What to Watch This Week: September 4 to 9

From the long-awaited return of a cult-hit cartoon to a female-focused docuseries starring Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

 

1. Rick and Morty – Sunday, September 4, Adult Swim | Season Premiere

Adult SwimThere’s absolutely nothing normal about Rick and Morty, so expecting sanity to suddenly set in during season six of the show would be an exercise in futility. With that in mind, prepare for… WORMAGGEDON! 

 

2. McEnroe – Sunday, September 4, 6 p.m., Crave 1

CraveThis doc takes a deep dive into the life of John McEnroe, one of tennis’ all-time greats who rose to world No. 1 for four consecutive years, all the while battling intense bouts of perfectionism and self-doubt that manifested in tempestuous behaviour on the court.

 

3. Real Girlfriends in Paris – Monday, September 4, 7:15 p.m., Slice | Series Premiere

SliceHousewives, but make it younger and French. That seems to be the entry point to the latest reality experiment taking over the internet ahead of its debut this week. In this show, we’ll follow six Americans living the other American dream: living life large in the City of Light. Think lots of Parisian drama and French kisses as a starting point. These women are all foreigners who came for their mutual love of the city, but whether that translates into friendships that can survive the reality grind is another story entirely.

There’s Anya Firestone, the artistic and bubbly ex-pat who has been in Paris the longest. She has a degree in French cultural studies and is a licensed tour guide for French cultural venues, so she’s a world of wealth when it comes to Paris itself. According to the official show site, she’s also a mother hen who comforts the other women when they get homesick.

That flock includes Emily Gorelik, a New Jersey native who has lived in France for two years and can finally use her growing language skills to shop, date, and order in cafés. Then there’s Kacey, a Southern California belle who discovered France while taking a year off college; Margaux Lignel, a bona fide fashionista whose French parents may give her a leg up on the city; Adja Toure, who works in the beauty industry while navigating the dating scene; and Victoria Zito, who hails from Texas and is a recent divorcee.

If the trailer is any indication, these women are just as much about the high fashion and life experiences as they are about finding “zee one” and dating “nice young Frenchmen.” The real question is how they will navigate all that and more in a foreign country while bonding with this new family away from family. And we’re here to see it all play out.

 

4. Jay Leno’s Garage – Wednesday, September 7, CNBC | Season Premiere

CNBCIn the seventh season of Jay Leno’s automotive series, the former Tonight Show host brings viewers into the groundbreaking world of electric vehicles and alternate fuel sources. Along with introducing new technology, Leno will also be joined by a plethora of celebrity guests, including Tim Allen, James Marsden, Alfonso Ribeiro, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Tig Notaro, Reggie Watts, Tony Hawk, Mike Rowe, Jim Jefferies, Jeff Dunham and Diego Boneta. In addition, Elon Musk takes Leno on a tour of his SpaceX “Starbase” facility in Texas for an exclusive look at the most advanced rocket engine ever made.

“I am a huge believer in innovation,” said Leno. “This season I went down to Starbase in Texas to talk with the only person to send an actual car into outer space, Elon Musk. And Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things gets to drive some strange things as well as Brie Larson, Post Malone, Pitbull, Kelly Clarkson, Jamie Lee Curtis and racecar legend Danica Patrick comes out of retirement to drive with us in an exclusive hypercar.”

 

5. The Good Fight – Thursday, September 8, 9 p.m., W Network | Season Premiere

W NetworkAs fighting The Good Fight nears its end for Sarah Steele, she’s nothing but grateful for the experience. 

The theatre veteran originated the role of political fixer Eli Gold’s (Alan Cumming) daughter Marissa on legal drama The Good Wife, and she carried the part into this spinoff, which begins its sixth and final season on Thursday. With Christine Baranski, Audra McDonald, Michael Boatman and Nyambi Nyambi also continuing as principal cast members, and John Slattery (Mad Men) and Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) added—plus Carrie Preston reprising her Emmy-winning Good Wife role as offbeat attorney Elsbeth Tascioni—the last scripts for this always hot-button series mirror the civil unrest America has experienced lately. 

“I was so lucky to be a part of this at all,” Steele reflects. “We’ve had such a great, long run, and I’ve worked with New York City’s best actors… both the series regulars and the guests. With the calibre of the people that we were able to get, I don’t see that happening again soon. I’ve also known many people on the crew since The Good Wife, so it’s a huge loss personally to lose this workplace. Artistically, though, I feel so proud of what we did.” 

Much of Steele’s work on The Good Fight last season had her playing off Tony- and Emmy-winner Mandy Patinkin as the self-styled judge in a makeshift court. He’s not back for the show’s final stanza, but Steele believes she’s carrying forward much of what she developed in Marissa opposite him. 

“It feels very complete to me,” she maintains. “When I started playing this character, she was a kid. And I was, too. There was so much we both didn’t know, so I feel like I’ve grown up with her in a sense. I played her when I was at Columbia [University], I played her when I made my Broadway debut, and I started The Good Fight right after my journey with a play I did called The Humans. So, she has felt like home to me and something I appreciate about [executive producers Robert and Michelle King] is that they have let her evolve and change as I have.” 

Steele was gratified to win an honour earlier this year for her work on The Good Fight, but to accept it, she made a quick trip to a surprising location: Amsterdam, where she was given an international Septimius Award for best American actress. 

“That was so cool,” she enthuses. “I know the show is seen the world over, but I live only about 20 minutes away from where we filmed it. Going to Amsterdam and meeting people who see it there, I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ ”

 

6. Wedding Season – Thursday, September 8, Disney+ | Series Premiere

Disney+Are you over weddings? Do you have a soft spot for Knives Out? Do you believe it’s time the classic rom-com and murder mystery genres had a baby?

Welcome to what may very well be your new obsession. Wedding Season drops its eight-episode season this week, unfolding the story of a guy named Stefan (Gavin Drea, Vikings Valhalla) who meets and falls for an engaged woman named Katie (Rosa Salazar, Undone). Even though she falls just as hard, she refuses to leave her fiancé and goes ahead with the wedding. However, in a move that could only be inspired by Game of Thrones, Katie’s new husband and his entire family are poisoned on the wedding night, leaving Katie as the last one standing. The police think Stefan did it (he did object in the most rom-com like way, after all). Stefan thinks Katie did it (everyone was poisoned except her, after all). And Katie thinks it was her ex-husband, who seems very much the type.

Of course, the truth is something we discover as each episode plays out—with plenty of action scenes in between. As Stefan and Katie go on the run, that action spans the UK and America, with the pair intent on proving their innocence and maybe even securing that happy ending for themselves in the process. The series was written by Oliver Lyttelton (Cheaters) and directed by George Kane (Crashing). Meanwhile, the producers are the same ones that brought us shows like Broad City, Difficult People, Younger, and Search Party, in case you were trying to figure out the tone. Jade Harrison (The Stranger), Jamie Michie (Back to Life), Callie Cooke (Cheaters), Bhav Joshi (Crime), Ioanna Kimbrook (Choose or Die), and Omar Baroud (Baptiste) also star.

 

7. Cars on the Road – Thursday, September 8, Disney+ | Series Premiere

Disney+Disney’s beloved Cars is the latest animated franchise to be rebooted as a series for the Disney+ streaming service, following Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) as they head east from Radiator Springs on a cross-country road trip to meet up with Mater’s sister. Other stars lending their voices include Bonnie Hunt reprising her role as Sally Carrera, along with Lloyd Sherr, Cheech Marin and Quinta Brunson.

 

8. Gutsy – Friday, September 9, Apple TV+ | Series Premiere

Apple TV+Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea embark on a thought-provoking journey to celebrate the gutsy women who inspire them, featuring intimate conversations with trailblazing women such as Megan Thee Stallion, Dr. Jane Goodall, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson and more.

 

9. Cobra Kai – Friday, September 9, Netflix | Season Premiere

NetflixIf you thought last season’s All Valley Karate Tournament was intense, wait until you see the fallout from that spectacle as it plays out this season. With Robby supposedly gone from Cobra Kai, Kreese out of a job, and Miguel off in Mexico, the last thing anyone needs is another dojo. Yet just as Terry Silver promised, that’s exactly what’s in store.

 

10. Central Park – Friday, September 9, Apple TV+ | Season Premiere

Apple TV+It’s pretty rare in the real world for people to just suddenly break into song, but when it comes to the animated series created by Loren Bouchard, it’s a standard occurrence. Need confirmation? Consider that Bouchard also had a hand in the late, great Home Movies and remains the man behind Bob’s Burgers, which—if you’ll recall—just spawned its first theatrical movie.

Unlike those shows, however, Bouchard’s latest baby—Central Park, now entering its third season—was designed as a musical comedy from the get-go. Co-created by Bouchard, Josh Gad and Nora Smith, season three of Central Park will feature 13 episodes, with a new episode being rolled out every week through November 18. Unsurprisingly, series nemesis Bitsy continues her efforts to buy the park, but Paige lands her first book deal and Owen embarks on a new promotional campaign to make more people fall in love with the park. In fact, the campaign pays off in the season premiere, with Owen’s favourite TV series filming an episode there, but he’s quickly horrified at how they’re portraying the park.