Remember, Remember, the [TV] of November!
Your November Streaming Guide
Happy Election Week to you all. I voted early last week, and the ensuing days have felt like when you get to the dentist too early and have to sit there in the waiting room, overthinking what a root canal might feel like.
Anyways, let’s all thank a poll worker and exercise our hard-earned right to vote!
Three things I’ve lined up this week to help lighten the outlook and remind me that no matter what, we all can do our part to make our democracy better, protect people who need it, and have hope for the future:
Alexandra Petri’s Washington Post column, “It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to endorse Harris for president.” I LOL’ed, and I punched the air! Petri is one of my favorite writers, always the perfect mix of hilarious and right on target.
Saturday Night Live’s new Election Edition of “What’s That Name?” with John Mullaney. [The original is great, too.]
A West Wing rewatch for some extremely rose-colored-glasses-bootstrappy-we-can-do-it-1990s optimism politics.
The Diplomat! Haven’t started Season 2 yet, but looking forward to this stylish, silly, high-stakes but somehow lowest-stakes geopolitical rom-com thriller.
This week, we’re doing our November Watch Guide! Running down the new TV shows and movies that: 1) Hit streaming in November, and 2) I’m at least a little bit interested in.
Let me know in the comments if I missed anything you’re looking forward to! Make the case!
The Day of the Jackal (Nov. 7, Peacock, TV Series)
Why watch? Humor me while I reminisce: My biggest college crush was on a [probably gay] musical theater guy two years older than me who was a dead ringer for Eddie Redmayne. That Adam’s apple!? Hypnotic! That Adam’s apple deserves to be preserved in marble. Anyways, I’m Eddie Redmayne Hive forever, so Eddie Redmayne in his James Bond era has my attention.
Why not? Counterpoint: How did Eddie Redmayne, noted artsy boy, end up here? Did he get franchise-pilled after doing that Harry Potter series? I mean, he really said, “LESS ART HOUSE, MORE BEACH HOUSE!!”
Verdict: The Brits are oddly good at this kind of thing: You know, the classic crime/spy/hijack/conspiracy/police procedural/etc.1 Lashana Lynch is the other star, and she is a revelation!! She’s so good in The Woman King and is in so many other big franchises. I must try this.
St. Denis Medical (Nov. 12, NBC, TV Series)
Why NOT watch? I don’t know how to say this without sounding like the most annoying person you ever met who lives in Portland, but I don’t usually like network sitcoms these days.
Why watch? Allison Tolman!? I will try anything for her. This was created by the team that made “Superstore,” which my prestige-pilled brain just couldn’t get into, but it was pretty light and fun, and people loved it.
Verdict: I’m guessing this will be less kooky/more basic than Scrubs, yet hopefully right in the vein of English Teacher and Abbot Elementary.
Emilia Pérez (Nov. 13, Netflix, Film)
Why watch? It’s kind of hard to know what this movie is, but that’s part of the appeal. It’s an operatic musical (!?) about a cartel leader who hires a lawyer to fake their death and undergo a sex transition. Wild!
Honestly, sounds exactly like what the failed Joker: Folie à Deux was TRYING to be: A musical that is also a crime thriller that is also a social commentary that is also about passion! It’s also got Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez.
Why not? Zoe Saldaña has not been picking good projects lately and your mileage may vary with Selena Gomez.
Verdict: This film is getting mixed reviews but generally the verdict seems to be that it’s a piece of art that swings for the fences and is worth the price of admission if you like musicals or opera.
Bad Sisters (Nov. 13, Apple TV+, TV Series)
Why watch? The first season was probably my favorite new show of last year. I watched all ten episodes TWICE I loved it so much. One of my last conversations with my Grandad was about what a wacky delightful time that show is.
Giving me pause: One of the reasons Season 1 was so good is how complete it was. They really landed the plane with the finale and tied it all up with a bow. So I’m curious what the second season will be about.
Verdict: I am equally excited and nervous for Season 2. But whether it’s good or bad doesn’t matter, I am fully onboard. Bad Sisters: 🫡.
P.S. If you’re a fan of the genius of Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe is another sharp, smart grownup comedy I highly recommend.
Say Nothing (Nov. 14, FX, TV Series)
Why watch? FX has been getting all the awards these days [The Bear, Shogun, etc.], and the Irish are outkicking their coverage in terms of talent per capita so this show has my full attention. It’s about The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Verdict: If it’s not good, I’ll just rewatch Derry Girls Season 1, the greatest piece of art ever to come out of Ireland. Eat your heart out, James Joyce.
Silo Season 2 (Nov. 15, Apple TV+, TV Series)
Why watch? Silo is a show you don’t expect to be as good as it is. The acting and world-building overachieve. Rebecca Ferguson is fantastic and the dystopian-future story hits the notes you want from the genre while still feeling like something you’ve never seen before.
Why not? Uhhh, if you hate sci-fi/dystopian stories that look like they were filmed with a brown filter, you’re not gonna like this. [But you’re missing out!]
Verdict: Last year I reviewed this as the best TV show no one was talking about. Now, people ARE talking about Season 2, and I’m so excited for it.
P.S. DO NOT WATCH the trailer above if you haven’t seen Season 1.
Dune: Prophecy (Nov. 17, MAX, TV Series)
Why watch? Get your Bene Gesserit veils out; it’s time for HBO’s new entry in their “appointment television” Sunday night spot! The Dune Cinematic Universe expands November 17 with Dune: Prophecy, set 10,000 years before Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya have their little desert meet-cute.
Why not? If the only reason you watched Dune was for that Chalamet/Zendaya action, and you otherwise hate sci-fi, I guess this might not be for you.
Verdict: A strong British cast helms this show whose premise appears to be a scaled-up take on the My Big Fat Greek Wedding aphorism, “The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.” Or, to paraphrase Beyoncé: “Who run the world? Girls Priestesses.”
Landman (Nov. 17, Paramount+, TV Series)
Why watch? This is the latest project from Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame. It’s based on the podcast documentary Boomtown about the oil boom in West Texas. The podcast was really good, so I’m curious to give this a try.
Why not? I was never a big Yellowstone fan. I felt like the writing was a little too … obvious? In your face? 5th Grade Reading Level with an Adult Content Warning? I don’t know.
Verdict: The cast includes actors I’m more inclined to watch than Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner: Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm! Perhaps, like Lana Del Rey and Bella Hadid, I’m reentering my country era.
Interior Chinatown (Nov. 19, Hulu, TV Series)
Why watch? If this isn’t really fun, I’m going to be so disappointed. All the pieces are here: Based on a best-selling novel about a regular dude who gets caught up in underground crime with a cast that includes standup comedian Jimmy O. Yang, Comedy Central’s Ronny Chieng, and Chloé Wang from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and is produced by Taika Waititi.
Why not? I love Taika’s artistic imagination, but his latest work hasn’t been that inspired. [Did love do this to him??]
Verdict: Will watch and get back to you.
Leonardo da Vinci (Nov. 18, PBS, Docuseries)
Why watch? Da Vinci gets the Ken Burns treatment!
Why not? I’ve never finished an entire Ken Burns documentary and it feels so good to finally admit it.
Verdict: I mean, one of the greatest documentarians taking on one of the greatest artists? What’s not to love? I guess I wouldn’t know since I’ve never watched a whole one.
Cruel Intentions (Prime Video, Nov. 21, TV Series)
Why watch? This one’s for my Gossip Girl girlies! In my household, that role goes to Ben, who loves nothing more than a high-school/college soap opera as a true child of the early 2000s. [I was the same age as him in the early 2000s, but I was a child of the mid-1800s.] This is loosely inspired by the iconic movie Cruel Intentions, which is essentially about teens weilding sex as a weapon.
Why not? I mean, if you don’t want to fill your head with trash….I GUESS.
Verdict: The older I get, the more I embrace my shallow side and enjoy shows like this as long as they’re at least within the realm of plausible. As someone who is currently guilt-watching Tell Me Lies, another college-sex show, I might give this a try.
Blitz (Nov. 22, Apple TV+, Movie)
Why watch? Saoirse Ronan [actor: Little Women, Brooklyn, Lady Bird] and Steve McQueen [director: 12 Years a Slave, Shame] are enough to make this a must-see. It’s a WWII story about a woman trying to evacuate her biracial son for his safety and the onslaught of life under the blitz.
Why not? Don’t let my friend Laura hear me say this but I’m kind of washed on WWII stuff.
Verdict: Much easier to commit to than a full series, and reviews so far are very good.
The Madness (Nov. 28, Netflix, TV Series)
Why watch? You had me at Colman Domgino! The world’s preeminent gentleman! If you haven’t watched Sing Sing, what are you even doing with your life!? The Madness is billed as a conspiracy thriller about a media pundit who stumbles across a murder in the Poconos and then has to fight to prove his innocence.
Verdict: I can’t tell if this will be one of Netflix’s rare high-caliber auteur projects or if Colman is just looking for his beach house payday with this one. I support him either way!
That’s all for this week, thanks so much for reading! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts — What are you streaming this November? What are you skipping? Drop a heart or a comment for encouragement and fun!
All individual links OF COURSE.