It’s a busy week in scripted series premieres, including new entries from Netflix, Showtime and USA, each unsettling in its own way.
‘Alias Grace’
It’s been a banner year for Margaret Atwood novels adapted for television, beginning with Hulu’s Emmy-winning “The Handmaid’s Tale” and ending with Netflix’s “Alias Grace,” now streaming.
But if there’s a grandness to “Handmaid’s Tale” — its whole dystopian America setting and the tension that mounts regarding the independent-thinking handmaids potentially getting caught and punished — “Alias Grace” delivers the opposite.
It’s a small story (inspired by actual events), intimately told. The dramatic stakes in the flashback-filled first two episodes (of six total) are minimal.
Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon in a restrained performance), a poor Irish immigrant and domestic servant in 1840s Canada, is already in prison after being convicted of the murders of her employers alongside stable hand James McDermott (Kerr Logan), who was hanged for the crime.
Grace has been in prison for 15 years when an American psychologist (Edward Holcroft) comes to interview her about her life in an effort to uncover what really happened the night of the murders.
“Alias Grace” is more psychological drama than psychological thriller. It’s more quiet and contemplative (and occasionally a bit dull) than it is propulsive. But viewers drawn to quiet, thoughtful character stories and a largely unknown story from women’s history may find “Alias Grace” engaging enough.
‘SMILF’
Based on a short film by star Frankie Shaw, Showtime’s “SMILF” (10 p.m. Sunday) follows Boston Southie single mom Bridgette (Ms. Shaw, who also wrote and directed the pilot) as she attempts to parent her toddler son when she’s not trying to hook up with an old flame or having sex with the college-age son of the woman (Connie Britton, “Nashville”) she works for as a tutor to her privileged kids.
It’s another half-hour show that’s more drama than comedy. Bridgette’s life is sad — in one scene the Harvard-attending student Bridgette once tutored and wrote a college essay for acknowledges Bridget should be the one at Harvard; the sting of that is palpable — and it’s also clear that she’s damaged.
Bridgette says in the pilot she was sexually abused by her father and Bridgette has a strained relationship with her seemingly unstable mother (Rosie O’Donnell).
Bridgette inspires an empathetic response and her situation (sometimes) comes off as quite believably real, especially in interactions with her son’s father. It’s an admirable portrait of a character in a social class that’s underrepresented on TV, but it’s more depressing than entertaining. The struggle is real — but it’s not funny.
‘Damnation’
Mysterious Seth Davenport (Killian Scott, “Ripper Street”) masquerades as a preacher in 1930s Iowa fomenting a farmer’s strike that’s opposed by industrialists who send a professional strikebreaker (Logan Marshall-Green, “Quarry”) to put down the insurrection by any means necessary.
In Kentucky, a female detective instigates a violent confrontation during a miners’ strike. There’s a connection between the two in “Damnation” (10 p.m. Tuesday, USA), which looks like a Western but sounds more like a capitalist vs. socialist showdown.
Created by Tony Tost (“Longmire”), there’s timeliness to the never dull “Damnation” despite its period setting, particularly in episode two when a professor (Gabriel Mann, “Revenge”) disparages the “unwashed rural masses.” Just don’t go looking for any heroes: There are none to be found.
Kept/canceled
AMC renewed “Preacher” for a third season.
Fox renewed freshman sci-fi show “The Orville” for a second season.
Though not technically canceled, ABC’s Kyra Sedgwick-starring “10 Days in the Valley” is definitely done. Late last week ABC executives moved the show to Saturday nights, a death sentence, with episodes airing back-to-back 9-11 p.m. Dec. 16, 23 and 30 and Jan. 6.
Same goes for CBS’s winning “Me, Myself & I” — technically not canceled but a goner nonetheless — which got yanked from the schedule Wednesday. “9JKL” moves to 9:30 p.m. Monday next week with the Pittsburgh-set Matt LeBlanc sitcom “Man with a Plan” returning at 8:30 p.m. Monday on Nov. 13.
Netflix’s “House of Cards” will end after its upcoming sixth season.
USA canceled “Playing House” after three seasons.
Channel surfing
Larry David hosts “Saturday Night Live” this weekend with musical guest Miley Cyrus; Tiffany Haddish hosts Nov. 11 with Taylor Swift; Chance the Rapper will host Nov. 18 with Eminem. … Comcast has added Netflix in 4K on Xfinity’s X1 platform.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Madam Secretary,” “Mindhunter” and “reporting live.” This week's Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive” and “Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in.
This week's podcast includes conversation about “Stranger Things 2” and “At Home with Amy Sedaris.” Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at https://soundcloud.com/pittsburghpg.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.
First Published: November 3, 2017, 9:00 a.m.
