Poetry isn't dead. Neither is 2002.

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Friday, April 6, 2018

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Margaret Lyons

Dear Watchers,

My reboot senses are in a constant state of high alert. With all of the ’90s and early-2000s nostalgia and the revival boom still going at full force, I keep expecting every headline or tweet in my feed to announce yet another return to the vault. Is an “Ally McBeal” revival so far off? Am I the only “3rd Rock From the Sun” devotee? If CBS just slid a “CSI” back into the schedule, would anyone even know the difference?

Luckily I still have “ER” and “NYPD Blue” rewatches to comfort me in times of trouble. If you’re looking for shows to keep you going, we have plenty of suggestions on Watching. In fact, we’ve handpicked more than 1,000 of our favorite TV shows and films, and we’d love to help you find your next major binge or new favorite movie.

Have a great weekend.

Extra-Credit Reading

• How 50 Famous Female Characters Were Described in Their Screenplays [Vulture]

• ‘Franny and Zooey’ in Iran [The Paris Review]

• What About ‘The Breakfast Club’? Revisiting the movies of my youth in the age of #MeToo. [The New Yorker]

• Happy 50th, HAL: Our Favorite Pop-Culture References to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ [Watching]

This Weekend I Have … a Half-Hour, and the Humanities Will Save Us

Yo-Yo Ma in “Poetry in America.” Poetry in America

‘Poetry in America’
When to watch: Now, on poetryinamerica.org

The first episode of this 12-part series is already free to stream on the Poetry in America website, and subsequent episodes will go up after they air on PBS throughout the spring. (It debuts this month; check local listings.) Each installment goes deep on a different poem: The host, Elisa New, interviews scholars, celebrities and laypeople not only about the poems themselves but also about the ideas or formats therein — for example, interviewing fashion designers in an episode about the Robert Pinsky poem “Shirt,” or having Yo-Yo Ma (above) play the cello while he unpacks Emily Dickinson’s “I cannot dance opon my Toes.”

… an Hour, and It Is 2002 in My Heart

Doug Wilson and Hildi Santo-Tomas in “Trading Spaces.” Trae Patton/TLC

‘Trading Spaces’
When to watch: Saturday, 8 p.m., TLC
Save it to your Watchlist.

Everyone is back for the revival of this 2000s home-design mainstay. The premiere features the designers Doug Wilson and Hildi Santo-Tomas, who in this episode are designing rooms for two sisters and their husbands. Everything is the same as it ever was, right down to the fact that the rooms come out pretty ugly. But “Trading Spaces” was always more about the journey than the destination, and that’s still true: The homeowners are good-natured but skeptical, the designers overambitious. The host, Paige Davis, is perky; the carpenters, Ty Pennington and Carter Oosterhouse, are goofy but dutiful. For a moment, everything is easy.

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… an Hour, and I Crave Prestige

Hayley Atwell in “Howards End.” Kurt Iswarienko/Starz

‘Howards End’
When to watch: Sunday, 8 p.m., Starz
Save it to your Watchlist.

Hayley Atwell is a knockout in this new adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel from 1910 about two entwined families. To be fair, everyone in the cast is fantastic, but it’s Ms. Atwell who anchors the show. This mini-series is gorgeous without being self-conscious or showy, and at four installments, it is mercifully bloat-free. Sometimes even good period dramas can feel contrived, as if they’re depicting feelings no one ever really had, or gestures no one ever really made. This is the opposite: vibrant and alive and perceptive.

When Do My Shows Come Back?

“New Girl”: April 10
“Bosch”: April 13
“Chef’s Table”: April 13
“The Circus”: April 15
“Westworld”: April 22
“Archer”: April 25
“Brockmire”: April 25
“The Handmaid’s Tale”: April 25
“The Bachelorette”: May 28
“Animal Kingdom”: May 29
“Queen Sugar”: May 29
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”: May 30
“Younger”: June 5
“The Bold Type”: June 12
“The Affair”: June 17
“Luke Cage”: June 22
“Power”: July 1

Your Newly Available Weekend Movie

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in “The Post.” Niko Tavernise/20th Century Fox

‘The Post’
Where to watch: Buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube
Save it to your Watchlist.

Unconventional nominees dominated the Oscars this year, from Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” to Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” “The Post” never generated the same hype, perhaps because it was such a traditional awards season release: Steven Spielberg directs Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in a period drama about The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971, after a government injunction suppressed their continued publication by The New York Times.

Like “Spotlight” and “All the President’s Men,” “The Post” casts journalists as heroes speaking truth to power. Hanks plays Ben Bradlee, the gruff editor with a fierce commitment to defending the free press. But instead of focusing on the reporting process, Spielberg highlights the struggle between Bradlee and the Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham (Streep), over whether to run a story that might imperil the paper. Understated supporting performances by Bob Odenkirk, Matthew Rhys and Sarah Paulson offset the earnestness of the two leads, and the attention paid to Graham’s bravery puts a feminist spin on a familiar narrative. — Judy Berman

Also This Weekend

In “Killing Eve,” Sandra Oh plays an inexperienced foreign intelligence operative at MI6 who’s up against a seemingly unstoppable assassin.

Nick Briggs/BBC America

Review: In ‘Killing Eve,’ Female Spy Hunts Female Assassin

By MIKE HALE

A comic drama from the creator of “Fleabag” stars Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer in a dark twist on the glamorous international espionage thriller.

In HBO’s “Paterno,” Al Pacino plays Joe Paterno, the famed football coach at Penn State whose career and reputation were undone by a sexual abuse scandal involving an assistant coach.

Atsushi Nishijima/HBO, via Associated Press

Review: Al Pacino Stars in HBO’s ‘Paterno,’ a Tragedy Without a Hero

By MIKE HALE

Barry Levinson directed this film about the Penn State sex-abuse scandal and the downfall of the university’s legendary football coach, Joe Paterno.

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