TV Watchlist: Taylor Sheridan Has a New Show and Michael Fassbender Is 'The Killer'

Plus the finale of "Loki," the season premiere of "For All Mankind" and Brian Cox hosts a James Bond game show Week of November 4 – 10 Yee-haw! With Halloween in the rearview, the spooky programming is in the rearview mirror. That means an even more diverse group of new shows, movies and documentaries are here. The big new show this week is “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” the latest western from Taylor Sheridan, this time focusing on the title character, a legendary lawman (played by David Oyelowo). There’s also a new David Fincher movie with Michael Fassbender (“The Killer”) and new installments of “Planet Earth,” “For All Mankind” and “The Santa Clauses.” Plus a new JFK documentary and a James Bond game show. Not a ghoul or goblin in sight! On with the television! Lawmen: Bass Reeves Sunday, November 5, Paramount+ Source: Paramount+ Ready for another new Taylor Sheridan-produced Western? Because it’s here. Initially developed as a spin-off to “Yellowstone” universe prequel “1883” before becoming the start to a new potential franchise, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” attempts to tell the story of Bass Reeves, a legendary lawman and one of the first Black U.S. Marshals. David Oyelowo stars as Reeves and produces the series, bringing depth and complexity to a character that could have been a two-dimensional fable. Creator/writer Chad Feehan tracks Reeves, who starts the show as a slave forced into serving the Confederate army before becoming one of the most legendary lawmen ever. Reeves also served as the inspiration for the Lone Ranger, with Feehan and his collaborators having fun with the established iconography. (Look at that poster – doesn’t that horse look a lot like Silver?) Part rousing history lesson, part superhero origin story, part American folk tale, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” is an adventure big enough to, at the very least, fill the void until “Yellowstone” finally comes back. Giddy up! [[TRAILER](] Loki Thursday, November 9, Disney+ Source: Disney+ The second season of Marvel Studios’ “Loki” has been a wild ride. And it’s a testament to the unpredictability of this year, which once again follows Loki (Tom Hiddleston), as he tries to untangle the multiverse and save not just our timeline but all timelines, that we have no idea how the final episode will play out. We do know that Loki, having re-assembled the key players following the destruction of the TVA, will attempt to travel backwards through time and save the world(s). Will he be successful? Or will Loki and his motley crew end up causing further complications? However the finale plays out, hopefully this won’t be the end of “Loki.” The third season could take place in the future. Or the past. Or within another timeline altogether. [[TRAILER](] The Killer Friday, November 10, Netflix Source: Netflix David Fincher returns. The filmmaker behind such darkly hued modern classics as “Zodiac,” “Gone Girl” and “Seven” is back with “The Killer,” based on a French comic book series of the same name by Alexis "Matz" Nolent and Luc Jacamon. Michael Fassbender plays the title role, an anonymous assassin who, after a hit goes wrong, seeks revenge. It’s perhaps Fincher’s most straightforward and deceptively simple movie yet, but there’s plenty underneath the surface, from Fincher’s willing deconstruction of the “cool guy” hit man trope (dating back at least to 1967’s classic “Le Samouraï”) to his barbed commentary on the gig economy and the brutality of freelancing. In the title role, Fassbender exhibits machinelike precision, which is perfect for an exquisitely crafted movie like this, allowing the supporting performances (from Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard and Tilda Swinton) to fill in the necessary color. Fincher and his team of regular collaborators, including cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, editor Kirk Baxter and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, all put in exemplary work. Watch this one as soon as it beams onto Netflix. It’s a movie that everybody will be talking about. [[TRAILER](] Planet Earth III Saturday, November 4 at 8 p.m., BBC America Source: BBC This eight-part nature documentary series follows 2016’s “Planet Earth II” and 2006’s “Planet Earth.” It is once again presented by David Attenborough, now 97 years young, and once again follows animals in the farthest reaches of our glorious planet Earth. As far as trilogy-ending cappers go, “Planet Earth III” should be pretty spectacular. [[TRAILER](] Mindhunter Netflix Source: Netflix If you’re craving more David Fincher-orchestrated darkness, why not revisit his brilliant Netflix series “Mindhunter?” Based on the nonfiction book by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, the show tracks the birth of FBI profiling and ran for two seasons in 2017 and 2019. The series stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv, who are navigating uncharted waters in the documentation and analyzation of serial killers. The series starts in 1977, with the term serial killer in its infancy, with the second season charting the Atlanta child murders case. Profound and profoundly scary, a number of killers make their way into the show, including Charles Manson, Edmund Kemper aka the Co-ed Killer and David Berkowitz aka the Son of Sam, along with wraparound segments that stretch between the first and second season documenting the early crimes of the BTK Killer Dennis Rader. It’s fascinating and absolutely gripping. The fact that it never got its third season is nothing short of a tragedy. We need more of “Mindhunter.” [[WATCH](] Source: Apple TV+ “JFK: One Day in America” Sunday, November 5 at 8 p.m., Nat Geo This month marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. There will be plenty of new JFK-related material, including this three-part series that has new interviews with people who were actually in Dallas on that fateful day. Will it challenge the official story? Probably. The truth is out there. [[TRAILER](] “The Buccaneers” Wednesday, November 8, Apple TV+ Based on the unfinished final novel by Edith Wharton, this eight-episode British production follows “the arrival of a group of American women into 1870s London society results in a culture clash, with two differing approaches to tradition.” The new series was written largely by Katherine Jakeways and directed by Susanna White, who has helmed episodes of “Billions,” “Andor” and “Boardwalk Empire” (among others). The cast includes Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Josie Totah, Imogen Waterhouse and Christina Hendricks. Blimey! [[TRAILER](] “The Santa Clauses” Wednesday, November 8, Disney+ Tim Allen returns as Santa Claus in the second season of the popular Disney+ series, with another six episodes of yuletide adventures. This year Santa faces off against Magnus Antas aka the Mad Santa (Eric Stonestreet). Can Santa defeat his new nemesis and make sure the world gets the Christmas they deserve? And will he be able to squeeze in a few quips about how “woke” everything has gotten? We think the answer to both questions is a resounding yes, followed by some mild, doglike grunting. [[TRAILER](] “007: Road to a Million” Friday, November 10, Prime Video Hosted by Brian Cox, this new game show follows “nine pairs of everyday people are unleashed on an epic global adventure through a series of Bond-inspired challenges, for a shot at winning a life-changing £1,000,000 prize.” Among other things “007: Road to a Million” is the first nonfiction series based on the James Bond franchise, created by Ian Fleming, and the first live-action Bond series. Could a live-action narrative Bond series be far behind? Only time will tell! [[TRAILER](] “For All Mankind” Friday, November 10, Apple TV+ One of television’s greatest series, “For All Mankind” returns for its fourth season. Set in an alternate history version of the United States, where Russia beats America to the moon and is subsequently embroiled in a seeming never-ending space race, each season is set 10 years into the future. Meaning that this season is set in the early 2000s, with many of the characters we were introduced in season one bordering on the geriatric. (New cast members include Daniel Stern and Toby Kebbell.) If you’ve never seen the show, it’s one of the most exciting, most endlessly fascinating series in recent memory – and distant future. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](