Winter TV Watch List: 'Party Down' Returns and Eugene Levy Travels the Globe

Plus, Christoph Waltz as a horrible boss and David Harbour gets his ghost on No images? [Click here]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556351;uid={EMAIL}7217604;click=winter_tv_watchlist_top; [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of February 18 – 24 Now that the Big Game is done and the Oscars are a little ways away, we can govern our weekend watching habits as we wish, free of a live event showing up and interrupting things. And thankfully there are plenty of options this week, with a creepy new Prime Video series starring Christoph Waltz, a new Apple TV+ show with international intrigue (led by Vincent Cassel and Eva Green, no less) and the return of “Outer Banks,” “Bel-Air,” and after a 10+ year absence, “Party Down.” Plus a new horror comedy starring David Harbour and Eugene Levy traveling the world. What more could you want? On with the television! [Premiere of the week] “The Consultant”Friday, February 24, Prime Video [The Consultant] Photo: Prime Video Bentley Little is one of the greatest horror writers of all time and one of the least adapted. In fact, the last time one of his stories was adapted, it was for television as one of the episodes of Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” (the episode itself was pretty iffy). Now, the man who Stephen King once called the “horror poet laureate” has a splashy new Prime Video series based on his 2017 novel “The Consultant.” Developed and wholly written by “Servant” creator Tony Basgallop, with a premiere episode directed by “WandaVision” auteur Matt Shakman, “The Consultant” concerns a struggling software company who hires an outside consultant (played by Christoph Waltz) to solidify their business. He does that. But he also might be a harbinger of evil. So there’s some tradeoff there. Nat Wolff (from “The Fault in Our Stars” and the underrated live-action “Death Note” movie) and Brittany O’Grady (who was so memorable in the first season of “The White Lotus”) co-star. It’ll be interesting to see Little’s fiction brought to life in such a big way and it’ll be just as fascinating to watch how audiences respond to his purposefully elliptical storytelling style. Mystery ahoy! [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7217604;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Mayfair Witches”Thursday, February 23, AMC+ [mayfair-witches-alexandra-daddario] Photo: AMC+ For years, adaptations of Anne Rice favorites were planned and then discarded. But then AMC had the idea to adapt multiple novels and build connective tissue between them, just as Rice had done in her novels. And the results have been a resounding success. “Mayfair Witches,” part of what is being labeled as Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, has just been renewed for a second season, which means that its storylines and those played out on “Interview with the Vampire,” mainline AMC’s breakout hit, could soon intermingle in all sorts of wonderful ways. And we’re always rooting for Alexandra Daddario who has done uniformly terrific work in shows as varied as “New Girl,” “True Detective” and initial season of “The White Lotus.” It’s good to know the witches will return. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “We Have a Ghost”Friday, February 24, Netflix Photo: Netflix In this all-ages horror story, a family (led by Anthony Mackie) moves into a spooky house where – surprise! – there’s a ghost lingering in the attic. But instead of being afraid, the family’s offbeat son (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) makes a connection with the ghost, who he calls Ernest (played by David Harbour in a wordless performance). From there, the movie veers in many different directions, all of them entertaining – there’s a social media subplot, Jennifer Coolidge shows up as a “Long Island Medium”-style psychic, the CIA gets involved. It’s a lot. But writer/director Christopher Landon, who has become an auteur of the horror comedy (and last helmed the delicious body-swapping slasher “Freaky”), keeps all of the balls in the air and actually manages an emotionally resonant conclusion. That’s tricky business, but he pulls it off. And Harbour, a favorite from “Stranger Things,” deserves a lot of credit for delivering a fully formed performance while making groans and other noises you’d more closely associated with an old haunted house sound effects record than actual acting. That guy can really do it all. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever”Wednesday, February 22, Disney+ Photo: Marvel Studios Listen, there’s not much in the way of documentaries this week, but there is a special about the music from Marvel Studios’ Oscar-nominated blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” And that’s pretty cool. The documentary charts the evolution and production of Ludwig Göransson’s score as he works with hundreds of talented musicians and travels the globe to capture the right sounds for Wakanda. The resulting score is an all-timer and it will surely be a thrill to watch it come together, piece by piece (or is it note by note?) [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7217604;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Happy Death Day,” “Happy Death Day 2U”Fubo [Happy Death Day] Photo: Universal/Blumhouse Since Christopher Landon is back this week with “We Have a Ghost,” it feels like a good time to go back to the “Happy Death Day” movies, which are absolute horror comedy gems. (And with their somewhat muted PG-13 ratings, slightly edgy fun for the whole family too!) The basic conceit of “Happy Death Day,” dreamed up by comic book writer Scott Lobdell, is basically a slasher version of “Groundhog Day,” with a victim (played by the great Jessica Rothe) waking up again, on the same day, after being murdered (on her birthday no less). The only way she can stop the endless loop is to figure out who the killer is. The sequel, written and directed by Landon, got even weirder and funnier and, as is his style, more heartfelt, as Rothe wakes up in an alternate universe where her mother is still alive and where, of course, there’s a different killer this time. Both are absolute bangers and will make you insatiable for a third installment. [[WATCH](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Bel-Air”Thursday, February 23, PeacockPeacock’s drama-based-on-a-joke-meme that was based on the Will Smith sitcom returns for its second season. What makes this second season even more fun is that Tatyana Ali, one of the stars of the original “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” joins the cast of “Bel-Air” this season. Things are getting uncomfortably meta around here! [[TRAILER](] “Outer Banks”Thursday, February 23, Netflix“Outer Banks,” the YA mystery show (with plenty of social commentary) from Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke, returns for a third season. There seems to be a lot of treasuring hunting going on and this new season comes with some extra heat, as “Outer Banks” cast member Madelyn Cline is coming off of her performance in Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” sequel “Glass Onion.” There’ll be way more eyes on the Kooks and Pogues this time around. [[TRAILER](] “Liaison”Friday, February 24, Apple TV+This could be the latest international streaming sensation. An international co-production with dialogue in both French and English with an all-star cast led by Vincent Cassel and Eva Green (!). And how’s this for an official logline? “Two agents — and former lovers — must work together to combat international cyberattacks threatening the United Kingdom while also confronting the buried secrets of their destructive relationship.” Yes please. [[TRAILER](] “Party Down”Friday, February 24 at 9 p.m., Starz“Party Down,” a charming and very funny series created by (among others) “Veronica Mars” mastermind Rob Thomas and Ant-Man himself Paul Rudd, aired for two glorious seasons on Starz before being canceled. But now the cult favorite comedy is back, with six new episodes (once again on Starz). Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ken Marino, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen and Megan Mullally are set to return, while Lizzy Caplan couldn’t return because of scheduling conflicts. Newly added to the cast, though, are Jennifer Garner, Zoë Chao and James Marsden, which is very exciting indeed. Get your pink bow tie out of storage, it’s time to do some catering. [[REVIEW](] “The Reluctant Traveler”Friday, February 24, Apple TV+This feels like a show that could have only been given the go-ahead before the current great streaming contraction, so we should probably treasure every moment of it. This is a travel show starring Eugene Levy, the 76-year-old star of “American Pie” and “Schitt’s Creek,” as he visits various locations around the world including spots in Costa Rica, Finland, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Portugal, South Africa and the United States. Sounds like a hoot. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] That does it for this week’s edition of The Wrap’s Winter 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]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556352;uid={EMAIL}7217604;click=watch-list; This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you are no longer interested you can [unsubscribe instantly](.