“Forever”
Synopsis: A married couple who live a comfortable and predictable suburban life, decide to shake things up and find themselves in completely unfamiliar territory.
What You Need To Know: Even the world’s most happy and loving marriages can get caught in a rut of monotony. For twelve years, Oscar (Fred Armisen) and June (Maya Rudolph) have been floating by in content suburban stagnation but when June talks Oscar into going on a ski trip, they find themselves unexpectedly out of their comfort zone. The moral of the story? – nothing good happens on a ski slope.
Release Date: September 14 on Amazon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1w7HkOwgNQ
“The First”
Synopsis: In the near future the first human mission to Mars and steps towards interplanetary colonization is underway, and its challenges reverberate through the astronauts, their families and loved ones, and the ground team on Earth.
What You Need To Know: The infinite possibilities of space and the potential of colonization and establishing life beyond Earth are ideas that have been percolating for a while in both real-life and entertainment. So it is no wonder a streaming series examining the first mission to Mars and interplanetary colonization would attract a heavy hitter such as two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn in his first major television role. Penn plays Tom Hagerty, the lead astronaut on the Mars mission, joined by Natascha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Oded Fehr, James Ransone and Hannah Ware making up the myriad of individuals intertwined in the groundbreaking space mission. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night….
Release Date: September 14 on Hulu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngl2W_VLp1o
“Maniac”
Synopsis: Two strangers take part in a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that will solve all of their problems permanently, with no complications or side-effects whatsoever. Naturally, things do not go according to plan.
What You Need To Know: Cary Fukunaga (“Beasts of No Nation,” “True Detective”) makes a long-awaited return to directing with an adaptation of Norwegian television series of the same name by Hakon Bast Mossige and Espen PA Lervaag. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill play two patients in the last stages of a pharmaceutical trial clinical trial, led by mysterious Dr. James J. Mantleray (Justin Theroux), that promotes itself as able to repair any mental ailment. So of course, things immediately get wildly out of hand. With a cast including Sonoya Mizuno, Sally Field, Julia Garner, Jemima Kirke, and Gabriel Byrne, Fukunaga has produced a wild ride, spanning genres from high fantasy to mid-20thcentury drama, yet grounded in the relationship of two mentally and emotionally fragile individuals who make a connection that transcends time and space.
Release Date: September 21 on Netflix
“This Is Us”
Synopsis: A heartwarming and emotional story about the struggles and triumphs of a unique set of triplets and their parents.
What You Need To Know: If there were to still be a definitive “water cooler” series (aside from perhaps “Game of Thrones”) on air today, it might have to be NBC’s emotionally destructive “This is Us” which begs us to weep alongside the perpetually grieving characters. The emotions are, undoubtedly, heightened and, for the some of the damning schmaltz they’re handed to deliver earnestly, the performers are largely excellent, especially Sterling K. Brown, Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia. What remains to be seen is if the show can hold up the attention it captured when it was playing the long con game with the mystery surrounding Jack’s death with the new time jump twist.
Release Date: September 25 on NBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e51z2WQk5u4
