‘Taxi’ Reunion on ‘Happy’s Place,’ Streaming ‘One Battle After Another,’ Gladiator Drama ‘Spartacus’-Style, Kumail Nanjiani Returns to Stand-Up

Happy’s Place

The audience goes wild when TV royalty enters the bar in the form of Taxi legends Christopher Lloyd and Carol Kane, who each won two Emmys during the run of the classic sitcom. Their nostalgic reunion is the punchline to a subplot involving a phone someone left behind in the men’s room, with Gabby (Melissa Peterman) and Steve (Pablo Castelblanco) fixated on texts they shouldn’t be reading. The “A” story creates conflict between Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) when the latter begins dating her professor, and Bobbie’s reaction makes her think twice about her own relationship with chef/employee Emmett (Rex Linn).

One Battle After Another

Leading the Golden Globe field with nine nominations and considered a front-runner for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s acclaimed dramedy makes its streaming debut. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a lapsed radical revolutionary spurred back into action when his daughter (Chase Infiniti) goes missing. Sean Penn has also generated Oscar buzz as his nemesis, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw. The movie premieres on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.

Spartacus: House of Ashur

What will it take for Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) to get his gladiators on the ticket for the upcoming Ludi Apollinares games? When he gets notice that his patron Marcus Crassus is coming to Capua, the socially challenged underdog scrambles to curry favor. Luckily for him, if not for other citizens in the marketplace, an attack by savage Cilician pirates provides an opportunity for Ashur and his No. 1 trainer, Korris (Graham McTavish), to show they’re worthy of respect.

Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts

“Night thoughts are like day thoughts — except they hate you,” quips Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, The Big Sick), showing off his “decorative” muscles as he flexes his stand-up muscle memory in his return to the comedy stage for the first time in nearly a decade. In front of an audience in Chicago, where he got his start in stand-up, the comedian reflects on fame, anxiety, and what it takes to care for a 16-year-old cat.

Pluribus

In the penultimate episode of Vince Gilligan‘s uniquely compelling sci-fi drama, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) rekindles her relationship with Zosia (Karolina Wydra), though can’t help badgering the hive-mind avatar by demanding, “Would it kill you to say ‘I’?” While Carol struggles to maintain her sanity and regain her sense of purpose in this mad new world, Paraguayan refugee Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) gets ever closer to connecting with his fellow rebel.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• College Football Playoffs (8 pm/ET, ABC and ESPN): The first round opens with No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma.
• Sheriff Country (8/7c, CBS): Mickey (Morena Baccarin) investigates allegations of abuse at a secluded ranch operated by one of the town’s most powerful families. Followed by Fire Country (9/8c), where a red flag warning sparks a turf war between Station 42 and neighboring Drake County.
• Sweet Holiday Romance (8/7c, Lifetime): Erin Karpluk stars as a world-famous pastry chef who partners with her hometown fudge shop for a Chicago Christmas Market Christmas Cookie competition, teaming with the shop’s inexperienced manager (Christopher Russell) to produce something sweet enough to win.
• Stumble (8:30/7:30c, NBC): An overwhelmed Courteney (Jenn Lyon) reluctantly picks the needy Steven (Ryan Pinkston) to be her assistant, but her stress level doesn’t go down when a leaked video reveals the truth behind her firing.
• Craft in America (9/8c and 10/9c, PBS): The Peabody-winning docuseries begins a nationwide celebration of craft makers to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday with profiles of artists from America’s “East” (9/8c) and “West” (10/9c) regions. Episodes visiting America’s “North” and “South” will air in 2026.
• My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending (9/8c, HGTV): An hourlong special follows host David Bromstad on his four-year journey to renovate his own home — a project halted for a year after massive flooding prompted him to pause and travel to his ancestral homeland of Norway for inspirational renewal.
• Boston Blue (10/9c, CBS): The Silvers face myriad challenges when Mae (Gloria Reuben) experiences backlash in the city and at home over her past decisions, while Sarah (Maggie Lawson) has guilt issues and Jonah (Marcus Scribner) can’t contain his anger over his father’s death.
• Adult Swim’s The Elephant (11/10c, Adult Swim): An experimental three-act special enlists ace animators to create each of their segments without knowing what the others are doing, resulting in a surprising narrative.
• It’s Florida, Man (11/10c, HBO): Haley Joel Osment guest-stars in an anecdote about a man who heads to the Everglades from Sarasota in search of the Bigfoot-like legendary Skunk Ape.

 ON THE STREAM:

• Born to be Wild (streaming on Apple TV): Downton Abbey‘s Hugh Bonneville narrates a six-part nature documentary that follows the growing pains of endangered animals—a moon bear cub, an elephant calf, a penguin chick, a lemur pup, a lynx kitten, and two cheetah cubs — who were either orphaned or born in conservation programs.
• Breakdown: 1975 (streaming on Netflix): Filmmaker Morgan Neville‘s documentary explores the social turmoil from a half-century ago that gave rise to some of the most influential movies of the period, including Network, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Taxi Driver, and Nashville.
• Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders (streaming on the CNN app): A true-crime documentary depicts the investigation and trial that rocked Australia in 2023 when four family members were poisoned by tainted Beef Wellingtons, leaving three dead and one in a coma.
• Jake vs. Joshua: Judgment Day (8 pm/ET, Netflix): Jake Paul takes on Olympic gold medalist Anthony “AJ” Joshua in the main card heavyweight boxing match from Miami.
• Mo’ Waffles (streaming on Tubi): A half-hour comedy serves up laughs after a hip-hop legend is abducted on the eve of opening his Atlanta waffle joint, and his crew carries on while trying to solve the mystery.
• Queens of the Dead (streaming on Shudder): Pose meets The Walking Dead in director Tina Romero’s horror comedy about a group of drag queens and club kids whose Brooklyn warehouse party is interrupted by the zombie apocalypse.
• Him (streaming on Peacock): The sports thriller starring Marlon Wayans as a pro-football star providing a sinister mentorship to a young player (Tyriq Withers) makes its streaming debut.