Clockwise from top: My Old Ass, How to Die Alone, Emily in Paris, and Speak No Evil.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Marni Grossman/Prime, Susie Allnutt/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, Stephanie Branchu/Netflix, Ian Watson/Hulu
Rebonjour, or should I say ciao? I don’t know how many of you watch Emily in Paris, but you should know that Emily is jet-setting off to Rome. Why the sudden shift from France to Italy? Who knows, but if a European vacation is not your style, there’s always shroom trips and cranberry farming in My Old Ass, a new dramedy from filmmaker Megan Park. There’s also live programming this weekend courtesy of the second Emmys of the year (confusing, we know), James McAvoy being creepy in a Danish horror remake, Colin Jost and Michael Che doing comedy away from the news desk, and — twist! — a comedy series debuting on CNN. What a week! Happy Friday the 13th.
I went into My Old Ass for Aubrey Plaza but ended up loving it thanks to Maisy Stella’s stellar screen debut. Both Plaza and Stella play Elliott at different ages, and in My Old Ass, 18-year-old Elliott (Stella) is the focus as she enjoys one last summer before college. Some shroom trips let the older Elliott offer wisdom as the younger Elliott gets into shenanigans.
➼ We called this one “low-key devastating.”
Splitting this season into two is so annoying, Netflix. Emily in Paris is the show that, if you watch, you want to obsessively binge. Since the streamer deploys this two-part model — without input from the show’s creators, like Darren Star in this case — we’re getting the continuation of season four’s remaining five episodes, which send Emily to Rome. Another language for her to learn poorly! I still love watching, though.
➼ This show exists to put Lily Collins in Audrey Hepburn looks, and you gotta respect the hustle.
If it feels like you just watched a bunch of people receive Emmys on live TV, well, that’s because last year’s were held in January owing to strikes. But now we’re doing this year’s Emmys, many of which will likely go to The Bear, but for its second season, not the third one that we all watched earlier this summer. Got all that? —Jen Chaney
If you love the comedic news quiz show Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! on NPR, you’re probably pumped for CNN’s Have I Got News for You. The adaptation of the British series that questions panelists on recent headlines is hosted by comic Roy Wood Jr. with “team captains” Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. —Roxana Hadadi
Natasha Rothwell was a joy to watch in The White Lotus season one (and will return in season three) and in Insecure, so it’s exciting to see her lead her own comedy series. In How to Die Alone, Rothwell is a neurotic woman who decides that she’s going to try not to die alone after almost dying with no experience in love.
“The Old Man is a strange show,” Roxana Hadadi and Nicholas Quah wrote earlier this week in a point-by-point breakdown of its virtues. “It’s basically a soap opera with old men and guns, but it makes too many bold, interesting choices to ever be called conventional.” And in the second season, the Jeff Bridges–led spy thriller only gets weirder.
➼ In theaters now; read our full review.
Showrunner Laura Eason’s adaptation of the novel of the same name is premiering on Starz after being canceled by Showtime ahead of its release in early 2023. Led by Shailene Woodley as a writer interviewing three women (DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin, and Gabrielle Creevy) about their lives, Michel Ghanem wrote that the series “was worth the wait” for the Cut, so there’s that.
Jost and Che are doing a live comedy special on Peacock. Is it going to be more SNL or more stand-up? No one knows yet, but everyone still hanging on to a subscription after the Olympics can find out. —Kathryn VanArendonk
The leading quartet of actors in Civil War (Kristen Dunst, Cailee Spaney, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) each turn in strong performances, but the one scene in Civil War that was most terrifying was a perfect use of Jesse Plemons. Nick Quah broke that idea down further with this ode to scary Plemons.
➼ Out on digital this week: Robot Dreams, Kneecap, and Winner (for free on Tubi).
—Tim Grierson and Will Leitch on the master’s turn in Claudine (1974), which you can watch on YouTube, and other performances
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of September 6.