The Best New TV Shows to Stream on Max This Week
Back in 1983, HBO released its first original series , Fraggle Rock . While you can’t currently stream this puppet fantasy series, you can see if this week’s collection of new (and new) original series is a worthy successor.
Choose from a new season of Clone High , two seasons of Julia , Woody Harrelson in the real-life political comedy White House Plumbers, and more.
Clone High Season 2
Clone High aired for one season on MTV in 2003. It was canceled after international outrage over its portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi and was quickly forgotten except for a few die-hard fans. But the creators of Clone High apparently spent the next 20 years working on being edgy without being crap, because the new Clone High , which has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has yet to spark any protests or hunger strikes. The show tells the story of a high school filled with clones of historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Frida Kahlo. But not Gandhi.
Julia
The recently canceled original Max series has two full seasons, detailing the fascinating life of Uber chef Julia Child. It opens with the publication of Kids Master the Art of French Cooking and goes on to tell how this eccentric, boisterous woman became the most famous celebrity chef in history. Julia has thought through every detail beautifully: superb performances, especially Sarah Lancashire as the iconoclastic protagonist, superb script, period-correct staging. I bet even the craft services on set were amazing.
Project Greenlight: new generation
Behind its slick presentation, Hollywood is a nightmare factory, a fact illustrated by the reboot of Project Greenlight . This time around, Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood take on the roles of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and the focus is on giving a female director the chance to make her first feature. The intentions may be good, but sausage production in Hollywood is the same as before: not enough money, not enough time, and the studio doesn’t care. Depressing as a career, but dramatic as an excuse for a reality show. It is only through almost superhuman dedication that director Meko Winbush manages to finish her film at all. (By the way, once you’ve watched the entire Green Light Project , you can stream Gray Matter on Max to see how she did.)
White House Plumbers
In the 1976 political thriller All the President’s Men , Deep Throat sums up the Watergate scandal with one line of dialogue: “Forget the myths the media has created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very smart guys, and the situation has gotten out of control.” Fifty years later , White House Plumbers plays out of control as a farce. Woody Harrelson plays E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA spy and leader of a not-so-smart gang of guys who are trying to get President Nixon re-elected by any means necessary. His opponent, J. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux), is an even dumber guy who doesn’t understand that his pomp, machismo, and patriotism come off as buffoonery to all but true believers.
Last week’s pick
True Detective: Nightland
Season four of True Detective takes place in a tiny Arctic village at the start of the polar night, and since this is True Detective , you won’t be surprised to learn that things get crazy when the lights go out. Jodie Foster and Kali Reis investigate the strange disappearance of the entire population of an Arctic research center and its possible connection to the grisly murder of a local woman. If the rest of the series lives up to the eerie and atmospheric atmosphere of the first two episodes, Nightland is a must-watch.
On the Road with Jason Momoa
Megastar Jason Momoa is doing good things with his fame, including hosting the reality show On the Roam. In it, Momoa travels the country, exploring the work and lives of artisans, artists and others on unconventional personal journeys, from bikers to photographers.
The Playboy Murders
During his lifetime , Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner occupied a unique cultural position. He was considered a sophisticated bon vivant, and not an ordinary peddler of dirt. But now that Hef is in the grave, we find many skeletons in the company’s closet – at least two seasons old. “The Playboy Murders” explores these bones using proven television crime documentary techniques such as interviews, archival footage and reconstructions. It’s not the deepest show, but its focus on murder among the rich and sexy never gets old.
Damn rap
Rap shit gone bad. The comedy series about women in hip-hop earned near-universal critical acclaim, but Max recently canceled it after two seasons . Thankfully, the existing episodes live on. Created by Issa Rae, who also created Insecure , Rap Sh!t tells the story of struggling Miami rappers Mia Knight (KaMillion) and Shauna Clark (Aida Osman) as they juggle their pursuit of art and fame with everyday life. survival routine. Rap Sh!t integrates Instagram posts, Snapchat, FaceTime, OnlyFans videos and other online media into its storytelling to tell stories in new ways.
Love has won: The Cult of the Virgin Mary
I watch every TV show and documentary about cults I can find, and Love Has Winned stands head and shoulders above, mainly because of its focus on a bizarre cult of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. mentioned in the title. Love Has Won was run by Amy Carlson, a former McDonalds manager who one day realized she was the Mother of God (like everyone else) and then used the Internet to find people to worship her. She also invited a number of Father Gods into her life, and that’s where things started to go south. A badly decomposing corpse in the living room. The cult carefully documented its activities, leaving behind a treasure trove of disturbing insider footage highlighting their descent into madness.
Like with John Wilson
New York filmmaker John Wilson begins each “How To” episode with a simple premise—like “How to Clean Your Ears” or “How to Birdwatch”—and delivers the answer in a whimsical, unexpected, and delightful way. Wilson has to roll the camera every moment of his life to capture street shots in How To, a show filled with tiny urban moments, most of which are too busy to notice. Wilson also interviews “experts” on his subjects, but never the ones you’d expect. For example, in “How to Find a (Parking) Space,” Wilson talks to a man who was struck by lightning twice about whether his “luck” is helping him find parking spots, and to a man who builds coffins in the shape of cars. . Three short seasons of How to Be are available for streaming, but unfortunately there are no plans for a continuation.