This Week in TV
Our picks for the best must-watch premieres, can't-miss finales, and currently-airing favorites hitting the small screen this upcoming week, exclusively for subscribers.
In a post-Peak TV world, it’s impossible to watch everything that’s airing across all the various streamers, networks, channels, and everywhere else. In our weekly Power Rankings, we look back on the best of the TV week that was, but here, we’re making sure you’re ahead of the game. From the most must-see premieres to our currently-airing favorites to can’t-miss finales, here is your definitive guide for what to watch on TV this coming week.
For the week of September 22nd:
Premieres:
Premieres:Matlock
Network: CBS (streaming on Paramount+)
Premiere Date: Sunday, September 22nd
The original Matlock series ran from 1986-1995 and centered on the exploits of Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith), who rocked seersucker suits, drove Crown Vics, and had a penchant for lulling witnesses into a false sense of security before delivering an end of episode “gotcha” monologue. While Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Kathy Bates) shares a surname with Ben, this new version both is and isn’t the Matlock fans of the original will remember. Matty is a 75-year-old widow left alone to raise her 12-year-old grandson Alfie (Aaron D. Harris) after the tragic death of her daughter. In debt yet still skilled, Matty uses her wits to get a job at the prestigious Jacobson Moor law firm.
Charismatic and clever, the septuagenarian is assigned to work under Olympia Lawrence (Skye P. Marshall), an attorney who takes on challenging cases no one else at the firm views as profitable. Reluctant to have someone on her team who hasn’t practiced law since 1991 but needing the help, Olympia partners Matty with her two young junior associates, Sarah (Leah Lewis) and Billy (David Del Rio). Keeping the original series’ folksy charm and blending it with completely new ideas, CBS’ new take on Matlock is an addictive, fun twist on the classic show. —Terry Terrones [Full Review]
Murder in a Small Town
Network: FOX (streaming on Hulu)
Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 24th
The winningly blunt title of FOX’s first scripted international co-production, Murder in a Small Town, doesn’t just suggest the cozy calm of small town life shattered by vengeance and fatality, it also summons impressions of characters we’re going to see. There’s gonna be burnt-out newcomers from crime-ridden cities, bumbling locals with golden hearts, sparkly love interests not prepared to get hurt again. Someone will be divorced, someone will be unshaven. The big city detective’s sharp skill-set will be welcome for a town not used to two major crimes within a calendar year; the urban expatriates will welcome the slower pace of a sensitive, non-metropolitan life. Rossif Sutherland is Karl Alberg, the new police chief in Anywhere, British Columbia and a mild-mannered divorcee with a tall, broad build and lightly unconfident slouching posture. When he butts heads with retired widower George (James Cromwell), his murder investigation takes a swing for the personal.
Instead of trying to hoodwink us, the folksy joy of this first mystery is letting us soak in the bitterness and indignation of two worse-for-wear men who are suspicious of each other, even if it does all take place in the renovated kitchens of over-lit coastal cottages. If head writer and executive producer Ian Weir makes the series as actor-focused as the slight but charming first episode, then audiences who want to solve crimes and switch their brain off should be thrilled. Thrilled might be the wrong word—they’ll feel a warm, pleasant glow. —Rory Doherty [Full Review]
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