What's on TV this week—Interview With The Vampire, A Friend Of The Family, Alaska Daily

Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, October 2 to Thursday, October 6. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]

The biggies

Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire (AMC, Sunday, 10 p.m.)

Interview With The Vampire is possibly the best way to kick off your Halloween month. The gothic, sensuous, unabashedly queer series is an adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1967 novel of the same name. Chafing at the limitations of life as a Black man in 1910s New Orleans, Louis (Jacob Anderson) finds it impossible to resist the Lestat de Lioncourt’s (Sam Reid) offer to join him as his vampire companion. However, Louis’ intoxicating new powers come with a violent price that sets them on a decades-long path of revenge. The cast includes Bailey Bass and Eric Bogosian.

Created by Nick Antosca, A Friend Of The Family depicts and analyzes the horrifying true experiences of actor Jan Broberg, who was kidnapped by a family friend twice as a pre-teen while living in Idaho. (Her story is also depicted in the Netflix documentary Abducted In Plain Sight.) The Peacock series’ ensemble includes Jake Lacy, Anna Paquin, Colin Hanks, McKenna Grace, Hendrix Yancey, and Lio Tipton. Look out for The A.V. Club’s review next week.

Spotlight’s award-winning writer and director Tom McCarthy can’t get enough of journalist stories. And we don’t mind that one bit. His new ABC mystery drama Alaska Daily is led by Hilary Swank. In it, she plays an esteemed New York-based reporter, whose personal and professional life stumbles after a scandal. Looking for a fresh start, she moves to Anchorage and teams up with a fellow local reporter to solve cold cases of missing Indigenous women. The cast includes Jeff Perry, Grace Dove, and Matt Malloy.

Hidden gems

Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester (Netflix, Tuesday, 3:01 a.m.)

Filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hasan Minhaj returns to Netflix with his second stand-up comedy special, Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester, where he’ll share his thoughts on fertility, family, fatherhood, and freedom of speech.

It’s vampire week, alright. Syfy debuts its newest drama, Reginald The Vampire, starring Jacob Batalan (best known for playing Ned Leeds in the MCU’s Spider-Man movies). He takes on the titular Reginald, whose life undergoes big changes when he’s turned into a vampire. Among his tasks: keeping secrets from his loved ones, including the girl of his dreams, and figuring out how to stop enemies that suddenly want him dead. In the process, he discovers abilities and powers he only dreamed of possessing. Em Haine, Mandela Van Peebles, and Savannah Basley also star.

Directed by Todd Holland, Monster High is a musical fantasy film that’s based on—wait for it—a fashion doll franchise by Mattel. Hey, if Greta Gerwig can make a Barbie movie, anything is possible. Monster High centers on half-human, half-wolf Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris), who finally feels like she’s found a place to fit in at her new school. But when a devious plan to destroy her home threatens to reveal her real identity, Clawdeen learns to embrace her true monster heart and save the day.

More good stuff

East New York (CBS, Sunday, 9 p.m.)

CBS expands its roster of police procedurals with East New York, led by Amanda Warren and Jimmy Smits. Warren plays Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood, the recently promoted commanding officer of the 74th precinct in Brooklyn. She heads a diverse group of officers and detectives, most of whom are reluctant to pay heed to her creative methods as social upheaval and gentrification take over the neighborhood. Kevin Rankin, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lavel Schley, and Olivia Luccardi round out the cast.

It will be quite the celebration if you’re a Solar Opposites fan. Justin Roiland and Mike McCahan’s animated comedy airs a holiday special episode that promises to show how alien life can sometimes be spooky. The series follows four aliens who are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. In season three, the group strives to be less of a team and more of a family. The show has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Writer and director John Lee Hancock adapts Stephen King’s 2020 novella Mr. Harrigan’s Phone into a film for Netflix. A young man, Craig (Jaeden Martell), befriends a reclusive billionaire, Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), who’s tragically not long for this world. When the old man passes away, Craig finds he’s able to communicate with his deceased pal. The movie is co-produced by Ryan Murphy, Jason Blum, and Carla Hacken, and it co-stars Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Joe Tippett, and Cyrus Arnold.

Can’t miss recaps

Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:30 p.m.)

House Of The Dragon (HBO, Sunday, 9 p.m.)

Kevin Can F**K Himself (AMC, Monday, 9 p.m.)

Andor (Disney+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m.)

Archer (FXX, Wednesday, 10 p.m.)

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (Disney+, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)

Atlanta (FX, Thursday, 10 p.m.)

Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)

Arriving now

The Equalizer (CBS, Sunday, 8:30 p.m., season three premiere)

The Walking Dead (AMC, Sunday, 9 p.m., midseason 11 premiere)

The Good Doctor (ABC, Monday, 9 p.m., season six premiere)

Chucky (Syfy, Wednesday, 9 p.m., season two premiere)

Kung Fu (The CW, Wednesday, 9 p.m., season three premiere)

Pennyworth: The Origins Of Batman’s Butler (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season three premiere)

Station 19 season six premiere, Grey’s Anatomy season 19 premiere (ABC, Thursday, 8-10 p.m.)

Walker season three premiere, Walker: Independence series premiere (The CW, Thursday, 8-10 p.m.)

Ending soon

Blood And Treasure (Paramount+, Sunday, 3:01 a.m., season two finale)

Best In Dough (Hulu, Monday, 12:01 a.m., season one finale)

Leonardo (The CW, Tuesday, 8 p.m., season one finale)

The Hype (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season two finale)