It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Kaitlin Olson stars in ABC’s new crime procedural High Potential. Debuting on September 17, 2024, the new drama based on the French series Haut Potentiel Intellectuel snagged the prime premiere spot behind Dancing with the Stars.
The season one cast also includes Daniel Sunjata (Power Book II: Ghost) as Detective Adam Karadec, Javicia Leslie (Batwoman) as Detective Daphne Forrester, and Deniz Akdeniz (The Flight Attendant) as Detective Lev “Oz” Ozdil. Amirah J (Shameless) plays Ava, Matthew Lamb (Smile) is Elliot, and Judy Reyes (Succession) is Lt. Selena Soto.
“Written by Drew Goddard (The Good Place) and starring Kaitlin Olson, High Potential follows a single mom with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective (Sunjata),” reads ABC’s synopsis.
“It’s so different than anything I’ve done before,” said Olson in an interview with TV Guide Magazine. “I still love a scrappy character. Morgan’s incredibly intelligent, but it tortures her. She also is a wonderful mom who cares so much about her kids. It’s a fun departure from the degenerate characters I’ve played.”
Olson went on to say that Morgan’s brain just works differently, enabling her to put together pieces of puzzles that other people may miss.
New season one episodes will air on Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT.
Daniel Sunjata, Tom Butler and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ season 1 episode 1 (Disney/David Bukach)Daniel Sunjata, Javicia Leslie, Deniz Akdeniz, and Kaitlin Olson in episode 1 (Disney/David Bukach)Judy Reyes, Daniel Sunjata, and Javicia Leslie in episode 1 (Disney/David Bukach)Daniel Sunjata in the series premiere (Disney/David Bukach)Kaitlin Olson in the ‘High Potential’ series premiere (Disney/David Bukach)Judy Reyes and Kaitlin Olson in episode 1 (Disney/David Bukach)
Blumhouse’s trailer for House of Spoils shows a chef opening the restaurant of her dreams when she’s stricken with extreme anxiety…or is it something much more sinister? Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) stars as the chef who bites off more than she can chew.
Barbie Ferreira, Arian Moayed, Amara Karan, Mikkel Bratt Silset, and Marton Csokas also star in the horror thriller from writers-directors Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy (Blow the Man Down).
“From Blumhouse, House of Spoils follows an ambitious chef (DeBose) as she opens a restaurant on a remote estate where she battles kitchen chaos, crushing self-doubts… and a haunting presence who threatens to sabotage her at every turn,” reads Blumhouse’s synopsis.
Food stylist Zoe Hegedus helped ensure House of Spoil‘s food looked Michelin star-worthy. Hegedus also served as stylist on Midsommar, Poor Things, Dune: Part 1, and Dune: Part 2.
The film’s producers include Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks, Drew Houpt, Alex Scharfman, Lucas Joaquin, and Jason Blum. Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Chris Dickie serve as executive producers.
House of Spoils will stream on Prime Video on Thursday, October 3, 2024, following the film’s world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 21st.
Briarcliff Entertainment’s official The Apprentice trailer shows attorney Roy Cohn delivering advice that a young Trump took to heart and lives by to this day. Cohn tells his protege there are three rules he needs to abide by. Number one: attack, attack, attack. Number two: admit nothing and deny everything. And rule number three: no matter what happens, you claim victory and never admit defeat.
No wonder Trump and his team are so upset about the film’s pre-election day release date.
Sebastian Stan stars as Donald Trump and Succession‘s Jeremy Strong plays Roy Cohn. The cast also includes Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan.
“A young Donald Trump (Stan), eager to make his name as a hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today,” reads Briarcliff Entertainment’s synopsis. “Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.”
Ali Abbasi directed and Gabriel Sherman wrote the screenplay.
Although the film will be released on October 11, 2024, Abbasi launched a Kickstarter campaign on September 3rd to get it into more theaters. The campaign set a $100,000 goal and just one week after its launch, it had received $301,826 in pledges. The campaign has since raised its goal to $350,000.
“We passed our first goal in under 12 hours, but we’ve only just begun! We’re in the game now and we need your help. The more support we receive, the longer The Apprentice stays in theatres, and the more people get to see the movie Trump tried to block. We’re hearing from our early supporters that they signed up because they are excited to be part of our movement,” reads the campaign’s description.
CBS’s Tracker returns for its second season on October 13, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT. Season two episode one, “Out of the Past,” was directed by Ken Olin from a script by Elwood Reid and finds Colter heading to Arkansas to search for a missing family.
Justin Hartley leads the cast as Colter Shaw, Fiona Rene is back as Reenie, Abby McEnany reprises her role as Velma, and Eric Graise stars as Bobby. Robin Weigert, who portrayed Teddi Bruin, is not returning for the new season.
“Out of the Past” Plot: While investigating the strange disappearance of a missing family whose car was found abandoned on the side of the road in the backwoods of Arkansas, Colter makes a shocking discovery about the mother’s past that leads him into the world of organized crime. Also, Reenie opens up her new law firm and enlists Velma’s help in setting up shop.
Justin Hartley returns as Colter Shaw, a trusted lone-wolf survivalist who, driven by the troubles of his past, uses his instincts to find the missing and collect rewards. Supported by lawyer Reenie Green, his business handler Velma Bruin, and tech expert Bobby Exley, Colter will stop at nothing to get the job done.
Season six of CBS’s FBI ended with Tiffany taking out Hakim, the terrorist who murdered Agent Hobbs. Season seven episode one, “Abandoned,” will find Tiffany having a tough time dealing with the shooting. Directed by Alex Chapple from a script by Mike Weiss, episode one will air on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT.
Missy Peregrym stars as Special Agent Maggie Bell, Zeeko Zaki plays Special Agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan, Jeremy Sisto is Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine, and Alana De La Garza is Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille. John Boyd plays Special Agent Stuart Scola and Katherine Renee Kane stars as Special Agent Tiffany Wallace.
“Abandoned” Plot: The assassination of a seemingly ordinary Brooklyn plumber launches the team into a globe-spanning investigation that ruffles feathers with the CIA. Meanwhile, Tiffany struggles with fieldwork in the aftermath of the Hakim case.
FBI is a fast-paced drama about the inner workings of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This elite unit brings to bear all their talents, intellect, and technical expertise on major cases in order to keep New York and the country safe. Born into a multigenerational law enforcement family, Special Agent Maggie Bell commits deeply to the people she works with as well as those she protects. Her partner is Special Agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan, a West Point graduate via Bushwick who spent two years undercover for the DEA before being cherry-picked by the FBI.
Overseeing them is Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille, who operates under intense pressure and has undeniable command authority. The team also includes Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine, the nerve center of the office whose ability to easily relate to and engage with both superiors and subordinates makes him a master motivator. The smart and outspoken Special Agent Tiffany Wallace, who spent six years with the NYPD, is partner to Special Agent Stuart Scola, an Ivy League-educated Wall Streeter-turned-FBI agent. These first-class agents tenaciously investigate cases of tremendous magnitude, including terrorism, organized crime and counterintelligence.
CBS has released the first official photos from NCIS: Origins starring Austin Stowell. Episode one, “Enter Sandman,” introduces Stowell as a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs at the beginning of his lengthy career. The new drama premieres on Monday, October 14, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT with a special two-hour premiere.
New season one episodes will air on Mondays at 10pm ET/PT.
In addition to Stowell, the latest addition to the NCIS franchise stars Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks, Mariel Molino as Special Agent Lala Dominguez, and Tyla Abercrumbie as Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo Sullivan. Diany Rodriguez plays Special Agent Vera Strickland and Caleb Foote is Bernard “Randy” Randolf. Mark Harmon is the narrator.
Episode one was written by Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, with Niels Arden Oplev directing. Executive producers include Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, David J. North, and Gina Lucita Monreal.
“NCIS: Origins follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Stowell) in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and is narrated by Mark Harmon,” reads CBS’s synopsis. “In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (Schmid).”
For an entire generation of people born in the seventies, Superman is not George Reeves or Henry Cavill. It’s Christopher Reeve.
On May 27, 1995, “Superman” was thrown from a horse and, as a result, was paralyzed from the neck down.
The story of Christopher Reeve’s life, career, accident, and amazing comeback is told in the aptly titled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Through archival footage and new interviews, directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui provide a detailed account of Reeve’s rise to fame, the tragedy that almost took his life, and the activism that followed.
The interviews in Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story include the usual suspects of fellow celebrities and political figures, but the most impactful segments are the interviews with Reeve’s three children. Bonhôte and Ettedgui are granted unprecedented and honest access to Will, Matthew, and Alexandra Reeve, and the stories they tell about their father and his struggles are raw and emotional.
The stories also, predictably, include many mentions of Dana Reeve, Christopher’s wife, who supported and cared for Reeve all through his recovery and rehabilitation. Sadly, Dana passed away from lung cancer in 2006, so all of her interviews in the film are archival, but the tales told by the children of her dedication and devotion to Christopher in his time of need are inspiring and admirable.
The way that Bonhôte and Ettedgui tell the story is unique. Rather than just march through the events of Reeve’s life chronologically, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story jumps back and forth between his pre-accident career and his post-accident activism. And it does so seamlessly, always leading from one scene to another with the perfect quote, soundbite, or piece of footage.
So the movie will go from Reeve auditioning for Superman to him not being able to breathe on his own (the documentary actually begins with Reeve’s accident). And while the juxtaposition of the Man of Steel being unable to move is jarring, it also shows both Reeve’s vulnerability and his determination. His big acting comeback came in 1998 when he did a television remake of Hitchcock’s Rear Window (and drew upon real-life experiences for the performance), but he also found a new showbiz niche in directing. He never really made much of a splash behind the camera, but just seeing him back in the industry is a sight for sore eyes.
While Dana Reeve was Christopher’s rock during all of this, the unsung hero of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is, surprisingly, Robin Williams. Reeve and Williams were classmates and best friends at Julliard, and the two actors shared a special bond. In one archival interview segment, Williams talks about visiting Reeve shortly after the accident, dressing as a doctor and wearing a surgical mask. Williams recounts exactly when Reeve realized it was him, and how he could tell just from Reeve’s eyes that his friend was laughing.
Robin Williams and his wife, Marsha, were important both to Reeve’s recuperation and to his paralysis foundation. But Reeve was also important to Williams. One of the more somber moments in the documentary comes when Glenn Close says that if Christopher Reeve hadn’t died, Robin Williams would probably still be with us.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story isn’t as tear-jerking as one might expect, mainly because it’s not a sad story. Of course it’s tragic, but the main theme is one of positivity and light in the middle of a bad situation. It’s more uplifting than depressing, which is the way Reeve would probably rather be remembered – for the way he lived, not for the way he died. And that’s what Super/Man: The Christoper Reeve Story shows: how he lived.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and thematic elements
SundanceTV’s The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer takes a deep dive into the case of Elaine Parent, the world’s most wanted woman back in the early 2000s. The three-part documentary series explores the 12-year hunt to bring Parent in, a search that was complicated by her theft of more than 20 identities.
“After a headless, handless body is discovered in a Florida canal in 1990, law enforcement begins a search for the killer which takes them all the way to London before the trail goes cold. What ensues is a string of stolen identities, wrongful accusations, and a twelve-year cat-and-mouse chase across multiple countries as authorities close in on the most wanted woman in the world,” reads SundanceTV’s synopsis. “Exploring all the crimes of Elaine Parent, The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer uncovers every potential victim and determines whether law enforcement is correct in their belief that she was a serial killer. It shows how Parent claimed an interest in numerology, and that she could predict the future with the help of key numbers, to get her victims to divulge their personal details, which she then used to steal their identities. Ultimately, The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer answers the key questions at the very heart of the story: Who was Elaine Parent? And what drove her to commit these crimes?”
All episodes of the true-crime docuseries will premiere on Thursday, October 10, 2024 on SundanceTV, AMC+, and Sundance Now.
Adam Luria directed the docuseries and serves as a producer. Executive producers include Steve Maher, Jonathan Drake, Jess Rampling, and Sam Rowden.
Poster for SundanceTV’s ‘The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer’
The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer Episodes
Episode 1 – The global hunt for ‘The Chameleon Killer’ Elaine Parent, wanted for the 1990 murder of 34-year-old Beverly McGowan. When a body is discovered in a Florida canal, law enforcement pieces together a timeline of the victim’s final days.
Episode 2 – A case of mistaken identity leads to the wrong woman being summoned to court. Law enforcement begins to piece together the back story of the Chameleon Killer and uncover a string of stolen identities.
Episode 3 – When the police follow up on a tip-off, the Chameleon Killer manages to slip through their grasp. It isn’t long before another tip-off leads the police right to her doorstep, but can she outsmart them yet again?
Oscar winner Kathy Bates (Misery) stars in CBS’s reimagined gender-swapped update of Matlock, premiering on September 22, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT. The original series starred TV legend Andy Griffith, debuted in 1986, and ran for nine seasons. New episodes of 2024’s version will air on Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT, with an encore of episode one airing on Thursday, October 10th.
The one-hour drama stars Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock, Skye P. Marshall as Olympia, Jason Ritter as Julian, David Del Rio as Billy, and Leah Lewis as Sarah. Jennie Snyder Urman wrote the show’s pilot and Kat Coiro directed. Bates, Snyder Urman, Coiro, Joanna Klein, Eric Christian Olsen, and John Will serve as executive producers.
“Matlock stars Emmy and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian who achieved success in her younger years and decides to rejoin the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases. Matty is assigned to Olympia (Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker with a thirst for justice, Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Ritter), the son of the head of the firm, is intrigued by Matty and her clever skills,” reads CBS’s synopsis. “As Matty endeavors to establish herself in her new high-stakes world, she works alongside the firm’s younger associates – the charismatic Billy (Del Rio) and the uber-ambitious Sarah (Lewis).”
In a recent interview with New York Times, Bates revealed Matlock will be her final project. “Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” said Bates. Bates described the series as her “last dance.”
The trailer for Hold Your Breath teases that if the wind and the dust don’t get you, the Grey Man will. And if he does get you, he’ll make you do terrible things.
American Horror Story‘s Sarah Paulson leads the cast of Searchlight Pictures’ horror film premiering on October 3, 2024 on Hulu. Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes), Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive), Alona Jane Robbins (Law & Order), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) also star.
“In 1930s Oklahoma amid the region’s horrific dust storms, a woman (Sarah Paulson) is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family,” reads Searchlight Pictures’ synopsis.
Paulson researched the Dust Bowl to prepare for playing a mother who has no control over the environment as dust invades her house. “The movie, the unraveling, takes us into a different space, but the reality, the foundational circumstance of the movie, is one of a real American horror,” said Paulson in an interview with People. “This idea that you couldn’t even leave your home, and then even inside your home you couldn’t prevent the dust from getting inside.”
Karrie Crouse (Westworld) wrote the screenplay and co-directed with Will Joines. Alix Madigan and Lucas Joaquin serve as producers.
