Adrien Brody leads the latest Stephen King TV adaptation, Chapelwaite
Plus, Showtime’s Work In Progress and Spike Lee’s NYC Epicenters
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, August 22nd. All times are Eastern.
Chapelwaite (Epix, 10 p.m.): Adrien Brody and Emily Hampshire star in a series adaptation of Stephen King’s short story “Jerusalem’s Lot,” set in 1850s Maine. As Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya writes, “Unlike some other recent entries into the King TV universe, the prolific author’s writing services aren’t offered here. Jason and Peter Filardi spin their own tale that deviates from and expands on the short story while borrowing its tone and scope… The Filardis take the premise of a family’s curse from the original short story and dial it up a few notches, yielding a haunted-house-meets-folk-horror tale steeped in intergenerational trauma and grief. At the heart of things is Charles Boone (Adrien Brody), who in the original work navigates a mysterious mansion with only his manservant for company. Here, he’s given a family. After a disturbing prologue, Charles’ wife dies at sea, shattering the lives of her husband and their three children. The surviving Boones move to Preacher’s Corner, Maine, where a massive house has been left to Charles by his dead cousin.” WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
Work In Progress (Showtime, 11 p.m., season-two premiere): Danette Chavez wrote about the brilliant and empathetic turns of the first season: “It’s rather appropriate that The L Word’s sequel series, Generation Q, is the lead-in for Work In Progress on Sunday nights. The L Word help paved the way for a show like [Abby] McEnany’s, but like Generation Q, Work In Progress is also offering more nuanced LGBTQ+ representation than their predecessor did. ‘180 Almonds”’doesn’t mention Shane or Jenny or any of the other women of The L Word, but it does raise the androgynous specter of Pat, the Julia Sweeney/Saturday Night Live creation that ultimately made gender nonconforming people like Abby the butt of many cruel jokes. Don’t take my word for it, take McEnany’s—she co-wrote the episode that sees her stand-in talk about the harmful effects of that Saturday Night Live character with the very person who originated the role.” We’ll have more on season two as it unfolds.
Regular Coverage
DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow (The CW, 8 p.m.)
The L Word: Generation Q (Showtime, 10 p.m.)
Wild Card
NYC Epicenters: 9/11 -> 2021 1/2 (HBO, 8 p.m.): Try not to cry while watching this trailer. A four-part documentary essay from director Spike Lee, Epicenters includes first-person accounts from the likes of Busta Rhymes, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Steve Buscemi, and Rosie Perez, alongside first responders, paramedics, and one of the developers of the COVID-19 vaccine (!) to review everything that’s happened in New York in the past 20 years, from 9/11 to the COVID pandemic, to the Black Lives Matter protests. The first two episodes premiere tonight, with the two episodes airing every Sunday leading up to the finale on September 11.