‘Gen V’ Finale, Awkwafina Is ‘Quiz Lady,’ ‘Nyad’ and ‘Sly’ on Netflix, Revisiting ‘L.A. Law’

Season Finale

Godolkin University, training ground for a new generation of conflicted superheroes, erupts in chaos in the Season 1 finale of The Boys spinoff. Supe turns against supe with explosive and gory results as the true nature of heroism is debated in no uncertain terms, and the campus may never be the same again. The climax packs an awful lot of action into a tight 35-minute running time. More streamers should take notice.

Movie Premiere

Awkwafina and Sandra Oh are polar-opposite sisters in a charming, silly and sentimental comedy that finds its sweet spot in an obsession with TV game shows. (I can relate.) Playing somewhat against type, Awkwafina is the mousy, timid and bookish Anne, who’s dismayed when her frantic hot mess of a sister, Jenny (Oh in rare form), appears after their wayward and gambling-addicted mom goes missing. The sibs have been left deep in debt, and when Anne’s beloved dog Mr. Linguini is kidnapped and held for ransom, Jenny urges Anne to make good on her daily obsession with the fictional Can’t Stop the Quiz TV show and win the day—maybe also a fortune. Will Ferrell, who used to lovingly parody the late Alex Trebek on Saturday Night Live, plays the quiz show’s affable host, the bow-tied Terry McTeer, with Holland Taylor as Anne’s crabby neighbor, Jason Schwartzman as a smug contestant and a surprise celebrity cameo from a beloved star we lost earlier this year.

Movie Premiere

Annette Bening takes a leap into the Oscar pool in an inspiring docudrama reliving marathon swimmer Diana Nyad’s improbable attempt to traverse 110 treacherous miles from Cuba to Florida at age 60. The film, co-starring Jodie Foster as her best friend and stalwart coach Bonnie Stoll and Rhys Ifans as navigator John Bartlett, covers several years of failed attempts until she was able to achieve her dream at 64 in 2013. “I don’t believe in imposed limitations,” Nyad insists. After this movie, you may not, either.

Documentary Premiere

Sylvester Stallone literally wrote his own ticket to stardom with Rocky in 1976, and in a revealing documentary profile, he describes his life and career as a train “whipping by.” As the movie (and recently TV) superstar reflects on his films and his family, he concludes, “I’m in the hope business.”

Series Premiere

Practicing law on TV was a relatively buttoned-down profession (think Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason) until Steven Bochco’s follow-up to Hill Street Blues exploded with sleek sexiness and hot-button relevance within the high-profile L.A. firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak. All 172 episodes of the long-running series (1986-94) are available for streaming in a remastered format, with the original licensed music. The show made instant stars of Corbin Bernsen (as skirt-chasing divorce lawyer Arnie Becker), Harry Hamlin (as principled junior partner Michael Kuzak, wooing The Partridge Family’s Susan Dey, all grown up as Deputy D.A. Grace Van Owen) and Jimmy Smits (as idealistic associate Victor Sifuentes). L.A. Law also gave producer-writer David E. Kelley his start in TV, winning two Emmys before moving on to create Picket Fences, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal and others. The way he disposed of villainous rainmaker Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) remains one of TV’s great watercooler moments.

Special

8/7c

For the first time, the annual celebration of rock legends will stream live from Brooklyn. (ABC will present a three-hour special with highlights on the evening of January 1.) Honorees include Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners, with special accolades for DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray (for Musical Influence), Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin (for Musical Excellence), and Soul Train’s Don Cornelius receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award. The equally impressive roster of performers and presenters includes Brandi Carlile, Stevie Nicks, Adam Levine, Carrie Underwood, Elton John, Dave Matthews, Chris Stapleton, H.E.R., New Edition, Ice-T, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Common, Miguel, Sia and St. Vincent.

At the Season 2 midpoint of the Bosch spinoff, the focus falls on detective-turned-private eye Harry Bosch’s (Titus Welliver) rookie cop daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz). Her excitement over joining the LAPD’s Crime Reduction Unit is clouded by apprehension over giving a witness impact statement in the sentencing hearing of the rapist who kidnapped her and buried her alive. It’s no walk in the park for Harry and lawyer/boss Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers), either, as they continue to face scrutiny from the feds over their ethically questionable past actions.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• The Yule Log: Desperate Housewives’ Teri Hatcher stars in The Roku Channel’s romcom How to Fall in Love by the Holidays as a writer-turned-CEO writing a make-or-break column about falling in love by Christmas, with the assist of a handsome photographer. Hallmark Channel’s Flipping for Christmas (8/7c) stars Ashley Newbrough as a realtor helping her sister flip a newly inherited home and finds herself flipping for the co-beneficiary (Marcus Rosner).
• Games People Play: The Season 5 fall premiere of NBC’s The Wall (8/7c) features married couple Jerimiah and Nikki from Lubbock, Texas. On CBS’s Let’s Make a Deal Primetime (8/7c), host Wayne Brady welcomes reggae rapper Shaggy in an episode heavy on exotic vacation giveaways.
• True Crime Watch: On ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c), co-anchor David Muir reports on a mystifying cold case from 1981, in which the identity of a nameless couple, found beaten and strangled in Houston, was finally revealed in 2021. Dateline NBC (9/8c) follows the international manhunt for a killer after a Canadian limo driver disappears.
• Message in a Bottle (9/8c, PBS): Sting’s music catalog provides the soundtrack for a Great Performances presentation of British choreographer Kate Prince’s dance-theater piece about a migrant family.

ON THE STREAM:

• Fingerprints (streaming on Apple TV+): Jessie Buckley, Oscar winner Riz Ahmed and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White form an unusual triangle in a futuristic love story involving a tech-based Love Institute that promises perfect matches.
• Lessons in Chemistry (streaming on Apple TV+): In a pivotal episode, Elizabeth (Brie Larson) learns the ropes of TV production when she steps in as the host of Supper at Six. Her mantra: “Cooking is chemistry, and chemistry is life. Your ability to change everything including yourself starts here. Let’s begin, shall we?” Gladly.
• Invincible (streaming on Prime Video): If Gen V leaves you wanting more, Season 2 of the adult animated superhero series arrives just in time. The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun is the voice of 18-year-old superhuman Mark Grayson, still reeling from the betrayal of his villainous superpowered father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons).
• Blue Eye Samurai (streaming on Netflix): More animated action, anime style, in the violent fable of a mixed-race female samurai out for revenge.