Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, our TV critic Margaret Lyons offers hyper-specific viewing recommendations in our Watching newsletter. Read her latest picks below, and sign up for the Watching newsletter here.
This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I carry hope in my heart
‘Muppets Now’
When to watch: Starting Friday, on Disney+
I want to believe that our society is capable of birthing another great Muppet TV show, that our good will toward the characters and their worldview will again lead us to a satisfying, joyous payoff of humor and imagination, that the simplicity of puppetry will again nudge us to fill in the blanks with our own emotional reasoning, thus creating a surprisingly personal bond of empathy. “Muppets Now” is not quite there, though it’s closer than a Muppet property has been in a long time. This new iteration replaces the variety format of “The Muppet Show” with web-series formats — a good and timely swap! — but it doesn’t always capitalize on what actually makes those web shows entertaining.
… an hour, and I need something fun
‘Taskmaster’
When to watch: Sunday at 8 p.m., on the CW.
Existing somewhere between a game show, a panel show and contest show, this British series pits five comedians against one another in a series of strange and silly tasks, for example painting a horse while riding a horse, or collecting the highest weight of doughnuts in a bucket while keeping your hands on your hips. Think a combo of “Double Dare” and crossword-puzzle logic. The first six seasons of “Taskmaster” are available on the show’s YouTube channel, and starting this weekend the CW will be airing Season 8 — but there’s really no good or bad place to start. Every episode is funny and surprising. This is the show I have recommended most often and most insistently to my friends and family during quar.
… a few hours, and have you ever noticed that people are interesting?
‘First Person’
When to watch: Now, on YouTube.
The director Errol Morris recently posted his 2000-2001 documentary series, “First Person,” on his YouTube channel, and the episodes are fascinating — often but not uniformly morbid, and also spirited and alive in ways interviews rarely are. The show, which aired on Bravo, is mostly monologues; Morris’s subjects include a retired C.I.A. agent, a woman who dated multiple serial killers, a man connected to a particularly notorious mass shooting, a researcher obsessed with giant squid. The aesthetic here is definitely of its era, but Morris’s ability to capture the human poles of passion and casualness is as exciting as ever.
"time" - Google News
July 31, 2020 at 05:00AM
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How Much Watching Time Do You Have This Weekend? - The New York Times
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