If, like me, you are craving a return to a bit of normalcy as we start to see some light at the end of a pandemic tunnel, let’s try starting off with some viewing and listening escape options in our Pop Life Chronicles world.
This past year definitely has been a lesson in learning how to pivot.
Because while things are progressing, we are still very much in a global pandemic — and these shows aren’t going to watch themselves.
For your weekend
Three things to watch:
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4
Praise be!
Based on the dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, the series has become a major hit for the streaming service.
“June (Elisabeth Moss) strikes back against Gilead as a fierce rebel leader, but the risks she takes bring unexpected and dangerous new challenges,” according to a description of season four from Hulu. “Her quest for justice and revenge threatens to consume her and destroy her most cherished relationships.”
Get ’em, June!!!
‘Lucy the Human Chimp’
Janis Carter took on the huge task of trying to help Lucy the chimp — raised as a human — integrate into the wild.
This documentary tells the story of “an unbreakable friendship across the divide between species” that begins with an experiment in 1960s suburban America and ends decades later in a remote African jungle.
The documentary is streaming now on HBO Max, which is owned by CNN’s parent company.
‘Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse’
When are the bad guys going to learn you can’t just kill people’s loved ones and get away with it?
Kelly, aka John Clark, is adapted from one of the most popular characters in Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe of novels — and it’s a great look for Jordan.
The film starts streaming Friday on Amazon Prime.
Two things to listen to:
Now, Michaels is focused on making her own.
The singer-songwriter debuts her first full-length album, “Not in Chronological Order,” on Friday.
So are we, Sis. So are we.
You can take the woman out of New Orleans, but you can’t take New Orleans out of Dawn Richard.
“Second Line” is out Friday.
One thing to talk about:
Sometimes it feels like the internet is determined to strip every single bit of fun out of everything.
It was fun, and Close appeared to be an especially good sport to have done it, given that she already had lost out on an Oscar for the eighth time. (Like, seriously, Academy. What is it going to take?!)
Was the moment of levity scripted?
Almost certainly. We smelled the show’s musical director Questlove all over it.
Not everything needs to be debated.
Something to sip on
Ratings for the show were dismal, dropping 58% from last year’s telecast.
Theories abound as to why. My take is that one person’s “relaxed awards show with stars at home” is another person’s unwanted peek behind a curtain that reveals the great, all-powerful Oz isn’t quite as great as we thought. (Google that reference if you don’t get it.)