The TV Column

Hulu's fall lineup includes documentary on Beatles

A Ron Howard Beatles documentary highlights Hulu’s original fall programming. The Beatles, shown in 1964, were (clockwise from upper left) Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
A Ron Howard Beatles documentary highlights Hulu’s original fall programming. The Beatles, shown in 1964, were (clockwise from upper left) Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Streaming service Hulu has released its fall schedule of original programming in hopes of enticing cable and broadcast subscribers to come on down and give it a try.

Hulu hopes to begin competing with Netflix on the original programming front. In the recent Emmy nominations, Netflix earned 54 total nominations -- No. 3 behind HBO (94) and FX (56).

Hulu, meanwhile, was shut out of the main categories, receiving only two minor nods for Funny or Die and the J.J. Abrams-produced 11.22.63.

If you've been tempted to sample the Hulu fare, here's what to expect and the date when they will begin. One promising new series even stars the ubiquitous Hugh Laurie (House, The Night Manager, Veep).

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- The Touring Years, Sept. 17. Directed and produced by Ron Howard, the documentary will cover the early years of The Beatles' career.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that The Beatles only lasted a decade (1960-70) and only toured for a few years. The film will focus on the period from the days of The Cavern Club in Liverpool to their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 1966.

Howard will explore how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become such a phenomenon.

Hulu says, "It will explore their inner workings -- how they made decisions, created their music and built their collective career together -- all the while, exploring The Beatles' extraordinary and unique musical gifts and their remarkable, complementary personalities."

The Mindy Project, streaming weekly beginning Oct. 4. This is Season 5 for the erstwhile Fox series. There will be 16 episodes.

The comedy, starring Mindy Kaling, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore and Fortune Feimster, follows the adventures of a doctor (Kaling) as she "navigates the tricky waters of both her personal and professional life."

Chance, streaming weekly beginning Oct. 19. Based on the psychological thriller by novelist Kem Nunn, the drama focuses on Dr. Eldon Chance (Laurie), a San Francisco-based forensic neuropsychiatrist.

Chance becomes involved "in a violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness as he descends into the city's wayward underbelly while navigating the waters of a contentious divorce and tribulations of his teenage daughter."

Wayward underbelly? Contentious divorce? Tribulations? The Hulu publicity staff was waxing on the picturesque side that day.

In addition to Laurie, who seems to be everywhere these days, the 10-episode series stars Gretchen Mol, LisaGay Hamilton, Paul Adelstein, Ethan Suplee and Stefania LaVie Owen.

Freakish, streaming weekly beginning on a day to be determined in October. The 10-episode horror thriller stars a bunch of folks you never heard of, except maybe Pine Bluff native Mary Mouser.

Mouser, the former voice of Eloise in the animated series of the same name, was also in ABC's Body of Proof and took over the role of Karen Grant on ABC's Scandal in Season 4.

Mouser is 20 years old now and ready for the seemingly required young folks obligatory horror and thriller series.

In Freakish, a bunch of high school students and their coach are in detention when an evacuation drill goes down. That's not unusual due to the large chemical plant nearby.

Everyone heads to the fallout shelter for the drill. Only, it's not ... a ... drill (cue creepy music). When the kids come out, the town has been destroyed by the plant meltdown and there are no signs of life. Except those who were not in the bunker are now predatory mutant freaks.

Shut Eye, streaming weekly beginning Dec. 7. Again, there will be 10 episodes in the first season. The series stars some familiar faces, including Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice fame, KaDee Strickland, Isabella Rossellini, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Susan Misner, Angus Sampson and David Zayas.

Shut Eye, billed as "a darkly comedic look at the underground world of Los Angeles storefront psychics and the organized crime syndicate that runs them," follows the life of failed magician and fortune-telling scam artist Charlie Haverford (Donovan), who now works as a psychic/con man.

Haverford's normally cynical view of the world changes after he gets conked on the head and he begins to experience visions that may or may not be real.

Strickland plays his wife who wants him to break away from the crime family headed by the "cunning, seductive and sadistic matriarch" played by Rossellini.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 07/24/2016

Upcoming Events