trailer, this new version looks like a layered story about ball and living and dying by the hustle with plenty of room for jokes and for this new duo (Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow) to show off their own impressive chemistry. The question is, can people let the classic be the classic and give this one some space to be its own thing?
Surely, you’ve heard at least some of the controversy surrounding this show from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. The latter stars as a cult leader who literally and figuratively seduces Jocelyn, an it-girl pop star portrayed by Lily-Rose Depp. The critics are absolutely not into this series following the first two episodes premiering at Cannes, but no one ever expected subtlety from Sam Levinson. Let’s hope that a bit of substance will eventually emerge from within the style, but people will certainly be watching, at least to begin.
Former President Barack Obama — remember that guy? — narrates this Netflix show about work, both what it is and what it means, as well as just the nature of, like, having a job. It’s kind of cool, really, to see a politician out there celebrating regular people a little bit instead of shouting into a microphone about whatever cultural issue is currently dividing everyone. If this comes back for another season, he should do an episode about people who, to choose an example at random, make lists of shows and monies people can watch on the weekend. You know, the real heroes.
From the outside, you may think that you know where this series is going, but the show promises to be even more chaotic than you expect. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen play old friends who reunite after people grow apart (as they do), and it soon grows apparent that he shakes up her little world. Fortunately, she does appear to be happily married, and her husband approves of (and, in fact, encourages) this rekindled friendship — at least, until the horse tranquilizers come into play. It happens.
Reality gives us Euphoria breakout Sydney Sweeney in an entirely different kind of role. She plays real-life military intelligence specialist Reality Winner, the woman who leaked classified intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 United States election to the press and was questioned by the FBI and sentenced to a prison term under the Espionage Act. The movie focuses on her interrogation, with Sweeney and the agents circling each other like cobras as the… well, as the reality of Reality’s situation sinks in. It’s a heavy watch, but an important one, both to shine a light on a notable situation from real-life and to remind everyone that Sydney Sweeney has some serious acting chops.
The internet’s favorite sick and deranged sketch series is back for a third season. Expect to see your various social media feeds flooded with screencaps and GIFs in the coming weeks, most of them featuring creator and star Tim Robinson with a pained expression on his face. Maybe double back and watch the first two seasons again, too. There’s probably something in there you missed or forgot anyway. And hey, it’s never a bad weekend to yell at strangers about how they have no good car ideas. Maybe they get mad, sure. But maybe you’re right. And maybe they look at you and reply “I’m doing the best at this” and you make a friend for life.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
There’s a glut of good TV at the moment so even a modern remake of a bit of classic David Cronenberg-ian body horror needs some buzzwords to cut through the noise. Luckily, Dead Ringers has that. And we’ll list them out for you now: Rachel Weisz. Evil twins. Surrealist sci-fi. Fertility clinic. Power struggles. A shocking finale. And Rachel Weisz (again). Helmed by Alice Birch (Normal People) with a few episodes directed by horror maestro Karyn Kusama, this show takes Cronenberg’s central idea and gender-flips it, giving us twin obstetricians Beverly and Elliot Mantle whose day job sees them playing god at a cutting-edge fertility clinic. But, when their toxic relationship dynamics are threatened by both their professional success and personal entanglements, their bond reaches disturbing new depths.
We’re in a golden era of Hollywood satire, specifically when it comes to HBO’s offerings with Hacks and Barry (in and around all the murder and Chechen drug wars). Even Succession dips a toe into the mix from time to time (gotta get that franchise pump-pumpin!). But while The Other Two doesn’t have the same level of prestige or attention, nothing bites harder than this Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider created show that returns for its third season with the entire Dubek family thriving while also searching for meaning and connection.
Authorized celebrity documentaries often lack bite and feel like an extension of a PR campaign, but Still goes deeper than most, telling the story of Michael J. Fox’s life from his origins to his ’80s pop culture takeover, the courtship of his wife Tracy Pollan, his Parkinson’s diagnosis/decision to tell the word, and the aftershocks of that. It’s not just a linear unfolding of an icon’s life and the depth and care that’s used to paint a portrait of him now as he takes stock and counts his blessings while being challenged by the progressive and debilitating disease, it’s the way in which Guggenheim chooses to highlight key moments. As we see with Fox himself, there’s a lot of light and joy running through this as it weaves together re-enactments, voiceovers, archival footage, Fox interviews, and needle drops to give new life to familiar stories and creates montages so exhilarating you’ll think you’re watching the ’80s pop culture version of The Last Dance. Pair all that with Fox’s charm and candor, and Still feels special.
The Veep guys bring us the Watergate story that you never knew that you’d enjoy watching. Justin Theroux delivers a knockout performance in this David Mandel-directed adaptation of Egil Krogh and Matthew Krogh’s book, Integrity. In doing so, the team puts a satiric spin upon the experiences of Egil (played by Rich Sommer) during and after his time leading the Special Investigations Unit that was tasked with plugging information leaks. Yep, that’s where the “plumbers” comes from, and this show is fun and tragic but, fortunately, mostly fun.
What we have here is a Bridgerton prequel, a good one, that focuses on the real-life marriage of Charlotte to King George II, with the usual Bridgerton twist of Olde England being a racially integrated society. Shonda Rhimes serves as showrunner and gives it all the classic Rhimes-y snap and pizzazz, which works well with the show’s subject matter. If you like Bridgerton or history or a sexy/fizzy series about rich people who are kind of miserable, this might be your new favorite show… or at least a way to kill a rainy weekend.
Patricia Arquette finally gets wacky again as an ex-drug dealer who decides, what the heck, to be a private investigator. She is no Jessica Jones, but that’s alright because she’s much more chaotic with barely restrained energy. It’s an extremely weird show that co-stars other actors also very good at playing weird. That includes Matt Dillon and Bernadette Peters and Brad Garrett, along with Rupert Friend playing a guru. Underneath it all, the show explores the complex nature of grief, but fortunately, nothing gets too heavy.
“Heroes don’t retire,” reads the synopsis for FUBAR, the new Arnold Schwarzenegger starring action series from Netflix. Yeah, no kidding. We’re about to root for an 80-year-old Indiana Jones to conquer time, Nazis, and the box office. Remember when 2010’s The Expendables was supposed to be the last punch-throwing, throat-ripping ride for septuagenarian action stars from the ’80s? Anyway, Fubar promises a throwback thrill ride with Arnie as a freshly retired CIA badass who finds out, oops oh my, that his daughter inadvertently followed in his career path. Hijinks ensue, adding to the “Wait, you’re a spy!?” genre that just gave us Ghosted.
Primo has three big things going for it. One, it is loosely based on the life of bestselling author Shea Serrano, who is cool and funny. Two, it comes from Michael Schur, creator of Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, who is also cool and funny in addition to being good at making shows. Three, it’s, well, free, as it’s airing on Amazon’s FreeVee channel instead of on Prime. Tough to beat all of that on paper, you know?
The is a lot going on here. Let’s start at the top: American Born Chinese is a coming-of-age story based on a popular graphic novel about a teenager named Jin who attempts to navigate high school while keeping a big secret about superpowers under wraps. Spider-man vibes abound, with crushes on biology partners and angry demons and magical amulets aplenty, which is by no means a complaint. Nor is the thing where the show reunites a big chunk of the cast from Everything Everywhere All At Once. More shows should have Michelle Yeoh in them. Most of them, really. This is not an unreasonable request.
Well, guess what: We have Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Viola Davis in a movie about Nike landing Michael Jordan as a client back in the early 1980s. It’s a fun watch. Davis is a powerhouse as Jordan’s mother. Chris Tucker pops up every now and then and just steals whatever scene he’s in by giving it the full Chris Tucker. It’s one of those movies that, in another era, you’d get sucked into on basic cable at noon on a Saturday. Which works out well, because you can still just watch it on a Saturday. This Saturday, if you want. Look at that. Another problem solved.
Eric Andre is “dating Emily Ratajkowski”-level famous, so it’s nice that he still finds time to get naked and cause mayhem on The Eric Andre Show. The Adult Swim series is back for another season of absurdist comedy with guest stars Lil Nas X, Jon Hamm, Mia Khalifa, Jaleel White, Blac Chyna, and Natasha Lyonne. A fittingly chaotic group of famous people for one of TV’s most chaotic (and unpredictably hilarious) shows.
God only knows how Elle Fanning’s Catherine the Great and Nicholas Hoult’s Emperor Peter III somehow haven’t killed each other yet, but there’s still time for that to happen. Their arranged marriage has slid deeper into misery, but they must get their sh*t together to stay in power. History tells us that Catherine was Russia’s longest-reigning female empress and that she overthrew her husband, but god only knows where this show will actually go. Conventional history went out the door a long time ago.
The first season of Clone High aired 20 years ago on Canadian television and then, later, on MTV. It was a weird little show about famous historical figures — JFK, Abe Lincoln, Cleopatra — getting brought back to the present day as high school students, kind of like if you littered 90210 or some other teen melodrama with fictional depictions of real people from the part. It was fun. And good. And it got canceled after that one season. And now it’s back, with the original braintrust — Bill Lawrence, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, who have done okay for themselves in the 20 years between seasons — at the helm. Get in there for the nostalgia but also get in there for the good jokes about history.
What we have here is a television show based on a book by author Buzz Bissinger about the high school career of NBA legend LeBron James. Specifically, it’s about James and his three best friends on a journey to become the top high school basketball team in the county. Bissinger is no stranger to high school sports stories, as he wrote the book-length version of Friday Night Lights that eventually became the movie and the TV show. The pedigree here is interesting. Worth a shot on a slow weekend, if nothing else.
First comment under the trailer for the new White Men Can’t Jump is about what it can’t be, which is a direct sequel that came out 30 years ago with Woody and Wesley blowing us all away with their A+ chemistry.
From the trailer, this new version looks like a layered story about ball and living and dying by the hustle with plenty of room for jokes and for this new duo (Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow) to show off their own impressive chemistry. The question is, can people let the classic be the classic and give this one some space to be its own thing?
Surely, you’ve heard at least some of the controversy surrounding this show from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. The latter stars as a cult leader who literally and figuratively seduces Jocelyn, an it-girl pop star portrayed by Lily-Rose Depp. The critics are absolutely not into this series following the first two episodes premiering at Cannes, but no one ever expected subtlety from Sam Levinson. Let’s hope that a bit of substance will eventually emerge from within the style, but people will certainly be watching, at least to begin.
Former President Barack Obama — remember that guy? — narrates this Netflix show about work, both what it is and what it means, as well as just the nature of, like, having a job. It’s kind of cool, really, to see a politician out there celebrating regular people a little bit instead of shouting into a microphone about whatever cultural issue is currently dividing everyone. If this comes back for another season, he should do an episode about people who, to choose an example at random, make lists of shows and monies people can watch on the weekend. You know, the real heroes.
From the outside, you may think that you know where this series is going, but the show promises to be even more chaotic than you expect. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen play old friends who reunite after people grow apart (as they do), and it soon grows apparent that he shakes up her little world. Fortunately, she does appear to be happily married, and her husband approves of (and, in fact, encourages) this rekindled friendship — at least, until the horse tranquilizers come into play. It happens.
Reality gives us Euphoria breakout Sydney Sweeney in an entirely different kind of role. She plays real-life military intelligence specialist Reality Winner, the woman who leaked classified intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 United States election to the press and was questioned by the FBI and sentenced to a prison term under the Espionage Act. The movie focuses on her interrogation, with Sweeney and the agents circling each other like cobras as the… well, as the reality of Reality’s situation sinks in. It’s a heavy watch, but an important one, both to shine a light on a notable situation from real-life and to remind everyone that Sydney Sweeney has some serious acting chops.
The internet’s favorite sick and deranged sketch series is back for a third season. Expect to see your various social media feeds flooded with screencaps and GIFs in the coming weeks, most of them featuring creator and star Tim Robinson with a pained expression on his face. Maybe double back and watch the first two seasons again, too. There’s probably something in there you missed or forgot anyway. And hey, it’s never a bad weekend to yell at strangers about how they have no good car ideas. Maybe they get mad, sure. But maybe you’re right. And maybe they look at you and reply “I’m doing the best at this” and you make a friend for life.
There has long been speculation that SZA has gone under the knife for some plastic surgery, specifically a Brazilian butt lift, or BBL. She even seemed to confirm it on her album SOS, singing on the title track, “So classic, that ass so fat, it look natural, it’s not.” Later, at the start of “Conceited,” she says, “I just got my body done, ain’t got no guilt about it / I just heard your opinion, I could’ve did without it.”
She said, “I treat my butt like a purse. It’s just there to enhance whatever else. And that’s why I paid for it, because it works all by itself. […] I always wanted a really fat ass with less gym time. I didn’t succumb to industry pressure. I succumbed to my own eyes in the mirror and being like, ‘No, I need some more ass.’”
SZA also said of her general outlook, “I have a deep desire to shut everyone up, and that probably comes from high school and all that type of sh*t. My mom always told me that I’ve always been the kind of person where people either really f*ck with me or they just don’t like me at all.”
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