TV Talk: ‘Serpent Queen,’ ‘Tulsa King’ bookend fall cable/streaming options
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The two most-anticipated fall cable and/or streaming series have already premiered – HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series, “House of the Dragon,” and Amazon Prime Video’s prequel, “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” – but there are more programs on the way, including at least three vampire shows:
“The Serpent Queen” (8 p.m. Sept. 11 on Starz): Fans of “House of the Dragon” and/or “The Rings of Power” should check out the latest series featuring characters clad in Renaissance Fair finery – “The Serpent Queen” offers juicier period drama than either of the ballyhooed fantasy epics.
Samantha Morton (“The Walking Dead”) stars as the title character, the seductive, always-plotting Catherine de Medici. Morton mesmerizes and in flashbacks in early episodes, Liv Hill capably plays a younger version of Catherine. (Unlike “House of the Dragon,” which abruptly changes actors as its characters age in its sixth episode, “Serpent Queen’s” switch to older actors in flashbacks, including Morton, goes down easier since viewers are accustomed to Morton-as-Catherine in present-day scenes from the start.)
Based on Leonie Frieda’s book “Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France,” the often darkly humorous “Serpent Queen” was adapted as a series by writer Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road), who avoids a frequent pitfall of period dramas which is to make them dull as dirt.
“The temptation [with] a lot of period shows is to stand back and shoot and admire the costumes, the houses, because you can’t believe it,” Haythe said in a virtual interview last week. “But the truth is, these people lived there and it was not remarkable to them. I never wanted to do a royal show, never wanted to do a period show. But I wanted to do an antihero show. And when I read this book, I thought, [Catherine] is an antihero — like Michael Corleone, like Tony Soprano, like Walter White — who happens to be a woman and who happens to be born in the 16th century.”
“American Gigolo” (Sept. 9 for Showtime streaming and on-demand subscribers; 9 p.m. Sept. 11 on the linear Showtime channel): Mt. Lebanon native David Hollander reimagined this take on the 1980 movie – and was then fired from the show in April over comments Hollander made that were deemed problematic but “not of a sexual harassment nature.”
Fans of Hollander’s “Ray Donovan” will recognize Hollander’s style of storytelling at play as Julian Kaye (Jon Bernthal, “The Walking Dead”), who spent 15 years in prison on a wrongful conviction, emerges from incarceration and returns to his job as a male prostitute. Occasionally steamy scenes punctuate Julian’s downer-of-a-story that includes flashbacks showing how he was forced into sex work.
“Vampire Academy” (Sept. 15, Peacock): Writers Julie Plec (“The Vampire Diaries”) and Marguerite MacIntyre (“The Originals”) are back on the bloodsuckers’ beat with this story of vampires-in-training.
“Andor” (Sept. 21, Disney+): A prequel to fan favorite “Rogue One,” this latest “Star Wars” story follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the early days of the rebellion including the rise of political leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly, reprising her role from “Rogue One” and “Revenge of the Sith”).
“Interview with the Vampire” (10 p.m. Oct. 2, AMC/AMC+): The Anne Rice novel gets a do-over (after the 1994 Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film) and this time the complicated romantic relationship between Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid) is text, not subtext.
“Reginald the Vampire” (10 p.m. Oct. 5, Syfy): Nerdy Reginald (Jacob Batalon) navigates a world of fit and vain vamps to become an unlikely hero.
“A Friend of the Family” (Oct. 6, Peacock): Nine-episode drama based on the true story of a young woman who was kidnapped multiple times over a few years by a family “friend” (Jake Lacy).
“The Midnight Club” (Oct. 7, Netflix): Writer Mike Flanagan (“Midnight Mass”) returns with a new, 1994-set horror series about teens in hospice who meet at midnight to tell sinister stories that are based on the work of author Christopher Pike.
“High School” (Oct. 14, Amazon Freevee): Inspired by the memoir by twin recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin, this eight-episode drama explores two teen girls’ self-discovery journey.
“Shantaram” (Oct. 14, Apple TV+): Based on the Gregory David Roberts novel, Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”) stars as a fugitive looking to get lost in 1980s Bombay.
“Tulsa King” (Nov. 13, Paramount+): Writer Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone,” “1883”) executive produces this drama from writer Terence Winter (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos”) that stars Sylvester Stallone as a New York mobster who gets paroled from prison and exiled to Tulsa where he builds a new crime family.
“Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” (Nov. 23, Peacock): In this six-episode comedy sequel to the “Pitch Perfect” movies Bumper (Adam Devine) moves to Germany to revive his music career.
Returning series
September sees the return of “Atlanta” (10 p.m. Sept. 15, FX) for its final season, as well as new seasons of “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Sept. 14, Hulu), “Fate: The Winx Saga” (Sept. 16, Netflix), “SEAL Team” (Sept. 18, Paramount+), “Dancing with the Stars” (Sept. 19, Disney+), “The Kardashians” (Sept. 22, Hulu), “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” (Sept. 28, Disney+) and “Ramy” (Sept. 28, Hulu).
The final run of episodes of AMC zombie drama “The Walking Dead” begins airing at 9 p.m. Oct. 2. Clever, queer-inclusive horror series “Chucky,” based on the slasher films, returns for its second season at 9 p.m. Oct. 5 on Syfy and USA. Other shows returning in October include “The Problem with Jon Stewart” (Oct. 7, Apple TV+), “Documentary Now!” (Oct. 19, IFC/AMC+), “Acapulco” (Oct. 21, Apple TV+), “Sherman’s Showcase” (10:30 p.m. Oct. 26, IFC/AMC+).
Paramount Network drama “Yellowstone” gallops back for its fifth season at 8 p.m. Nov. 13. It’s joined in November by the return of “Manifest” (Nov. 4, Netflix).