The first official day of fall may still be days away and temperatures may have some of us feeling like we’ll be stuck in a perpetual summer, but if coffee chains are already doling out their new menu of overly complicated, highly caloric and occasionally delicious spiced seasonal drinks, we’re not going to fight it either.
Coinciding with the holiday weekend that commemorates achievements that, in part, helped establish a framework for a better work-life balance, the Sunday print issue of The Times’ Entertainment section is a handy guide to the recreational respites on the horizon this fall across TV, film, music, books, and the arts. And in this week’s newsletter, we’re compiling the TV and film elements for our screen enthusiasts who like to have something to look forward to when life is life-ing too hard.
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If you’re a television lover, our writers have shared their picks for the 18 TV shows they’re excited to watch this fall — including new series like “Brothers,” the Apple TV drama that reunites “True Detective” stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson playing fictionalized versions of themselves, and “Cupertino,” the latest legal drama from Robert and Michelle King that centers on a law firm taking on cases for everyday people against tech giants; plus new seasons of “The Diplomat,” “The Hunting Wives” and “Yellowjackets.”
Senior writer Greg Braxton also takes a look at “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga,” a spinoff of FX’s drug drama that shifts its focus from the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles to the rise of the 1990s West Coast hip-hop and rap scene. It centers on “Snowfall” character Wanda Bell (Gail Bean) and her attempt to make it in the music industry with the help of her cousin Lamar Kinsey (Asante Blackk). In reflecting on the new series, Bean said: “The ’90s was a great time. We’re looking at what it was like for rappers coming up. It was fun, sometimes reckless. They had no idea where it was going. But there was an awareness and responsibility knowing all these eyes were on you. The talent was within them, and the community was rooting for them.”
Alijah Kai, left, Maleah Joi Moon and Kennedi Reece in Netflix’s “A Different World.”
(Daniel Delgado Jr. / Netflix)
Meanwhile, I spent some time with Debbie Allen and Felicia Pride, two of the creative minds behind the long-gestating sequel to “A Different World.” Three decades after the groundbreaking sitcom ended, Netflix is revisiting Hillman College, the famous fictional historically Black college from the series, with a new class of students. Allen returns as an executive producer and Pride showruns the series, which has morphed into a single-camera dramedy that blends nostalgic callbacks with Gen Z storylines about mental health, activism and threats to HBCU funding. Pride told me about her goals for the series: “I wanted the show to feel of now. I also wanted it to be intergenerational…. That’s why I’m so glad that we were able to have the legacy cast in the show — I wanted it to have the heart.”
To keep the screen time going, our film team has compiled their selections for 17 fall movies they can’t wait to see — films like “Digger,” the movie from writer-director Alejandro González Iñárritu that has Tom Cruise looking pudgy as a Texas oilman, and “Wicker,” the romantic comedy fairy tale about a lonely outcast (Olivia Colman) who commissions a local basketmaker to, uh, weave her a studly husband (Alexander Skarsgård) — the trailer already has me side-eyeing the basket section on my visits to HomeGoods.
John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell in “Wild Horse Nine.”
(Diego Araya Corvalan / Searchlight Pictures)
Josh Rottenberg also spoke with John Malkovich about his new film, “Wild Horse Nine.” Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the black comedy follows two CIA agents, played by Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, sent to Easter Island just before the 1973 Chilean coup. Malkovich’s turn as Chris, the eccentric and aging veteran, already has awards prognosticators predicting his return to the Oscars race. “I think I have emotional similarities to Chris,” Malkovich shared. “To reflect on what you’ve done and what you haven’t done is a natural phase when you near the end of your life.”
And film editor Josh Rothkopf wrote about L.A.-based viral comedian-turned-Cannes darling Jordan Firstman. After breaking out during the pandemic with his satirical impression videos and making the rounds in shows like Rachel Sennott’s “I Love LA” and Sebastián Silva’s 2023 dark comedy “Rotting in the Sun”, Firstman is making his feature film directorial debut with “Club Kid,” which he also scripted and leads. Shot on 35mm and also starring Cara Delevingne and Diego Calva, the film centers on a queer New York party promoter blindsided by unexpected fatherhood. Firstman told Rothkopf: “My dream is for people to be like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe how much I’m relating to this film that has nothing to do with my life.’ That’s always been the goal for me.”
Also in this week’s Screen Gab, a brief reminder about an epic milestone in the TV galaxy: the 60th anniversary of “Star Trek.” Live long and prosper … and read on.
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Break down
Times staffers chew on the pop culture of the moment — love it, hate it or somewhere in between
Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in the “Star Trek: The Original Series.”
(CBS)
If you’re looking for ways to spend your binge windows this weekend, maybe it’s worth beaming back in time with “Star Trek” [Paramount+] and its various TV and film offshoots.
Tuesday will mark six decades since the franchise first premiered on television and there are various local and global events and celebrations commemorating the milestone, including a free outdoor screening of the “The Man Trap” — the first broadcast episode of “Star Trek: The Original Series” — at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles on Monday. Another recent event brought members of TV’s current shining star into the Trekkie universe to put their spin on the same episode. Last Sunday, cast members of “The Pitt” — including Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Shabana Azeez, Fiona Dourif and Ayesha Harris — and other guests performed a live read of the 1966 script, written by George Clayton Johnson, as part of RetroReads, the Writers Guild Foundation’s series that benefits the organization’s writing and mentorship program.
“The Pitt” actors Fiona Dourif, left, Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa participate in WGF RetroReads Presents: “Star Trek 60th,” featuring a reading of “The Man Trap,” live from Lodge Room in Los Angeles.
(Liezl Estipona / Writers Guild Foundation)
The episode follows Capt. James T. Kirk, Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy as the USS Enterprise visits a planet to check on an archaeological team, which consists of a professor and his wife, Nancy, who also happens to be an old flame of Dr. McCoy’s. As crew members begin turning up dead, they discover a salt-hungry, shape-shifting alien is in their midst. I attended the event at Highland Park’s Lodge Room and got to live in the fever dream as Wyle channeled his best Capt. Kirk, LaNasa read as Dr. McCoy, Dearden as Spock and Dourif shape-shifted in real time as amorous Nancy Crater, McCoy’s ex, Harris as Lt. Nyota Uhura and Azeez as Lt. Hikaru Sulu. There are many more celebrations in store for fans.
We’re also reflecting on the anniversary next week. My colleagues Tracy Brown and Jevon Phillips spoke to numerous current and former “Trek” actors, as well as loyal fans, to discuss the show’s legacy. Be sure to check that out when it publishes on Tuesday.
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