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Primetime Picks… 9/26/19

Sep 26, 2019 Posted by in Features | Comments

Tonight, streaming service Shudder kicks off the new horror anthology series Creepshow, from showrunner Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead). The series is a based on the classic 1982 film of the same name, featuring short eerie, twisted tales from some well-known writers and directors. It’s of the same vein as Tales From the Crypt, except instead of the Cryptkeeper, here the stories are framed by brief moments with the bony The Creep, who cackles as the stories come to life via pages of a comic book. Each episode features two 22-minute tales, with the 6-episode first season being released weekly live and on demand Thursdays at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

The first tale in tonight’s premiere, “Gray Matter”, features an all-star cast, and is based on a short story by Stephen King. In a small town in the 1970s, a category 4 storm is brewing. Longtime best friends Doc (Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul) and Chief (Tobin Bell, Saw) are helping to batten down the local general store for owner Dixie (Adrienne Barbeau, the original Creepshow film). A young boy named Timmy (Christopher Nathan) walks in, looking scared. His father Richie (Jesse C. Boyd, Hap and Leonard) had sent him out to fetch more beer, and Timmy is afraid to go back home. So Doc and Chief decide to go check on Richie, whose drinking has gotten out of control. But what they find is even worse than they could have imagined.

In the second tale, “The House of the Head”, a young girl named Evie (Cailey Fleming, The Walking Dead) loves taking care of the family of three that resides in the giant dollhouse in her bedroom. However, she starts to notice that The Smithsmiths appear to be in different locations whenever she looks away from the dollhouse and comes back. She also discovers a freaky dismembered head in one of the rooms, and the head appears to be terrorizing the family. Believing the dollhouse to be haunted, she tries all sorts of things to help the Smithsmiths, but things just seem to get worse, and even more terrifying for this plastic family. The episode also stars Rachel Hendrix and David Shae (The Haunting of Hill House) as Evie’s parents, and Guy Messenger as toy shop owner, Mr. Ogman.

The first of tonight’s two tales, which is more of a metaphor for alcoholism and how it can quite literally turn people into monsters, didn’t quite work for me—it was a bit too short to effectively build the story/earn its ending. Though the episode does have some amazing actors, and some cool creature work by the talented Greg Nicotero. I enjoyed the second story a lot more. Who would have thought inanimate characters inside a dollhouse could be so creepy and evoke such concern for their well-being?! The episode does an excellent job of building and ratcheting up the tension, and it had me freaked out and on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got a chance to talk about the series with the showrunner and some of the amazing cast, including two of the folks in tonight’s first tale. Some of the upcoming episodes sound really cool, and I look forward to checking out more of the series. You can read/listen to my interviews from the press room here.

 

Also premiering tonight is one of my favorites of the season’s new comedies, Perfect Harmony, which is a bit like Pitch Perfect meets Sister Act meets Glee. Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) stars as Arthur Cochran, the former chair of the Princeton Music department, who resigned due to student complaints. He had reluctantly headed back to Kentucky where his terminally ill wife wanted to spend his final days. Now that she’s gone, he was contemplating ending his own life, looking for a sign, when he happened upon a church choir in desperate need of his assistance. He soon meets the mix of odd-ball choir members, including diner waitress Ginny (Anna Camp, Pitch Perfect), her soon to be ex, Wayne (Will Greenberg, Wrecked), immigrant Reverend Jax (Rizwan Manji, The Magicians, Schitt’s Creek), gentle giant Dwayne (Geno Segers, Banshee), and Adams Adams (Tymberlee Hill, Drunk History, Search Party).

I’m not sure where the series will go after the pilot, but tonight’s episode had me laughing quite a bit. I really love these wacky characters, each with his or her own unique quirk. There are also some really fun and interesting dynamics between the members of the choir, as well as Arthur’s hilarious sarcasm towards them. It looks like the series could have a lot of humor and heart as Arthur helps them be better singers, the choir will also help him be a better, less angry person. There is a lot of humor that cam be mined out of this situation and these characters—I see the series more like an ensemble hangout comedy like Community or Mr. Sunshine.

 

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Grey’s Anatomy, A Million Little Things, Young Sheldon, The Unicorn, Mom, Carol’s Second Act, Evil, Superstore, The Good Place, and Sunnyside.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including the series premieres of Evil & The Unicorn and the season premieres of The Good Place & A Million Little Things, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 9/26/19 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.