Apple TV Plus transports Isaac Asimov’s Foundation from page to screen

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, September 24, and Saturday, September 25. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

Foundation (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman, this science-fiction series is based on Isaac Asimov’s novels of the same name. It chronicles an epic thousand-year saga of a band of exiles known as The Foundation, who discover that the only way to save the Galactic empire from destruction is to defy it. When revolutionary Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, he ventures to the far reaches of the galaxy with a band of loyal followers in an attempt to rebuild and preserve the future of civilization. The cast includes Lee Pace, Alfred Enoch, Terrence Mann, Leah Harvey, and Laura Birn. Nick Wanserski will be recapping the series weekly. Season one premieres with two new episodes.

Midnight Mass (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Mike Flanagan’s limited series considers religion both as a horror subgenre and as a philosophical question, blending cinematic tributes to films like The Exorcist with serious-minded monologues about faith. On the more intellectual side, Flanagan explores the theme from a handful of angles, including addiction recovery programs and prayer in public schools. When it comes time for sturm und drang, however, the writer-director turns to monsters and miracles, the ‘signs and wonders’ the Bible attributes both to Jesus and to ‘false prophets’ who ‘shall deceive the very elect.’” Here’s the rest of Katie Rife’s review.

Regular coverage

Ted Lasso (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Leila Latif is tapping into the ninth season premiere.

Wild cards

Curse Of The Chippendales (Discovery+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): This four-part documentary series unravels the dark saga of the infamous male-stripping club Chippendales, founded by Indian immigrant Steve Banerjee in 1979. Filmmakers Simon and Jonathan Chinn interview former Chippendale employees and law enforcement officers, and use archival footage to showcase the club’s rise, involvement with crime, and eventual downfall. Keep an eye out for a review of the series on the site later today.

Goliath (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): In the fourth and final season of this legal drama, Billy Bob Thornton returns as down-and-out lawyer Billy McBride, despite last season’s cliffhanger in which he was shot and left for dead. He will now face off against leaders of the opioid industry, played by J.K. Simmons and Bruce Dern. The season also stars Haley Joel Osment, Nina Arianda, and Tania Raymonde.

Wolfboy And The Everything Factory (Apple TV+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Inspired by the work of visual artist Toff “Wirrow” Mazery, the animated series follows Wolfboy (Kassian Akhtar), an imaginative oddball who discovers a strange realm at the centre of the earth where fantastical beings called Sprytes create things for the natural world on the surface. With his newfound friends, Wolfboy learns to use the creative energy of the Everything Factory and plays a central role in an age-old battle between the forces of creation and destruction. The voice cast includes executive producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lilly Williams, and Archie Yates.

Movie night

Birds Of Paradise (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Sarah Adina Smith’s Birds Of Paradise, about two American dance students competing for a slot in the Paris Opera Ballet, has the boilerplate tensions, the trauma (a twin’s suicide), the overbearing parent. Of the two main characters, Kate (Diana Silvers), is the naïve one who’s come to Paris on scholarship. Marine (Kristine Forseth) is the glamorous one who smokes and knows her way around. We are reminded, as in all movies about ballet, that dancers’ feet are too horrific for the camera to even look at; that the teachers and coaches are manipulative and cruel; that dance is torture. The thought arises, as it often does with these movies: Why are these people dancing? Wouldn’t they be happier doing literally anything else?” Read Ignatiy Vishnevetsky’s entire review here.

The Starling (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The Starling helmer Theodore Melfi broke out directing Melissa McCarthy in a similarly cloying, smile-through-the-tears type of film, 2014’s St. Vincent. At that time, the actor was working exclusively in broad comedies, and needed a role that proved that she was good at more than just pratfalls. Now it’s McCarthy who’s doing Melfi the favor—without her in the lead role, his movie would be completely unbearable. McCarthy is loyal to her collaborators, which is an admirable trait in a person but sometimes lands her in stinkers like this one. Now they’re even, and she can move on.” Here’s Katie Rife’s full review of the dramedy.