- Marvel's Jessica Jones (Netflix)
The Art of More
Thursday, Nov. 19 (Crackle)
Series Debut: Small-time crook Graham Connor (Christian Cooke, Witches of East End) slips into the high-end art world of the super-rich—but if the dark side of the auction house doesn't sting him first, his shady secret past will. The slick and sexy Art of More is relatable to your life in no way whatsoever (sure, Graham came from nothing, but he's still ridiculously good-looking), but it's deeper than you'd expect luxury porn to be, and the supporting cast (Dennis Quaid, Kate Bosworth and Cary Elwes) ain't bad for a streaming service you've barely heard of, either. Given the app/network's (appnet?) recent surge in original programming, looks like reports of parent company Sony's lack of interest in Crackle are greatly exaggerated. Also: There's now really Too Much TV.
Marvel's Jessica Jones
Friday, Nov. 20 (Netflix)
Series Debut: It's going to be tough to follow-up a series like Daredevil, especially with a lesser-known character like Jessica Jones—but Marvel's too big to fail, so why worry? Based on Brian Michael Bendis' darkly fantastic Alias series, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is an ex-superhero trying to lead a relatively normal existence as a private detective, even though most of her clients end up being of the super-powered variety. Also impeding her process of powering down and fitting in: Jessica has more issues than, well, the Marvel Universe. Considering Netflix's Daredevil revelation, as well as the show's creator (a former Dexter writer) and the solid cast behind the always-winning Ritter (David Tennant, Carrie-Anne Moss and future Luke Cage Mike Colter), Jessica Jones is another gritty smack upside the head. Or in the SUV door, whichever you prefer.
The Man in the High Castle
Friday, Nov. 20 (Amazon Prime)
Series Debut: In an alternate universe where the Germans won World War II, early-'60s USA is halved into the Greater Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States—yes, of course there's an underground resistance working to take back 'Merica. The Man in the High Castle's production and attention to detail is impressive, with Ridley Scott bringing the 1962 Philip K. Dick novel to full-blown life even as the lead actors appear lifeless (could have done better than Pretty Little Liars' Luke Kleintank and Mob City's Alexa Davalos). Atmosphere and high concept mostly win out, however, and just set aside any Danger 5 nutty-Nazi memories—this is serious business!
Northpole: Open for Christmas
Saturday, Nov. 21 (Hallmark)
Movie: The crime here isn't that Hallmark is dropping a new Christmas movie on Nov. 21—it's that the network already began the jingle-blitzkrieg three weeks ago! On Halloween! Northpole: Open for Christmas is just another one of the Mad-Libbed holiday-rom-com-shot-up-with-fuzzy-feels treatises on the True Meaning of Christmas that we've come to expect/endure from Hallmark (and ABC Family, Lifetime, et al) every year the millisecond a leaf turns brown. Says here: "Dermot Mulroney stars as Ian, a small-town handyman who comes to the aid of Mackenzie (Lori Loughlin) to help restore a cherished local inn she inherited, but wants to sell. Unbeknownst to Ian and Mackenzie, Santa sends his trusted elf Clementine (Bailee Madison) on a special mission to help Mackenzie rebuild and rediscover the magic of the holidays." By not selling her rat trap? Maybe she wants out of this money pit and into a new condo on the gentrified side of town, next to the microbrewery and the artisan crepery! You don't know, Santa! Damned hippie ...
The Last Man on Earth
Sunday, Nov. 22 (Fox)
Final New Episode of 2015: Or maybe ever? Fox's revamped schedule (coming in January, because who cares about December?) will involve moving Brooklyn Nine-Nine back to Tuesdays to help New Girl save Grandfathered and The Grinder, debuting two-years-on-the-shelf animated series Bordertown on Sundays, kicking off the final American Idol death march, reinstating The X-Files and pretending Minority Report never happened, but no plans for The Last Man on Earth. It's too weird to slot anywhere but Sunday among the cartoons, and too healthily (relatively) rated to outright cancel. Glimmer of Hope: Last Man's "replacement," Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life, is even worse than the title suggests. Tandy and the gang could/should be back by February.
Listen to Bill on Mondays at 8 a.m. on X96 Radio From Hell; weekly on the TV Tan podcast via iTunes and Stitcher.
