Fall TV Watch List: 'Hocus Pocus' Returns to Run Amok, Amok, Amok

Fall TV Watch List: 'Hocus Pocus' Returns to Run Amok, Amok, Amok No images? [Click here]( [- - -] [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of September 24 – 30 Things are getting spooky around here! In the lead-up to Halloween, every streamer is rolling out its very best seasonal content and this week we’re getting a long-awaited “Hocus Pocus” sequel and a high school horror comedy set in the ‘80s to a new iteration of “The Munsters” (yes, really!). Plus, a new Oscar-friendly feature from the “Green Room” team, the most controversial movie about Marilyn Monroe that you’ll ever see and a new season of “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.” (So, not everything is ghoulish this week!) On with the television! [Premiere of the week] “Hocus Pocus 2”Friday, September 30, Disney+ Photo: Disney+ Nearly 30 years after the original “Hocus Pocus,” the Sanderson witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) are back. And they’re better than ever. The original went from a mild disappointment to a cult favorite and the crux of Disney’s yearly Halloween celebration. ([Read all about that in TheWrap’s deep dive into the first film](.) This time, three new teenagers (Whitney Peak, Lila Buckingham and Belissa Escobedo) unleash the Sanderson Sisters on Halloween once again. We can expect many supernatural high jinks, vastly improved visual effects, new supporting characters played by favorites like Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham and Sam Richardson, and the dusty return of everyone’s favorite zombie Billy Butcherson (played once again by Doug Jones). Najimy, Parker and Midler are what made the original film so magical; the fact that they’ve all returned for another go-around suggests “Hocus Pocus 2” could be a new holiday favorite-in-the-making. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7018230; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Reservation Dogs”Wednesday, September 28, Hulu Photo: FX on Hulu “Reservation Dogs” was one of last year’s biggest surprises; an all-indigenous comedy, created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, that focused on four kids (Devery Jacobs, Lane Factor, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Paulina Alexis) idling around a reservation, causing trouble and looking for a way out. In its second season, the show exhibited the same restless creativity, bopping around from an elder’s wake to a horny weekend away with the “aunties” to an episode devoted to Zahn McClarnon’s hapless sheriff tripping on drugs and foiling a weird conspiracy. The overall impact was uplifting and mournful, hilarious and hugely affecting. The only thing you could come to expect was the show consistently hitting new high points. We expect this week’s installment to continue the trend. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Blonde”Wednesday, September 28, Netflix [Blonde] Photo: Netflix Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name, “Blonde” is writer/director Andrew Dominik’s trip into the dark heart of Marilyn Monroe (played here by Ana de Armas) and how trauma defined her life. And there is plenty of trauma in “Blonde,” from her upbringing with a mentally unstable mother (Julianne Nicholson) to a series of disastrous relationships with important and famous men, here thinly fictionalized (Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio, Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller and Caspar Phillipson as JFK). Much of the speculation and interest in “Blonde” derives from its lengthy production (it filmed for nearly two years, including COVID interruptions) and restrictive NC-17 rating. (There has also been much interest in de Armas, who’s become a tabloid staple not unlike Monroe.) It’s a lot. And while it’s certainly going to push buttons, it’s also truly artful and unlike anything you’ve seen before. Watch it if only to be a part of the conversation! [[REVIEW](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Hostages”Wednesday, September 28 at 9 p.m., HBO [Hostages] Photo: HBO In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 60 Americans hostage in a protest meant to last 48 hours. The crisis soon grew into a 444-day international crisis, covered relentlessly by the international media. This four-part documentary series (the first two episodes air on linear HBO on Wednesday with the second two the following day; all four are already on HBO Max) features interviews with surviving hostages as well as the Iranian hostage takers. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7018230; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Hocus Pocus”Disney+ [Dani Hocus Pocus] Photo: Disney If, for some reason, the “Hocus Pocus” craze passed you by, why not catch up before watching the sequel? Directed by choreographer-turned-filmmaker Kenny Ortega (more recently known as the man behind the “Descendants” movies for Disney Channel), the original “Hocus Pocus” is smarter and more stylish than you probably remember. Midler, Parker and Najimy are having an absolute blast, and there are all sorts of weirdly specific ‘90s flourishes, like Max (Omri Katz) dressing like a “rapper” for Halloween (that maybe hasn’t aged so well) or Gary Marshall’s odd extended cameo as a man dressed as the devil. (Almost the whole movie takes place on Halloween night.) The whole thing is a total joy, from terrific performances from young stars like Thora Birch and Vinessa Shaw, to charmingly low-tech visual effects (including a talking cat two years before “Babe”). Even if you’ve already seen it, it’s probably worth another view. It’ll put you in the Halloween mood better than 10 pumpkin spice lattes. [[WATCH](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The Munsters”Tuesday, September 27, Netflix“The Addams Family” is getting a lavish reboot in Netflix’s “Wednesday” (coming later this fall), so why not “The Munsters” too? This new feature-length film is written and directed by Rob Zombie, usually known for his R-rated horror movies like “The Devil’s Rejects.” This prequel to the ’60s sitcom follows the blossoming love between Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Lily (Sheri Moon Zombie) back in Transylvania, before they moved to America and became “The Munsters.” An early trailer was widely derided online but we’re hoping for the best here. [[TRAILER](] “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers”Wednesday, September 28, Disney+“The Mighty Ducks” are back, but this time without Emilio Estevez. It’s a shame because Estevez was part of what made the first season so much fun (he’s obviously a key aspect of the “Mighty Ducks” mythology). Season 2 follows the Don’t Bothers as they train in California at a summer hockey camp under a new coach, played by Josh Duhamel. These plucky underdogs are easy to root for. [[TRAILER](] “Entergalactic”Friday, September 30, NetflixBased on the music of Kid Cudi (there will be an accompanying album released on the same day), “Entergalactic” was originally announced as an animated series before evolving into a feature-length “special.” The all-star voice cast includes Cudi, Jessica Williams, Timothée Chalamet, Macauley Culkin and Keith David, with an art style equally indebted to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and Netflix’s own “Arcane.” This might be this year’s coolest animated project. [[TRAILER](] “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”Friday, September 30, Apple TV+Peter Farrelly, one of the directors of “Dumb and Dumber,” who would go on to direct the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Green Book,” returns for his next feel-good awards contender. “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is also based on a true story; this time it’s the unbelievable tale of John “Chickie” Donohue (Zac Efron), who sneaks into Vietnam to deliver ice-cold beers to his old buddies who are fighting in the war. Bill Murray and Russell Crowe co-star. Your mom will love it. [[TRAILER](] “My Best Friend’s Exorcism”Friday, September 30, Prime VideoBased on the novel by Grady Hendrix, “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” should, at the very least, scratch that “Stranger Things” itch (it’s an itch that intensifies near Halloween, we know). Elsie Fisher plays Abbie, whose best friend (Amiah Miller) becomes demonically possessed after an acid trip goes very, very wrong. (The film is set in the ‘80s. Maybe it should have been a cocaine bender?) Produced by “Freaky” and “Happy Death Day” filmmaker Christopher Landon and directed by TV vet Damon Thomas, this “Jennifer’s Body”-inspired horror comedy should be a fun new addition to your Halloween programming. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] That does it for this week’s edition of The Wrap’s Summer TV Watch List. If you aren’t a subscriber, you can fix that by [signing up here](. Any suggestions for an upcoming premiere, finale or re-watch? [Drop us a line!](mailto:inquiries@thewrap.com) [- - -] [Update your profile]( | [View our privacy policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Sent from: TheWrap | 1808 Stanford Street | Santa Monica, CA, 90404 | attn: Email Coordinator [TheWrap]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you are no longer interested you can [unsubscribe instantly](.