Part of the fun of looking ahead to a month of television is deciding what’s worth giving a first episode. Sometimes a premise is enough to make up your mind. Other times, it’s the actor you’d watch in almost anything, or a casting choice that makes you curious about a story you thought you knew.
TV SHOWS
We had a bit of each in mind when putting together DSCENE’s November list. Here are the five new TV series we’re most eager to watch and what made us want to give each one a chance.
The Greatest
Biographical sports drama · November 4 on Prime Video
Jaalen Best (All American: Homecoming) plays Muhammad Ali in the first authorized scripted series about his life. Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, serves as an executive producer, and the production had access to his estate. Michael Ealy (Barbershop) plays Malcolm X, and Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar) plays Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee. Creator Ben Watkins (Cross) directs alongside Stacey Muhammad, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., Craig Siebels, and A.V. Rockwell.
Ali was a brilliant boxer and a sharp observer of American life who used his fame to draw attention to racism. The eight-episode series gives Best room to show that intelligence in the ring and in public, as well as to explore Ali’s relationships with the people closest to him. We know Ali from the fights and interviews. We’re curious to see what Best brings to the parts of his life we rarely saw.
The Good Daughter
Psychological crime thriller · November 12 on Peacock
Rose Byrne (Physical) and Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) play Samantha and Charlotte Quinn, estranged sisters who took different paths into law. Sam practices patent law in New York, while Charlie works as a defense attorney in their Georgia hometown. When Charlie witnesses a shooting at her former high school, Sam comes home to help. The case brings them back to the night a home invasion killed their mother. Karin Slaughter adapts her own novel, and Steph Green (Watchmen) directs all six episodes.
We liked how Under the Bridge used a criminal investigation to get closer to the people caught up in it, and we’re hoping The Good Daughter does something similar. The case brings the sisters back into the same room. With Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy playing them, we’re just as curious about what they’ll finally say to each other as we are about where the investigation leads.
12 12 12
Heist thriller · November 13 on Apple TV
Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) plays a disgraced FBI agent pursuing an American career criminal played by Jamie Dornan (The Fall). The chase leads to a bank vault beneath Zurich. Every episode cuts between the 12 months of planning, the 12 hours of the robbery, and the 12 days that follow. Kari Skogland, who also directed Mackie in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, directs the pilot and several other episodes. Apple TV starts with two episodes and releases the rest weekly.
A good heist lets the audience in on enough of the plan to recognize the moment it goes wrong. This setup can play with when we realize it. A decision can look perfectly sensible in a planning scene until a glimpse of the aftermath shows what it cost. That’s the part we’re looking forward to piecing together.
Dig
Mystery comedy · November 23 on Peacock
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) plays Elise, an archaeologist set to take over a summer excavation in Greece from her longtime boss, Neville, played by Hugh Laurie (House). When Elise and her former best friend make a major find, they try to keep it secret and end up drawing two other women into a mystery that could cost them their careers. Poehler co-created the series with her Parks and Recreation collaborator Mike Schur, adapting Kate Myers’ novel Excavations.
Poehler and Laurie in the same comedy already had us. Poehler can make a bad idea sound like the only sensible plan, and Laurie can cut through an entire conversation with one look. Put them on a dig where everyone has something to lose, and we’re in.
Blade Runner 2099
Science-fiction thriller · November 25 on Prime Video
Fifty years after Blade Runner 2049, Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) plays Cora, a fugitive who assumes the identity of a Blade Runner. She teams up with Olwen, a replicant played by Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) who has only days to live. Their hunt for a runaway leads them toward a secret that could threaten Los Angeles. Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) created the eight-episode series, and Jonathan van Tulleken (Shōgun) directs the first two episodes.
Cora is trying to buy herself a future. Olwen knows how little of hers she has left. Giving them the same job makes for an intriguing partnership, especially with Schafer and Yeoh playing them. We want to see how long each can afford to trust the other.
