TV Watchlist: 'Fargo' Finally Returns and the 'Squid Game' Reality Show Gets a Green Light

Plus: "Fear the Walking Dead" comes to an end on AMC and Adam Sandler has a new Netflix animated film Week of November 18– 24 Happy Thanksgiving! There are few holidays where stuffing your face and zonking out in front of the television set is as celebrated as Thanksgiving. And the networks and streamers have plenty to keep you occupied while you digest your turkey or are avoiding your annoying family members. We’ve got a long overdue new season of “Fargo,” the end of “Fear the Walking Dead,” and an animated movie where Adam Sandler plays a 75-year-old lizard (“Leo”). Plus a new doc on JFK, a dark comedy about a murderous obituary writer (“Obituary”) and a “Squid Game” game show (yes seriously). Plus so much more! Ready to dig in (remember to come back for seconds)? On with the television! Fargo Tuesday, November 21 at 10 p.m., FX Source: FX “Fargo” returns! The improbably great, snow-covered series, adapted from the Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning film of the same name by Noah Hawley, returns almost three years after the final episode of the last season aired. True to the twisty nature of the series, this season is set in 2019 (last season was set in 1950) and follows a seemingly demure midwestern housewife (played by “Ted Lasso” favorite Juno Temple) whose shadowy past starts to reveal itself. Hawley said that he was inspired by William H. Macy’s wife in the original film; he wondered what would have happened if she never wound up with that bag on her head, in the company of criminals? With this new season, we’ll find out. Jon Hamm stars as a sheriff hot on her tail, with supporting characters played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery, Lamorne Morris, Richa Moorjani and Dave Foley. Expect double-crosses, unexpected reveals, and bright red blood against moon-white snow. Will this season intersect with any of the previous seasons or the original film? There is only one way to find out. For now, we’re just thankful that the show is back. It’s a pre-Christmas miracle. [[TRAILER](] Fear the Walking Dead Sunday, November 19 at 9 p.m., AMC/AMC+ Source: AMC You know what they say – the only thing to “Fear the Walking Dead” is “Fear the Walking Dead” itself. We had to use that joke because “Fear the Walking Dead” is reaching its conclusion, with the two episodes airing Sunday on AMC (and concurrently on AMC+) serving as the series finale for the “Walking Dead” spin-off that started way back in 2015. (It was the first spin-off of the groundbreaking zombie series.) Since then, the show has aired more than 100 episodes (!) and served as the highwater mark for what a “Walking Dead” spin-off could be – first acting as a prequel of sorts and then a companion series, running parallel to the events of the main series with characters from that show becoming players in the spin-off. As for the series finale, we’ll throw it back to the original poster for “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and ask: who will survive? And what will be left of them? [[TRAILER](] Leo Tuesday, November 21, Netflix Source: Netflix Leo (voiced by Adam Sandler) is a grade-school iguana who, after 74 years inside a terrarium, longs for life outside of the classroom. But after he starts getting taken home by the kids and helping them with some of their problems, he soon learns that maybe his place is among the children. “Leo” was co-written and produced by Sandler, with his longtime collaborator Robert Smigel co-writing the script and directing with David Wachtenheim and Robert Marianetti. (Together they had all worked on “Hotel Transylvania 2.”) Handsomely produced and moving, “Leo” is something of a surprise, a movie whose sweetness sneaks up with you and one where emotionally rich storytelling exists next to bonkers flourishes and laugh-out-loud jokes. It’s an intoxicating confection. “Leo” is one of the very best animated movies of the year. Get ready to fall in love with a weird old lizard. [[TRAILER](] Kennedy Saturday, November 18 at 8 p.m., History Source: History As we said last week, with the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, there are going to be a ton of new documentaries and specials that are going to look at his life, his legacy and his tragic demise. The History Channel’s entry looks like a fuller portrait of the man, a three-night documentary event from filmmaker and composer Ashton Gleckman. Boasting “rarely seen footage” and over 70 new interviews, including with his niece Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eileen McNamara and long-time member of the JFK Library Foundation's Board of Directors Conan O’Brien (yes, that Conan O’Brien), this could wind up as one of the definitive Kennedy documentaries. And don’t worry, there will be more, we’re sure. [[TRAILER](] JFK Tubi Source: Warner Bros. Kennedy has appeared or been a figure in countless television series and movies. But none have had the power of Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning historical thriller “JFK,” which follows the investigation of a dogged New Orleans district attorney (played with blustery brio by Kevin Costner) into the Kennedy assassination years after the case was supposedly closed. There’s just nothing like “JFK” – it synthesizes several conspiracy theories, knotting them together into a single, spellbinding thread, with more movie stars than you can adequately get a handle on (among them: John Candy, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Walter Matthau, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner and Martin Sheen). It also has an all-timer of a John Williams score. Sure, the machinations of the plot to kill Kennedy are what keep you on the edge of your seat, but it’s the sadness of all the hope and promise that went away on November 22, 1963, that really stick in your heart. And if you’re a real “JFK” head, a new deluxe 4-disc home video set from Shout! Studios will be out next month. [[WATCH](] Source: Peacock “Obituary” Tuesday, November 21, Hulu How’s this for a sticky premise? Siobhán Cullen stars as a young obituary writer whose job is on the line. Her solution? To start killing people in her small Irish village. Need we say more? This could very much fill the void that was left by “Killing Eve.” Bring it on. [[TRAILER](] “Genie” Wednesday, November 22, Peacock From Ursula to Aladdin? “The Little Mermaid” remake star Melissa McCarthy appears as an immortal genie in this Peacock original film, a remake of a 1991 British television film called “Bernard and the Genie.” The original film’s screenwriter Richard Curtis has returned to script the new film, which is set at Christmas (Curtis’ “Love Actually” is always a staple this time of year) and also stars Paapa Essiedu as Bernard, the man who awakens the genie. This looks like good, silly fun for the whole family. What more could you wish for? [[TRAILER](] “Good Burger 2” Wednesday, November 22, Paramount+ Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunite for “Good Burger 2,” a sequel to the 1997 which was directed by Brian Robbins, who now runs all of Paramount. The original film, of course, was based off of a sketch from the Nickelodeon series “All That,” which imagined “Saturday Night Live” for kids. Jillian Bell, Lil Rel Howery, Flula Borg and Carmen Electra also star. Nostalgia reigns. [[TRAILER](] “Squid Game: The Challenge” Wednesday, November 22, Netflix The South Korean thriller is adapted as a British game show, with contestants vying for an eye-watering, record-breaking $4.56 million. The fact that “Squid Game” is being reformatted for a jolly game show is … something. Especially given its Thanksgiving launch. Curl up around the television and watch a real-life “Squid Game.” Of course there’s only one way to find out how it all plays out. And that’s to watch. [[TRAILER](] “Frybread Face and Me” Friday, November 24, Netflix This coming-of-age comedic drama, executive produced by Taika Waititi, “Frybread Face and Me” is set in 1990 and follows Benny “a Native American boy growing up in San Diego who plays with dolls and listens to Fleetwood Mac.” His world is turned upside down when, one summer, his parents send him to stay with his grandmother on the reservation in Arizona. It’s there that he connects with his cousin, Frybread Face, “a pudgy 11-year-old vagabond, tough-as-nails tomboy.” This sounds delightful. Sign us up. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](