Fall TV Watch List: William Gibson Sci-Fi and Comedy's Dark Side

Fall TV Watch List: William Gibson Sci-Fi and Comedy's Dark Side No images? [Click here]( [- - -] [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of October 15 – 21 Ready to get your brain scrambled? Because this week we’ve got a new, mind-bending show from the creators of “Westworld,” a fantasy film set in a faraway realm where good and evil are personified, a movie where Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor play long lost half-brothers (how has this casting not happened before?) and a documentary continuing the story of weird sex cult NXIVM. If that isn’t making your neurons fire, then the long-awaited return of “American Horror Story,” “Documentary Now!” and “Unsolved Mysteries” should. On with the television! [Premiere of the week] “The Peripheral”Friday, October 21, Prime Video [the-peripheral-chloe-grace-moretz] Photo: Prime Video For an author as influential and successful as William Gibson, the man who coined the word cyberspace and created a whole sub-genre (alongside Neal Stephenson) called cyberpunk, he has baffling few of his works adapted for the screen. (The most notable – or perhaps infamous – was the pre-“Matrix” Keanu Reeves vehicle “Johnny Mnemonic.”) But now Gibson is getting an adaptation that suits his work – a prolonged series, able to get into all the nooks and crannies and circuit boards that make his fiction so special. “The Peripheral,” based on the 2014 novel of the same name (the beginning of a new, as-yet-concluded trilogy), stars Chloë Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher, a young woman who lives in a future version of the United States and whose brother (Jack Reynor) formerly served in the Army as part of a VR squad. But there’s a second storyline, set even further in time in a mostly abandoned London. There’s murder, mystery and the kind of big-picture puzzle-box myth-making favored by executive producers Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy (HBO’s “Westworld”). The show was created and executive produced by Scott B. Smith, the novelist and screenwriter behind “A Simple Plan” and “The Ruins.” We’re ready to jack in. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7108193; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Dark Side of Comedy”Wednesday, October 19 at 9 p.m., Vice [Dark Side of Comedy] Photo: VICE “Dark Side of the Ring,” the excellent documentary series that explored the tragic stories behind some of wrestling’s biggest names and scandals, has inadvertently spawned an entire franchise. “Dark Side of Comedy,” which used the formula established by “Dark Side of the Ring” to chart some of comedy’s bleakest moments, concludes tonight with an episode devoted to Maria Bamford. This is sort of strange given that a) she is still alive and b) seems to be flourishing, having used her stand-up to work through a number of personal traumas and shortcomings. But we’re sure that the hour-long documentary will offer some nice tidbits about the performer Judd Apatow once called “the funniest woman in the world.” Still, the laugh/cringe ratio established by earlier episodes in the series will probably be maintained. [[EPISODES](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The School for Good and Evil”Wednesday, October 19, Netflix [the-school-for-good-and-evil-charlize-theron-kerry-washington] Photo: Netflix It’s been a while since there’s been a new “Harry Potter”-challenging young adult fantasy spin-off featuring lots of movie stars and the promise of subsequent installments. (Did “The Mortal Engines” not kill off this sub-genre for good?) The latest attempt, “The School for Good and Evil,” is based on the novels by Soman Chainani and directed by Paul Feig. Sofia Wylie and Sophia Anne Caruso star as two young girls who venture to the aforementioned School for Good and Evil. The movie’s impressive supporting cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Kerry Washington, Ben Kingsley, Charlize Theron and Cate Blanchett (as the movie’s velvet-voiced narrator). Whether or not this will connect with young audiences or simply be a vaguely Halloween-y curio remains to be seen. The fact that there are five more books in the series at least suggests franchise potential. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Mama’s Boy”Tuesday, October 18 at 9 p.m., HBO [Mama's Boy] Photo: HBO Directed by Laurent Bouzereau (HBO’s “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind”), “Mama’s Boy” is an adaptation of Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black’s 2019 memoir and follows Black as he travels “back to the places where he grew up, Black explores his childhood roots, gay identity and close relationship with his mother, who overcame childhood polio, abusive marriages and Mormon dogma, while becoming Black’s emotional rock and, ultimately, the inspiration for his activism” (according to the official synopsis). If you’ve read all of that without welling up, you’re stronger than us. This new doc features interviews with Black, members of his extended family and his husband, Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7108193; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Scream Queens”Hulu [Scream Queens] Photo: Hulu With a new entry of “American Horror Story,” Ryan Murphy’s flagship horror show, coming later this week (see below), why not revisit an earlier, more gleefully silly take on the genre? You know, as a little Halloween treat? Created by Murphy and regular collaborators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan (the three also wrote the entire show), “Scream Queens” is a winking whodunit with a sardonic edge and (pardon the pun) a killer cast led by Emma Roberts, Skyler Samuels (in season 1), Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Billie Lourd, future “Top Gun” standout Glen Powell and the Scream Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis. (Between the two seasons, you’ll also get appearances from Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas, Niecy Nash, Kirstie Alley, Alan Thicke, Roger Bart and John Stamos.) Does it make much sense? No. Is it a ton of gory fun? Definitely. And what’s more – Murphy has recently been talking about wanting to revive the series. We’d trick-or-treat for an entire year to make it happen. [[WATCH](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The Vow, Part Two”Monday, October 17 at 9 p.m., HBOReady to rejoin NXIVM? The HBO documentary series, about the infamous self-improvement-turned-sex cult, returns (incredibly), this time catching up with the federal trial against Keith Raniere, the cult’s weirdo leader. You might be groaning about the show returning, arguing that the first season was already too long and meandering. And honestly, you’re probably right. But Season 2 has landed a big fish by securing extensive interviews with NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman. [[TRAILER](] “Unsolved Mysteries”Tuesday, October 18, NetflixBilled as a “three-night event,” Netflix’s resurrection of the immortal true-crime show tackles everything from missing persons cases to UFO experiences. The Netflix revival also eschews the network format — this time there’s no trenchcoated host/narrator and each episode follows a single mystery. Among the standouts is an exploration of a rambunctious Las Vegas entrepreneur who wound up dead in a seedy motel and “Body in Bags,” the tale of a young woman who likely murdered her boyfriend and then fled (she’s still missing!) Keep the hotline handy; you could help solve a mystery. [[TRAILER](] “American Horror Story: NYC”Wednesday, October 19 at 9 p.m., FXIs it even Halloween without a new installment of “American Horror Story”? For the 11th (!) season, the show heads to New York City! It’s unclear what approach the new season will take, especially since last year was divided into two separate, thematically disparate halves. But Murphy has tackled current events head-on before; remember the chilling, post-Trump season “Cult”? Could he have an equally haunting vision for COVID-era America? One thing we know for sure: “AHS” veterans Billie Lourd, Isaac Cole Powell, Zachary Quinto, Sandra Bernhard, Patti LuPone, Denis O’Hare, Leslie Grossman, Rebecca Dayan, Nico Greetham and Dot-Marie Jones appear alongside newcomers Joe Mantello, Russell Tovey and Charlie Carver. Sounds like a scream. [[TRAILER](] “Documentary Now!”Wednesday, October 19 at 10 p.m., IFCThe documentary spoof series you didn’t know you needed has finally returned, this time with new takes on “Burden of Dreams,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “The September Issue” and “When We Were Kings,” proving that, yes, the show could get even more esoterically niche. This season, Alexander Skarsgard, Nicholas Braun, Cate Blanchett, Jonathan Pryce, John Rhys-Davies, Harriet Walter and Jamie Demetriou star (Demetriou also directs his episode). Fred Armisen makes multiple appearances, which isn’t surprising. [[TRAILER](] “Raymond & Ray”Friday, October 21, Apple TV+Time for a good, old-fashioned tear-jerker. Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke star as half-brothers who reunite at their father’s funeral, having both had tempestuous relationships with him. Expect some healing and some additional hurting. Written and directed by the great, underrated Rodrigo García (“Things You Can Tell by Looking at Her”) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón, “Raymond and Ray” could be a low-key powerhouse. [[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](.