What’s On: Showtime’s ‘SMILF,’ more Margaret Atwood on Netflix with ‘Alias Grace,’ Larry David returns to ‘SNL’
A critical checklist of notable weekend programming:
SMILF (Sunday, 10/9c, Showtime): It’s a bit ironic that the raunchy and oh-so-real misadventures of South Boston’s scrappy Bridgette Bird (Frankie Shaw) are unfolding on a premium channel Bridgette would never be able to afford. But where better to capture the graphic authenticity of star-creator Shaw’s vision than the network of Shameless, which shares SMILF’s mordant sense of urban survivor humor. (If you have to ask what the show’s profane title stands for, you shouldn’t be watching.) With piercing eyes that can see through a world of bull, Shaw brings emotional grit and resilience to her semiautobiographical character, a struggling single mom who can’t pay her rent, or even bus fare. Sharp-witted and edgy, desperately desiring respect or, failing that, sex, Bridgette knows she deserves better, but how to get it is the problem. The fine supporting cast includes Rosie O’Donnell as her blunt-depressing mom and Connie Britton as her wealthy employer, who’s no less insecure than Bridgette in her own more privileged world. In SMILF, no one has it all.
Speaking of Shameless, it’s back for its eighth season (Sunday, 9/8c), with Frank (William H. Macy) determined to straighten up and become a contributing member of society. We’ll see how long that lasts.
Alias Grace (Friday, Netflix): The Margaret Atwood renaissance continues on TV, but pity any show following in the formidable footprint of Hulu’s Emmy-winning triumph The Handmaid’s Tale. The six-episode Grace, also adapted from an Atwood novel about the bleak life of an oppressed woman, is a drab Dickensian “Housemaid’s Tale” based on the real-life scandal of an Irish immigrant (Sarah Gadon) who in 1843 Canada is convicted of helping murder her superiors (a silver-haired Paul Gross and a simpering Anna Paquin in underdeveloped roles). When a doctor (bland Edward Holcroft) interviews her years later to discern the truth about Grace, the mystery deepens. Gadon is alluringly enigmatic as we wonder if she’s pulling one over on the smitten doc, but the overall effect of Alias Grace is less than hypnotizing.
The Exorcist (Friday, 9/8c, Fox): The shocks and surprises just keep coming when it’s time for the demon to make itself known in an exceedingly creepy episode of the underrated supernatural thriller. Maybe this isn’t the best time for foster dad Andy (John Cho) to take his young and impressionable charges on a camping trip, but what unfolds will make an awfully good campfire story for anyone who survives the season.
Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, NBC): There’s double the enthusiasm to be curbed this weekend as Larry David returns to host the late-night comedy show, which earned him an Emmy nomination last year (including for his uncanny Bernie Sanders impersonation). In Sunday’s new episode of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm (10/9c), Larry conceives what sounds like a new way of getting out of relationships: “The Accidental Text on Purpose.”
Inside Weekend TV: Cable’s nostalgic Decades channel takes us back to a time before the uproar over “fake news” with Eye on the World: The Rise of Walter Cronkite and the Evening News (Friday, 8/7c). … Kevin Kline’s Tony-winning triumph as an egotistical actor in a Noel Coward classic gets a Great Performances spotlight in Present Laughter (Friday, 9/8c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org). Kate Burton and Cobie Smulders co-star. … CBS’s 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7:30/6:30c, 7 PT) profiles a 12-year old British music prodigy, Alma Deutscher, who some are comparing to Mozart. … It’s high drama indeed on PBS’s Masterpiece current season of Poldark (Sunday, 9/8c, check local listings at pbs.org), when Aunt Agatha (Caroline Blakiston) crosses swords with that awful George Warleggan (Jack Farthing). … The erotic Starz anthology The Girlfriend Experience (Sunday, 9/8c) returns with two parallel stories: one set in Washington, D.C. and the other involving an escort in Witness Protection, starting over in New Mexico.
Conversation13 Comments
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C
The only thing he mentioned that I watch is Poldark. I don't think I can fit the Noel Coward play into my schedule, or I might have checked it out.
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G
FOX's Exorcist is being seriously ignored this season! It's nearly as compelling as last season, but viewers abandoned it. Why? It's quite possibly one of the best produced and scariest shows (horror genre) on TV (including cable).
ABC's Once Upon a Time (the reboot is growing on me every week- fans of previous seasons should revisit this very entertaining show) and the ever improving Marvel's INHUMANS!! Last week (and the week prior) were action packed!! Tonight is the penultimate episode and next week the big finale. Fans of the sci-fi/fantasy/comic book genre should catch up with this. Lots of fun to watch. Critics were WAY too harsh.
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C
As I said yesterday, I'm 3 episodes behind on Inhumans, and tonight will make it 4. I watched a couple of episodes of The Exorcist when it first came on, and I just didn't care for it.
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R
Last weekend the Decades Channel had a marathon of -- dun-dun-DUN.... Dark Shadows. What a hoot that was! 😉
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G
CBS just announced that it will be producing an updated Twilight Zone for streaming only (ALL ACCESS). So basically the potentially best programing wont be on CBS broadcast. Seems like a smart way to kill a network .
I'll just wait for the reruns that will hopefully air on the main network.
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C
I never heard of the Decades Channel before. I wonder if it's available in my Comcast package. They never tell us what channels we get.
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R
Yeah, I found the channel by accident, I think I was scrolling through my guide. Channels seem to come and go sometimes, so it doesn't hurt to scroll through now and then and see which channels actually come in. That's how I found out about Sundance, too.
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C
What cable company do you have? I know I don't get Sundance. I've been looking for the Olympics channel this week. It's not on the channel number the guides say it's supposed to be on.
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R
I'm on Spectrum. When I signed up last year they gave me a paper list of channels, but I find scrolling through the on-TV guide is easier. Anyway, Decades is one of those "retro" channels.... they show Laugh-In, Ed Sullivan, etc.
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C
The trouble with Comcast is that they have so many different packages and levels that I can scroll through the guide and see a channel listed, but I won't know if I actually get that channel until I tune to it and see.
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R
Same here. Sometimes I just scroll around and press Select, and get the "If you want this channel, call 1-888-Pay-Money." So I go to the next one. In fact, I just discovered I now get FXX (a spinoff of Fox & FX). I didn't use to get it, not sure if it's a weekend preview, or if I just get it for real now.
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C
Decades is a "sub-channel" and the majority of cable companies do not carry it. I have it via my indoor antenna, I'm lucky that I live in a area where I get lots of over the air channels.
The quality of the HD is better than cable or satellite because it is not compressed,and best of all it's FREE!
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C
We are far enough away from the cities with broadcast stations that when they switched from analog to digital TV signals, we went from being able to get about 20 channels to not being able to get any with even a rooftop antenna.
Comcast does give us a lot of those subchannels including MeTV and Antenna TV, but they don't offer Decades in this area.
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