Winter TV Watch List: Perry Mason Has a New Case and Luther Gets a Movie

Plus, the finale of "Poker Face" and a doc about the disappearance of Flight MH370 No images? [Click here]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556351;uid={EMAIL}7224119;click=winter_tv_watchlist_top; [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of March 4 – 10 March is here (incredibly) and with new rules for Emmy voting in effect, it means that there will be a ton of quality content being released in the next few months to secure their eligibility. That means that we will be eating very well. And this week is no different, with a new season of HBO’s “Perry Mason,” the big finale of Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face,” and documentaries about a missing airplane and a seedy Hollywood private eye. What’s more, we’ve got a “Luther” movie and, incredibly, a limited series follow-up to Mel Brooks’ “History of the World.” An overstuffed week, for sure. On with the television! [Premiere of the week] “Perry Mason”Monday, March 6 at 9 p.m., HBO Photo: HBO Back in the summer of 2020, “Perry Mason,” a new version of the iconic television commercial, debuted on HBO as a limited series. Far exceeding whatever preconceived notions viewers might have had, it was a quietly devastating period drama, set in the time period that the original Erle Stanley Gardner novels were written. In 1930s Los Angeles, Perry Mason (Matthew Rhys) starts off as a morally nebulous private detective before transitioning into the fabled defense attorney. It was so good, in fact, that it went from a limited series to an ongoing show. And nearly three years later, it’s back. As season 2 begins, Mason has his own firm, with constant sidekicks Della Street (Juliet Rylance) and Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) and a humdinger of a new case – a wealthy socialite and businessman is murdered and the suspects are a pair of immigrant kids. This new season has a bigger scope and larger cast (including Hope Davis and Sean Astin), with even more intrigue and vice in the City of Angels in the years leading up to World War II. This season was overseen by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, who created Steven Soderbergh’s frustratingly short-lived period medical drama “The Knick.” Ready to take the case? [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7224119;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Poker Face”Thursday, March 9, Peacock [Poker Face finale] Photo: Peacock “Poker Face,” created by Rian Johnson and starring Natasha Lyonne, has been one of the most enjoyable new series of the year. Lyonne plays a woman named Charlie, who has the uncanny ability to tell when people are lying. This gets her into hot water and she has to go on the run; most of the season involves her drifting from place to place and getting involved in various murder mysteries. But in the big finale, Charlie has to face her past (chiefly the very scary mob boss played by Ron Perlman and his henchman played by Benjamin Bratt) and figure out how to move forward. The less said, the better. But you can know that things get very hairy and that the next season (already ordered by Peacock) is set up tantalizingly well. We can’t see what mysteries Charlie stumbles upon next time. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Luther: The Fallen Sun”Friday, March 10, Netflix [luther-the-fallen-sun] Photo: Netflix “Luther,” the beloved BBC detective series starring Idris Elba as Detective John Luther, ran for five seasons and 20 episodes between 2010 and 2019. A film had been floated by creator and writer Neil Cross (who in a Sisyphean, Taylor Sheridan-ish way, wrote every single episode) as early as 2013, following the broadcast of the third season. But serious discussion didn’t begin until 2020 after the fifth season finale. And now “Luther: The Fallen Sun” is finally here. Co-starring the great Cynthia Ervino as a detective tasked with bringing Luther in and Andy Serkis, as a tech billionaire serial killer using his vast technological reach to target victims, this feature-length thriller should delight longtime fans and new converts alike. But will this be the final “Luther” case or will there be more? The only way to find out is to watch. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “MH370: The Plane That Disappeared”Wednesday, March 8, Netflix [MH370] Photo: Netflix Set to premiere on the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – a Boeing 777 that simply vanished. This intricately researched three-part documentary devotes each installment to a theory about what happened to the plane (and the 239 passengers on board). What’s so frustrating (and bizarre) is that each theory feels more credible and believable than the last, even as some fringe characters (like an offbeat treasure hunter) begin to enter the picture. And while the hypotheses are gripping, the real heart of the documentary comes from the interviews with people who had lost loved ones on the plane, including a man whose entire family (wife and children) are among the missing. It is still one of the strangest, most tragic mysteries in aviation history. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7224119;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Perry Mason”Paramount+ [Perry Mason] Photo: CBS The original “Perry Mason,” starring Raymond Burr as the title character, began life in 1957. (As a point of comparison, the new HBO series is comprised of eight episodes; that first season on CBS ran for 39 episodes.) And as far as legal dramas go, it’s one of the most popular and longest lasting. While the show ran for nine seasons, until 1966 (and after a whopping 271 episodes), it has been in near-constant rotation since, appearing in syndication and on cable channels in the decades that followed. While it lacks the grit of the new series, the courtroom sessions are still as gripping as they ever were. Objection! [[WATCH](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia”Sunday, March 5 at 9 p.m., CNNTechnology can rise and fall so, so quickly. Take HQ Trivia for instance. Remember the app? The live trivia games? The sense that almost everybody was playing it? And now, just a few years after its launch, it’s totally defunct. So what happened? Well, this new CNN documentary (which will stream on HBO Max starting in April) looks to find out. [[TRAILER](] “History of the World, Part II”Monday, March 6, HuluHow’s this for a streaming event? “History of the World, Part II,” a follow-up to Mel Brooks’ gonzo 1981 film “History of the World, Part I” will stream over the course of the week. On Monday, two episodes of the new limited series will stream, with two episodes streaming each night for the next three nights. By the end of the week, you’ll have all eight episodes, which feature a who’s-who of contemporary comedy talent including Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Sarah Silverman, Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas, Lauren Lapkus, Zazie Beetz, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio, Danny DeVito, D’Arcy Carden, Pamela Adlon, Jake Johnson, Richard Kind and Josh Gad. It’s good to be the kings. [[TRAILER](] “Chang Can Dunk”Friday, March 10, Disney+Everybody loves a good heartwarming Disney sports movie right? In the tradition of “The Mighty Ducks,” “Remember the Titans” and “McFarland, USA,” comes “Chang Can Dunk.” Bloom Li plays Chang, who is picked-on in high school but who is determined to slam dunk. There’s a first love subplot, a superstar sports player who serves as Chang’s rival and, we’re assuming, some uplifting tunes on the soundtrack. Watch on a sleepy Sunday night for maximum “Wonderful World of Disney” vibes. [[TRAILER](] “The New York Times Presents: Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano”Friday, March 10 at 10 p.m., FX and HuluThese “New York Times Presents” documentaries are always killer. The latest, in a series that has also included unfiltered looks at Britney Spears and Elon Musk, focuses on Anthony Pellicano, the weaselly Hollywood private detective whose downfall Vanity Fair described as “Hollywood’s Watergate.” This two-part documentary follows the seedy investigator who “didn’t operate within the law to hide the sins of the rich and powerful” (according to the official synopsis). Pellicano’s client list was very long and very powerful. [[ANNOUNCEMENT](] “UnPrisoned”Friday, March 10, HuluThis sounds delightful. The latest project from Hulu and Disney’s Onyx Collective has an intriguing, hilarious sitcom “follows a therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves to her house to live with her and her teenage son” (according to the official plot summary). What makes this premise even better? Kerry Washington plays the single mother and Delroy Lindo is her father. Sounds great right? [[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]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556352;uid={EMAIL}7224119;click=watch-list; This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you are no longer interested you can [unsubscribe instantly](.