It’s finally here; that time of year when an extra hour of sleep (not really) sets us up for failure next spring! Americans, don’t forget to set your clocks back this Sunday and just look at all the new shows you can fill that spare time with! November television offers everything from music to murder and space to superheroes, so take your pick of the lot to sit back and enjoy your pre-holiday downtime. Seriously, though, can 2022 please be the year we forget saving daylight?
Dr. Brain
November 3, 2021 (Apple TV+)
Let’s say you lose your spouse and child in some terrible — unknown — accident and you really, really want to know what happened. Do you ask the police for help, hire a detective, OR do you try to hack into your family members’ brains? By the name of this series, I think you can guess the only logical course of action, especially since this series comes from director Kim Jee-woon (I Saw the Devil, A Tale of Two Sisters) and stars Parasite’s SAG Award-winning Lee Sun-kyun as the titular experimentalist. This six-parter is a (wait for it) no-brainer; just watch! Also starring Lee Yoo-Young, Park Hee-soon, Seo Ji-hye, and Lee Jae-won.
Dexter: New Blood
November 7, 2021 (Showtime)
Ah, the good old days when “justice” meant spreading a plastic tarp and gathering up one’s knives. If you’ve been missing that man with a plan for vengeance and thought the way things ended for our favorite serial killer was awful, terrible, ambiguous, or straight-up bullshit, Showtime has just the money-making scheme to lure you back in. In other words, he’s baaaack. Seriously, though, Michael C. Hall did manage to find his way out of Six Feet Under in a most excellent and memorable way and for him, we will watch. Place your bets now on a surprise Hannah/Harrison check-in and join me in waiting for the inevitable Harry-the-Junior-Serial-Killer spinoff.
Ragdoll
November 11, 2021(AMC+/Alibi)
Speaking of killing, Hannibal fans may find this macabre new show eases their wait for the dream that is Season 4. Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars’ Lucy Hale heads up an investigation into the apparent murder of six different people, hideously displayed by a psycho killer who wants to play games and has one of her peers (played by Harry Potter’s Henry Lloyd-Hughes) as final on his kill list. Based on Daniel Cole’s novel, this cat and mouse thriller is co-produced by British streamer, Alibi, and will run concurrently in the UK.
Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye
November 12, 2021 (Disney+)
Following Avengers: Endgame events, Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton faces his past as Ronin while training his protege Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who’ll **SPOILER** eventually take the Hawkeye mantle. While I can’t be counted as a Renner fan, there’s a lot to look forward to here with our sassy new self-described badass, Bishop, and a slew of great people — Florence Pugh’s Black Widow, Linda Cardellini’s Laura, Vera Farmiga as Kate’s mum, and Tony Dalton as Barton’s mentor Duquesne/Swordsman. Additionally, Alaqua Cox will be introduced as Maya Lopez aka Echo (she’ll get her own spinoff series), with Zahn McClarnon (!) in as her father; that alone is enough to watch.
The Shrink Next Door
November 12, 2021 (Apple TV+)
Kathryn Hahn, Paul Rudd, and Will Ferrell walk into a bar …well, not really, but they may well during this show. In Apple’s version of Dirty John/Dr. Death (podcasts turned into series) Rudd plays psychiatrist Ike Herschkopf, who’s just a little too involved in his patients’ lives. This eight-parter focuses on Ferrell’s Marty Markowitz and his concerned sister Phyllis, played by the magical — It Was Agatha All Along — Hahn. Phyllis could probably use some of Agatha’s powers to wrest her brother from Dr. Ike’s control but alas, it looks as if Marty fell under Rudd’s therapeutic spell, and so shall we all. Written by Georgia Pritchett (Succession, Veep) and with the pilot directed by The Big Sick’s Michael Showalter, say hello to your new addiction.
Always Jane
November 12, 2021 (Amazon Prime Video)
Coming-of-age docuseries through the lens of Jane Noury, a transgender teen about to graduate high school and head to college. Described by Jane as a love story, this four-part chronicle focuses on the journey of her family’s acceptance. From the process of surgery to the beginnings of what she hopes is a successful modeling and acting career, Noury’s wish “… is that a family who may be struggling with acceptance is inspired to open their hearts and embrace their very own story of love upon viewing Always Jane.” Yes, please.
Mayor of Kingstown
November 14, 2021 (Paramount+)
Here’s your all-star cast of the month with Jeremy Renner heading up the influential (shall we say?) McClusky family who, along with his mom (Dianne Wiest) and brothers (Coach Kyle Chandler and Taylor Handley) unofficially run the titular town. Also starring Game of Thrones/Peaky Blinders’ always deliciously evil Aidan Gillen and Yellowstone/The Expanse’s Hugh Dillon, the series comes from Dillon and Academy Award-nominated writer Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Wind River). This thriller focuses on the incarceration industry, systemic racism, and the real reason to watch and be thrilled is Chandler doing his bad boy thing (see also Bloodline).
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey
November 17, 2021 (Hulu)
I’m not sure I can even wrap my brain around this one, but hear me out: our beloved Jason Sudeikis voices a GHOST ASSASSIN who mentors Fred Tatasciore’s (Star Trek: Lower Decks, What If …?, Robot Chicken) highly skilled macaque on a quest for vengeance against the men who killed his entire clan. Based on the comic by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić, Hit-Monkey is created and written by Speck and Gordon (Culture, The Switch), and also stars George Takei, Olivia Munn, Ally Maki, and Nobi Nakanishi. How could we not watch?
Cowboy Bebop
November 19, 2021 (Netflix)
Move over Mando, there’s a new space cowboy in town. Fans of the hugely popular anime series and fellow science fiction lovers welcome to the next big thing. John Cho, Mustafa Chakir, Daniella Pineda, and Alex Hassell bring their animated alter-egos to life for bounty-hunting adventures of a lifetime (sounds like a cruise advertisement). Truth be told, I’ve not fallen down this particular rabbit hole before now, but in live-action form, it sounds exactly my jam (Serenity with less Whedon, thank you very much). Don’t even get me started on the extended cast (John Noble, Mason Alexander Park, Blessing Mokgohloa) or the fact that there will be two corgis! Christopher Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok/The Dark World, Star Wars Rebels) wrote the pilot, and Alex Garcia Lopez (Utopia, Daredevil, The Punisher, The Witcher, Misfits) and Michael Katleman (Life on Mars, Primeval, The Last Ship) split directing duties — just admit you’ll be joining me for this sure-to-be-a-hit show.
Hellbound
November 19, 2021 (Netflix)
Train to Busan and Peninsula director Yeon Sang-ho heads this fantastical series based on his own digital comic about supernatural beings (dubbed Death Angels) who suddenly appear to escort condemned people to the underworld. The Death Angels spur the evolution of a cult that believes in divine justice and thinks their leader Jeong Jin-soo (Yoo Ah-in) can predict death. Jin Kyung-Hoon (Yang Ik-joon) is a detective who, like us, will try to figure out what’s really going on. The first Korean series to be featured at the Toronto Film Festival, Hellbound also screened at the Busan International and BFI London Film Festivals which obviously means we should all screen it in our very dark living rooms late at night …alone, with no one to save us.
The Wheel of Time
November 19, 2021 (Amazon Prime Video)
Looking to fill that Game of Thrones-sized hole in your life? This second hugely popular book series brought to the small screen in as many months (see October’s Foundation), created by writer/producer Rafe Judkins (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chuck, Hemlock Grove) and starring Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Madeleine Madden, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Michael McElhatton, Sophie Okonedo, Kae Alexander, Marcus Rutherford, Peter Franzén, and Josha Stradowski. Based on Robert Jordan’s epic (fourteen books, with the last three completed by Brandon Sanderson) fantasy series about Moiraine (Pike), a powerful magical woman who leads five people — one of whom she believes is the prophesied Dragon reincarnation — on a global journey to save …or destroy humanity. Dragon lovers, I feel it is our duty to at least check this out, and here’s hoping Amazon gets it right.
The Beatles: Get Back
November 24, 2021 (Disney+)
Peter Jackson’s three-part docuseries isn’t necessarily new — it’s based on Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary film — but for serious fans, this close look at the making of Let It Be is a must-see. No stranger to deep dives, Jackson’s not messing around here, with each segment clocking in at two hours of behind-the-scenes footage aimed at showing the joyful truth of the Fab Four collaborating on the album in contrast to the original movie that portrayed the experience in a negative light. With McCartney and Starr giving the thumbs up (as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison) to retelling their tale, this is The Beatles story we want to see.
True Story
November 24, 2013 (Netflix)
Kevin Hart takes on a serious role (no, really) as Kid, a big-time comedian whose brother Carlton (Wesley Snipes) brings nothing but trouble when he stops by his hometown show. Caught in a nightmare after an evening he doesn’t remember, the question becomes, how far will he go to protect his career? Created and written by Narcos’ Eric Newman, expect things to go über dark, and the supporting cast — Tawny Newsome, Billy Zane, Chris Diamantopoulos, Theo Rossi, Paul Adelstein, Will Catlett, Lauren London, Ash Santos, and John Ales — is pretty impressive, too.
