TV Watchlist: Billy Crystal Gets Dramatic for Apple, Netflix Rolls Out 2 New Docs

Plus "What We Do in the Shadows" begins its final season and the finale of "The Old Man" Plus "What We Do in the Shadows" begins its final season and the finale of "The Old Man" Week of October 19 – 25 Fall is still creeping on and with the changing foliage and Halloween decorations, we also get a fresh crop of movies and television series that are worth staying inside for. We’ve got a high-profile new Apple TV+ series starring Billy Crystal (“Before”), a new Prime Video action movie starring Kate Beckinsale (“Black Canary” on Prime Video), plus an Australian take on “Yellowstone” (“Territory” on Netflix), a heart-tugging Netflix documentary (“The Life of Ibelin”) and a new documentary on the Zodiac killer (“This is the Zodiac Speaking” on Netflix). And it's the beginning of the end for “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” On with the television! Before Friday, October 25, Apple TV+ Source: Apple TV+ It makes sense that Billy Crystal would join the high-profile world of streaming. But unlike his old buddies Martin Short and Steve Martin, who star in the mostly hilarious “Only Murders in the Building,” Crystal is taking a much darker route. Apple describes the series as a “supernatural mystery,” with Crystal (who also executive produces the new series) as Eli, a child psychiatrist whose latest client (Jacobi Jupe) has a “haunting connection to Eli’s past.” (Did we mention that Eli’s wife, played by Judith Light, recently died under questionable circumstances?) “Before” was created, executive produced and largely written by Sarah Thorp, with Oscar-winner Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump,” “Dune”) executive producing as well. With a cast that also includes Rosie Perez, Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia and Ava Lalezarzadeh, and some effectively intriguing marketing materials (plus the inherent draw of Billy Crystal in a dramatic role) and , well, we’re very interested in what happens … “Before.” [[TRAILER](] The Old Man Thursday, October 24 at 10 p.m., FX Source: FX The second season of “The Old Man” returned more than two years after the initial season ran. And it’s unclear if the heat from that first season carried over into the second (and whether we’ll see any more). If you didn’t watch “The Old Man,” it starred Jeff Bridges as a defunct spy who is drawn back into his old life with a former colleague (John Lithgow) starts to hunt him. Based on the Thomas Perry novel of the same name, “The Old Man” delivered major thrills and smart storytelling, which allowed its impressive cast (which includes Alia Shawkat, Jessica Harper, Joel Grey, Bill Heck and Amy Brenneman) to give texture and nuance to what could have otherwise been a more standard issue spy show. There’s not much “The Old Man” couldn’t do. Let’s hope he gets to do it for years to come. [[TRAILER](] Don’t Move Friday, October 25, Netflix Source: Netflix “Don’t Move” really is the stuff of nightmares. Kelsey Asbille, of “Yellowstone” fame, plays a young woman grappling with the death of her young son. While on a hike where she contemplates taking her own life, she is injected with a paralytic agent by a serial killer (Finn Wittrock from “American Horror Story”). He tells her that she’ll have minutes, then maybe a few seconds, to actually move her body. Then it’ll shut down. Not only can she not run away; she can’t even scream for help. Pretty wild right? Adam Schindler and Brian Netto direct from a white knuckler of a script by T.J. Cimfel and David White. And the relatively young team has a genre juggernaut in their corner, with actual legend Sam Raimi producing. It’s the kind of movie that so fully puts you in Asbille’s shoes that you can’t help but spend the entire runtime wondering what you would do in a similar situation. Not excessively gory or profane, “Don’t Move” is just a simple thriller that will make your skin crawl, in the best possible way. Don’t miss it. [[TRAILER](] The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Friday, October 25, Netflix Source: Netflix This sounds like a fascinating, heartwarming documentary. But you’re probably going to want to have the tissues handy. A young Norwegian man named Mats Steen was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. When he passed away, at the age of 25, his family discovered that he wasn’t living a life that was isolated and defined by his illness. In fact, in the thousands of hours that he spent playing World of Warcraft, he had become a beloved part of a vast online community. When he died, those who had connected with him through the game reached out to his family to disclose the richness of the hidden life that he led. Directed by Benjamin Ree, this new documentary “takes a posthumous deep dive into Steen’s digital life, interviewing his best friends and competitors and plumbing the Steens’ own archives. The film takes us on a journey through the breadth of Mats Steen’s adventurous online life, introducing us to Ibelin, his charismatic World of Warcraft persona, and underscores how community and soulful relationships can transcend the boundaries of the physical world.” No, you’re crying! [[TRAILER](] Star Trek: Lower Decks Paramount+ Source: Paramount+ “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” which returns on Thursday, October 24 for its fifth and final season (traditionally, “Star Trek” shows would last for 7 seasons but that was back in the prehistoric days of syndication), was a “Star Trek” series like no other. For one, it was the first animated “Star Trek” show since 1974, when “Star Trek: The Animated Series” went off the air after two seasons. And for another, it focuses on the rank-and-file of a starship (in this case the Starship Cerritos – in this show all of the ships are named after crummy California towns), the “lower decks” where all the engineers, middle-managers and goof-offs work. Created by Mike McMahon, a veteran of “Rick & Morty” and “Solar Opposites,” and featuring a killer voice cast that includes Jack Quaid, Tawny Newsome and Jerry O’Connell, it is one of the undeniable highlights of the new era of “Star Trek.” If you haven’t watched yet, you can catch up and still enjoy this final season. Boldly go. [[WATCH](] Source: Prime Video “What We Do in the Shadows” Monday, October 21 at 10 p.m., Hulu Time to say goodbye to your favorite Staten Island vampires. “What We Do in the Shadows,” the series adaptation of the equally excellent 2014 feature, is returning for its sixth – and final – season. This one is going to be tough. There isn’t a series on television as delightfully committed to its own oddball sensibilities (well, maybe “I Think You Should Leave”). Over the years it has become one of the most dependable, funniest shows on TV and its absence will leave a massive, bat-sized hole. Hopefully, they’ve saved the best for last. [[TRAILER](] “This Is the Zodiac Speaking” Wednesday, October 23, Netflix One of the most likely suspects in the Zodiac killings, which kept the Bay Area in a state of fear between December 1968 and October 1969, was Arthur Leigh Allen. San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist and Zodiac hunter Robert Graysmith wrote the case against Allen in his two books – “Zodiac” and “Zodiac Unmasked.” And director David Fincher included Graysmith’s hypothesis in his 2007 masterpiece (where Jake Gyllenhaal played the cartoonist). This new, three-part Netflix documentary (directed by Ari Mark and Phil Lott) goes into the connection between Allen and the Zodiac and – crucially – features testimony from Allen’s family. For likeminded Zodiac-heads, this is one of the most anticipated streaming events of the year. [[TRAILER](] “Canary Black” Thursday, October 24, Prime Video Kate Beckinsale plays a tough-as-nails CIA agent working overseas, whose husband is kidnapped, forcing her into a compromising situation. She’s forced to steal a secret document (the titular “Canary Black”) from the agency’s hard drive; otherwise, her civilian sweetie will be killed. And honestly, “Canary Black” looks like a ton of fun – it’s got a pleasingly all-star supporting cast that includes Rupert Friend, Saffron Burrows, Goran Kostić and one of the final performances from the late, great Ray Stevenson; it was shot by legendary French cinematographer Thierry Arbogast; and it was directed by Pierre Morel, a protégé of Luc Besson’s and the filmmaker behind the first “Taken” film. Honestly, we’ll probably never get another “Atomic Blonde” movie. Might as well enjoy what comes our way instead. [[TRAILER](] “Like a Dragon: Yakuza” Thursday, October 24, Prime Video Based on the 2005 video game published by Sega, “Like a Dragon: Yakuza” “depicts the lives of fierce yet passionate gangsters and people living in a huge entertainment district, Kamurochō, a fictional district modeled after the violent Shinjuku ward’s Kabukichō, that acts as the backdrop of the gameplay,” according to the official release. The new series, which is set in both 1995 and 2005, “showcases modern Japan and the dramatic stories of these intense characters, such as the legendary Kazuma Kiryu, that games in the past have not been able to explore.” Ready to play? [[TRAILER](] “Territory” Thursday, October 24, Netflix How did it take this long for somebody to make “the Australian ‘Yellowstone?’” Well, all that matters is that they finally have. According to Netflix, the new series, which stars “Fringe” (and “Mindhunter”) favorite Anna Torv, “follows the fight for power in the remote and unforgiving Australian outback when the world’s largest cattle station is left without an apparent heir. Imagine the family drama of your favorite prime-time soap, but set in a region so rough and remote that nearly everything can kill you.” We are so in. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](