#SetTheVCR for the Week of April 5th, 2021

Hey not sure what to watch this week on the small screen? No worries #SetTheVCR is here to help you make some of those decisions easier. Each week Sammy Younan and I will give you our picks for each day of the coming week. Please note – All times are Eastern Standard Time so please adjust for your time zone.

On Saturday night Sammy and I go head to head with superhero picks. It’ll be interesting to see which one wins this battle royale. Still an overall good week for TV.

Lotta young people with powers are powering this week’s #SetTheVCR this week. Which is rather inspirational when you think about it.

Sammy Younan

Monday, April 5

2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament: The Final Game (9pm / CBS) -The Madness is almost over. And Madness for true: Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs epic buzzer-beater in OT to win the Final Four and play for a national title is forever a One Shining Moment. I watched that shot 4 times and I still can’t fully process it. Tonight it’s Gonzaga vs. Baylor. According to ESPN: “Since November 8, 2019, Baylor has lost just five games. Gonzaga has lost two during that stretch.” This is gonna be a classic Rocky Balboa fight. Might hafta go to Costco for that Family Sized bag of Doritos to eat all of my feelings. Lock N Load. Rather than show any NCAA moments I leave you with the Rocky theme song: Gonna Fly Now. (Sammy)

Hemmingway (8pm / PBS) – This new Ken burns series takes a look at one of the greatest American writers Ernest Hemmingway. A man whose real life in many ways was way more interesting than his literary work. While I have never been a huge fan of work I do acknowledge his status within literature. Like I said though his real-life was its own crazy novel at times so I look forward to seeing how they treat one of the last great figures in literature. (Mr. Green)

Tuesday, April 6

Words On The Bathroom Walls (Friday! / Netflix Canada) – This is a #SetTheVCR Heads-Up: Words on Bathroom Walls appears on Netflix Canada on Friday but Friday is busy and Tuesday is not so I’ma talk about it here. Plus I’m in the mood for a solid teen movie. “Diagnosed with a mental illness during his senior year of high school, a witty, introspective teen struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition.” Not quite John Hughes but he’s been dead since 2009 so I’ll take what I can get. (If you actually want something on TV tonight: on NCIS I dunno what that stands for…I generally don’t watch any of the acronym shows but Pam Dawber guest stars with real-life husband Mark Harmon. They got married? Huh. I did not know that. I miss Mork and Mindy too but not as much I miss John Hughes.) (Sammy)

The Flash (8pm / CW) – This season the Flash has been fighting some excellent villains but there seems to be a reoccurring theme again of Barry’s doubt in his own abilities. In the first few years of the show, this was a great tool to show a more human, less perfect side to the scarlet speedster. However, we are now in season seven it’s getting old. This is all to say it’s a shame because otherwise, the show is still quite engaging to watch. Honestly, Grant Gustin is great to watch as Barry Allen, the fastest man alive. (Mr. Green)

Wednesday, April 7

Liar Liar (3am / Netflix Canada) – From 1997 (seriously?!) Liar Liar is Jim Carrey at his rubbery best. (So much so among the emergency response personnel in the airport scene, Jim Carrey is dressed as his popular In Living Color character, Fire Marshall Bill. Amazing cameo!). “A fast-track lawyer can’t lie for 24 hours due to his son’s birthday wish after he disappoints his son for the last time.” Basically, it’s a “Big” wish but the kid doesn’t grow up; he wishes his Dad would grow up. Two casting notes that are shocking: Steve Martin turned down the lead role in this film due to scheduling conflicts with another film. Martin is great but not for this: that would not have worked…at all. And lastly, this is surreal: Jim Carrey declined the role of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery so he could commit to this film. Wow. Dr. Evil is so iconic I believe everyone involved made the correct cinematic choice but I kinda wonder about Carrey’s Dr. Evil. (Sammy)

Kung Fu (8pm / CW) – SERIES PREMEIRE! Here’s the thing Sammy’s pick of Liar, Liar might be the better choice tonight. It was inevitable they would do a remake of the classic series of the same name starring David Carradine. Unlike the Carradine series and reboots this one will actually have Asian actors in the main roles and a female lead. The only issue I see with this series is the “CW-ness” of it. As long as it can overcome the typically terrible pilots they make and let the characters grow and flourish on their own the show might end up being fun to watch. (Mr. Green)

Thursday, April 8

Amazing Grace (3am / Netflix Canada) – You don’t hafta wait until Sunday to go to church: Amazing Grace is playing on Netflix (Canada). If Avengers: Endgame is them at their most powerful then this is Aretha Franklin at the height of her powers. It’s astonishing to belt out Amazing Grace in a black church just 4 years after MLK’s death. This Sydney Pollack documentary is a powerful coda to the turbulent 60s (the doc was shot in 1972 in the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles) and is a fitting memorial to a fierce activist whose career was sadly boiled down to Respect. (Sammy)

Rebel (10pm / ABC) – SERIES PREMEIRE! From Erin Brockovich comes this new show starring the awesome Katey Sagal. The story focuses on a woman in the mould of Brockovich herself. This feels very similar in concept as Bull. Taking the real-life exploits of a person and making an entire fictional show around that idea. Like Bull, it seems to be pulling ideas from the headlines which is great as it provides infinite stories for the writer’s room but can be a little like tragedy porn to others. Still, with a lead like Sagal, this show could be really great. unlike Julia Roberts Sagal has a feeling when you watch her that she is going to kick ass. (Mr. Green)

Friday, April 9

Sammy’s Pick of the Week

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (9pm / PBS) – A fitting title: American Masters. The neurologist and bestselling author Oliver Sacks is saluted on a new “American Masters.” We lost Oliver Sacks in 2015 the doctor and writer behind Awakenings. In Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales he wrote “Nonetheless, I dare to hope that, despite everything, human life and its richness of cultures will survive, even on a ravaged earth. While some see art as a bulwark of our culture, our collective memory, I see science, with its depth of thought, its palpable achievements and potentials, as equally important; and science, good science, is flourishing as never before, though it moves cautiously and slowly, its insights checked by continual self-testing and experiment.” A fantastic documentary that has become a sad end coda to a well-thought-out life. He healed so much and touched so many. (Sammy)

Mr. Green’s Pick of the Week

Wynonna Earp (10pm / SyFy) – SERIES FINALE! Here it is the end of an era. After 4 hard-fought years in Purgatory and by the “Earpers” (the fans of the show) Wynonna Earp comes to an end. This show fought off questions about its time on the air at SyFy since the beginning and kept coming back like some of the demons on the show itself. There was a huge fan lead campaign to help bring the show back for a fourth season after IDW Publishing had financing issues for the season. Then the pandemic happened to make things even harder. So finally in the end we are getting a series conclusion that was planned to make fans moderately happy. They still have ways to keep it going in the future whether it’s in comics or by some miracle another studio like Netflix where to pick them up. Regardless fans are getting an ending and hopefully, it’s enough. (Mr. Green)

Saturday, April 10

The New Mutants (8pm / HBO) – The New Mutants were the apocalyptic sign of this pandemic. Originally shot from July to September 2017 this Marvel Mutant Movie was supposed to come out on April 13, 2018. Then it was delayed to February 22, 2019, which was then pushed to August 2, 2019, then finally it was no longer in “Limbo:” April 3, 2020, was the confirmed date! Trailers and everything. Then the pandemic shut everything down in March and we should have interpreted a New Mutants release as a sign. It finally came out on August 28, 2020 (I opted to see Tenet over this.) There were many reasons for the delay: the chief among them was the vision for the movie: Breakfast Club detention crossed with a Cuckoo’s Nest institution. Should they emphasize the YA teenager growing pains (the hallmarks of a classic teen movie) or double down on the horror aspects (teens in trouble is classic horror). After all that it’s now on HBO and like the recently restored Snyder Cut of Justice League it’s doubtful this will go anywhere: there’s no need to restore the New Mutants verse. (Sammy)

Thunder Force (Anytime / Netflix) – A new comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer as superheroes, why not. Estranged childhood friends team up after they get superpowers to help their city. After years of mayhem by the powered villains known as “Miscreants”, the duo take their new powers and bring the fight to those hurting the innocent. I’m not the biggest McCarthy fan but I do like Spencer and this idea might just be comedy gold. Plus, the shot getting out of the Lamborghini is both funny and sadly true for most people. (Mr. Green)

Sunday, April 11

The Irregulars vs The Nevers (9pm / HBO (& Crave)) – Did you watch The Irregulars on Netflix on March 26? A group of teenagers solve increasingly supernatural crimes in Victorian London. Ok; sounds decent: Stranger Things set in Sherlock Holmes. While Joss Whedon’s Nevers is “described as “a science-fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.” Huh. I’m not really sure how they’re different. If you had to choose which one would you watch? (Sammy)

The Nevers (9pm / HBO) – SERIES PREMIERE! After the last few years of continued controversies show creator Joss Whedon stepped down from the show in all capacities in November 2020. Since then it hasn’t gotten any better for him as additional accusations came to light. HBO has also worked on making sure his name is nowhere in the marketing materials for the program. Regardless of that black cloud, the show has continued on with writer Philippa Goslett taking over as showrunner. Hopefully with this will help the show move forward and get a chance to show what it can be on its own merits without the cloud that is Whedon darkening its skies. The show itself looks to have enough darkness and foreboding going on as it appears to take notes from the comics’ classic X-Men storylines but instead putting them in Victorian England. I’m really looking forward to checking it out. (Mr. Green)

Well, there you go plenty of options for the week ahead. Enjoy yourself and watch responsibly.

If you’re gonna geek out, GEEK HARD!