Marvel unpacks WandaVision, Isabel explores Isabel Allende’s life, and it’s a big movie night
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making Of WandaVision (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): It’s only been a week since the finale of WandaVision, but let’s face it, everyone still wants more. Disney+ is here to deliver with this new comprehensive documentary series that will go behind-the-scenes of all its MCU television shows once they air, starting with WandaVision. Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, the rest of the cast and the creative team will pull back the curtains on how the production’s surprising concept took shape by drawing inspiration from classic sitcoms.
Isabel: The Intimate Story Of Isabel Allende (HBO Max, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The series will delight the author’s fans through and through. Even viewers unfamiliar with Allende are likely to find the tale of a mom trying to figure out a balance between work, life, military resistance, and exile engrossing, despite some of the production’s shortcomings.” Read the rest of Ines Bellina’s review of this limited series here.
Movie night
Kid90 (Hulu, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): In this documentary film, Punky Brewster’s Soleil Moon Frye shows hundreds of hours of footage she took as a teenager in the ’90s while growing up in Hollywood and New York City, balancing childhood and fame pre-internet and social media explosion. She will be joined by fellow child stars who give commentary of their own experiences, including David Arquette, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Brian Austin Green, and more.
Yes Day (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The difficult negotiations of childrearing might have been a fine subtext—something to occupy the attention of parents in the audience—for a comedy so unmistakably family-oriented in tone. But in Yes Day, that element of the story is less of a side dish served for a more mature palate than the whole entrée.” Here’s Charles Bramesco’s full review of Yes Day, starring Jennifer Garner and Edgar Ramirez.
Cherry (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): “This is a film with nothing new to say about love, war, trauma, addiction, crime, or America. It blows through these topics on a bender of hyper-stylization, indifferently twisting its true story into the shape of other, better movies.” Read the rest of A.A. Dowd’s review of this Russo brothers-directed movie here. It stars Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, and Jack Reynor.
Paper Lives (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): In this Turkish drama, Mehmet runs a solid waste warehouse in an impoverished neighborhood in Istanbul. He’s cherished in the community, due to his work providing help to homeless children and teens. Everything takes a turn when he meets an 8-year-old boy who was hidden in a waste sack. The film stars Çagatay Ulusoy, Emir Ali Doğrul, Ersin Arıcı, and Turgay Tanülkü.
Regular coverage
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m.)
Wild cards
The One (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Created by Howard Overman, this eight-episode sci-fi thriller takes us into a world where a DNA test can find your perfect partner: A hair sample is all you need to find your soulmate. This seemingly simple idea will take some explosive turns, as stars Hannah Ware, Dimitri Leonidas, Amir El-Masry, and Stephen Campbell Moore will discover.
Love Alarm (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): The popular South Korean drama returns after over a year for its second season. Based on a webtoon of the same name—and carrying on today’s TV theme of using technology to find love—the show features a form of advanced tech notifies users if someone within the range of a 10-meter radius has romantic feelings for them.
A Discovery Of Witches (Sundance Now, Saturday, 6.a.m., season finale): As (a relatively dreary) season two wraps up, Diana realizes she needs to travel back to the present and begins her training accordingly. The fantasy drama starring Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode has already been renewed for season three.