Spring TV Watchlist: Ali Wong Has 'Beef', Brooke Shields Gets Candid

Week of April 1 – 7 This week we are given a true cornucopia of streaming options – from a brand new series from A24 (starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, no less) to a documentary about the life of Brooke Shields to a cute Netflix movie where a kid befriends an adorable Chupacabra (yes, actually). And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg! We’ve also got a new season of “Schmigadoon,” a “Grease” prequel series and a documentary about Boris Becker’s fall from grace. Truly, an embarrassment of riches! On with the television! Beef Thursday, April 6, Netflix Source: Netflix From recent Academy Award powerhouse A24 and Netflix comes “Beef,” a show that pretty much everyone will be talking about (especially on Twitter). “Beef” follows Amy (Ali Wong), a well-to-do business owner and Danny (Steven Yeun), who get into a road rage incident that steadily escalates as the show goes along, liberally mixing comedy and drama (along with some overtly thriller-y elements). That’s pretty much all you need to know going in and all you should know; the beauty and power of the series is in the way it unfolds, in sometimes startling, sometimes unexpectedly emotional ways. And there are few performers as inherently watchable as Wong and Yeun, as you root both for and against them (sometimes in the same scene). Creator Lee Sung Jin, who also wrote or co-wrote most of the episodes, has already been courted by Marvel Studios to re-write one of their upcoming event films (that will co-star Yeun); watch “Beef” so you can say you were there from the beginning. [[TRAILER](] Quantum Leap Monday, April 3 at 10 p.m., NBC Source: NBC “Quantum Leap” has been one of the few breakout hits on broadcast television in recent memory; before the first three episodes of the first season had even aired, NBC ordered more episodes, bringing the total to 18 episodes. (When was the last time anything aired for 18 episodes?) Before the season was finished, a second season was ordered, to begin production immediately after the first season wrapped. Plus, there’s the added, synergistic bonus of the episodes streaming almost immediately afterwards on Peacock. Not bad for a revamp of a 1980s staple, with Raymond Lee following in the footsteps of Scott Bakula (how has he not been courted back for a cameo?) If you haven’t watched the new version of the series yet, well, it might be time to take the leap. [[TRAILER](] Chupa Friday, April 7, Netflix Source: Netflix In the 1990s a young boy (played by Evan Whitten) is visiting his grandfather (Demián Bichir) in Mexico when he forms an unlikely friendship with a Chupacabra – a “goat-sucking” creature in Mexican mythology. As it turns out, this Chupacabra, who the boy names Chupa, isn’t a fearsome, vampire-like abomination but an adorable, furry, feathered creature, like a dog with wings. (A connection is made between the creature and alebrijes, the monsters in Mexican folk-art that seem to be made of disparate animals.) Clearly borrowing from ‘80s kid-befriendsly-nonhuman-creature classics like “E.T.” and “Gremlins” (“Gremlins” writer Chris Columbus produced the movie), with ‘80s icon Christian Slater basically playing a modified version of Peter Coyote’s character from “E.T.,” “Chupa” is still charming and affecting. The kids give solid performances, and the creature is well-designed and emotionally involving; you care about his plight and that he is returned to his family (of bigger, scarier Chupacabras). Directed by Jonás Cuarón, the son of Alfonso Cuarón and the co-writer of “Gravity,” “Chupa” is also gifted with more visual wit and ingenuity than most family films released these days. If you give “Chupa” a chance, you’ll be rewarded. [[TRAILER](] Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields Monday, April 3, Hulu Source: Hulu “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” charts the life and career of model and actress Brooke Shields, with the name taken from the controversial 1978 Louis Malle movie written by Polly Platt where Shields appeared, at age 12, fully nude. By using the name of that movie, it’s clear that filmmaker Lena Wilson (who also made the stunning “After Tiller,” a movie that is even more powerful now) and Shields are attempting to reclaim the title. If her agency was taken away so many years ago, now it is time to give it to the person who it should have belonged to all along. The two-part documentary initially debuted at Sundance and received rapturous reviews. Now it’s time for the rest of the world to watch. [[TRAILER](] Sliders Peacock Source: Peacock If “Quantum Leap” ending is making you super sad and you need a little parallel universe pick-me-up, you could do way worse than “Sliders,” a cult series that aired on Fox (in that coveted post-“X-Files” Friday night slot) and then on Sci Fi Channel (as it was known back then). The show follows a group of travelers (including Jerry O’Connell and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” standout John Rhys-Davies) as they “slide” between alternate universes. Like “Quantum Leap,” they are always under the assumption that the next “slide” could send them home. The universes they visit range from the fairly pedestrian (a world where Russia won the Cold War, Britain successfully quelled the American Revolution, etc.) to the more outlandish and inventive (one universe is being invaded by aliens, another is full of vampires, etc.) As the series wore on and became more serialized (and made the move to Sci Fi), some of the charm was lost in favor of extreme plotting. Still, it’s always goofy fun. [[WATCH](] Source: Paramount+ “Schmigadoon!” Wednesday, April 5, Apple TV+ For the second season of Apple TV+’s very expensive-looking musical theater send-up, instead of “Brigadoon,” the show will lampoon “Chicago” (this season is being dubbed “Schmicago”). Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong return, as do many of the performers from the first season (including Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil, Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming). If you were into the first season, chances are you’ll be over the moon for Season 2. And all that jazz. [[TRAILER](] “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” Thursday, April 6, Paramount+ If you’ve ever wondered “how did the lady gang from ‘Grease’ originally form?” then this is the show for you. Set in 1954, four years before the events of “Grease,” the show “follows four fed-up and misfit students who band together to bring out the moral panic that will change Rydell High forever and become the founding mothers of the first high school clique known as the Pink Ladies” (according to the official plot synopsis). And it’s a musical too! Sounds like fun right? [[TRAILER](] “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker” Friday, April 7, Apple TV+ This two-part documentary, directed by Alex Gibney (director of “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” and “The Crime of the Century”), follows German tennis great Boris Becker and his inevitable downfall. According to pre-release materials, Gibney and his team got unfettered access to the player up until he was sent to prison. Part one follows the athlete on his way up; part two is on his way down. This will probably be riveting and incredibly sad. But we love a good oversized sports personality documentary, don’t we? [[TRAILER](] “The New York Times Presents: The Legacy of J Dilla” Friday, April 7 at 10 p.m., FX and Hulu Just a few weeks after the great Anthony Pellicano New York Times documentary, there’s another new documentary on Hulu. Truly we are blessed. This time charting the life and death of rapper and producer J Dilla, who died at 32 of a blood disease and lupus. If this documentary is half as good as the one on Britney Spears, we’re in for a very gripping doc. [[PRESS RELEASE](] “Tiny Beautiful Things” Friday, April 7, Hulu Based on the book by “Wild” author Cheryl Strayed, which started as an anonymous advice column, the new streaming series from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine follows Kathryn Hahn as a fictionalized version of Strayed. It’s Hahn’s character who starts an advice column (sound familiar?) during a tumultuous time of her life. If that wasn't enticing enough, the show was developed by Liz Tigelaar, a veteran of “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Revenge” and “Once Upon a Time.” So there's that. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](