Month: April 2021

The impulse and ability to create art is one of the highlights of being human. It’s a key quality that sets us apart from the animal world, one that makes life more meaningful and enjoyable.

While there are artistic skills that make it easier for people to bring their imaginations into the visible, tangible world, art doesn’t abide by any hard and fast rules. Especially kids’ art. Especially young kids’ art.

That’s why Gemma Leighton, mother of 6-year-old Edie, shared her daughter’s painting on Twitter with a request for support. Edie created the painting in an after school art club, and her art teacher told her she did it wrong.

“You can’t do art wrong!” wrote Leighton. “She was so upset as art is her favourite thing to do.”

Now, we don’t know exactly what the teacher said to Edie, but if a 6-year-old comes home upset and feeling like there’s something wrong with their art, the teacher did something wrong. Full stop. Six-year-olds are just beginning to learn about technique, and encouragement is the most vital thing a teacher can offer a budding artist.

The internet rightfully pounced to Edie’s defense, and the responses are incredibly heartwarming.

Many people shared how hurt they were as children when a teacher told them something was wrong with their art—and that they were wrong. Knowing that grown-ups had experienced the same kinds of unnecessary criticism as kids and realized that it was wrong can help Edie feel confident that her painting is not “wrong.”

Others pointed out the famous artists that her painting reminded them of. Seeing how her own painting reflects some of the style and color choices of professional artists can help Edie see the spark of genius in her own artwork.

Songwriter Kimya Dawson, most famous for her songs in the movie Juno, shared that a middle school English teacher had told her to stop writing poems because they were “too juvenile.”

“I never stopped though and making rhyming poems has been my career for over 20 years!” Dawson wrote. “Your painting is perfect! Keep it up! Don’t worry what anyone else thinks.”

Professional artists chimed in with words of encouragement, pointing out that Edie’s use of perspective and expressionism were quite impressive for her age.

“The only ‘wrong’ is not making art that speaks from your heart,” wrote an artist who goes by @Artsy on Twitter. “When she expresses her passion, her vision of her world, her personal reactions to what she sees and feels, she’ll never be ‘wrong.'”

Even KISS guitarist Paul Stanley offered Edie words of encouragement.

“Your art is AWESOME!!!” he wrote. “There is no such thing as doing art ‘wrong.’ There are only teachers who are wrong!!! Your art shows amazing freedom and spirit. How can that be ‘wrong’?!?! Keep doing EXACTLY what you are doing. I LOVE it!!!”

Imagine being a heartbroken 6-year-old who has been told by a teacher that her art was wrong, and then seeing a flood of thousands of supportive comments from people who looked at the same piece of art and told you what they loved about it. This is how social media should be used. To lift people up, to encourage and inspire, to share beauty and creativity.

Leighton created a new Twitter account called Edie’s Art for people to share kids’ artwork, and gracious, it’s a delight to peruse. There’s nothing more pure, more colorful, more full of life than art that came from a child’s imagination. They may not have the technical skills to perfectly create what they envision in their minds or what they’re looking at for inspiration, but that’s part of what makes it so beautiful. They aren’t self-conscious enough yet to hold back, and their art comes from a place of confidence and acceptance of their own abilities—that is, until some adult comes along and squashes their artistic spirit.

One of my favorite things as a parent has been watching my kids’ artistic expressions evolve as they’ve grown, and I’ve loved their artwork at every stage. And not just because I’m their mom, but because kid creations are the best reminder of how natural the human impulse to create really is, and how beautiful it is when we share that impulse without fear or doubt.

Keep painting, Edie. Don’t let one person’s opinion—even a teacher’s—hold you back.

Russell Crowe was long-rumored to be in the mix in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it seems he himself spilled the beans on who he’s playing during a radio interview. Crowe is officially the latest Marvel actor to get spoiler-happy, much to the chagrin of Disney and perhaps to the relief of Tom Holland. Basically everyone involved with the latest Thor movie was hoping to keep the casting news officially under wraps, but Crowe apparently told the world himself.

As Collider noted, Crowe did a radio hit with a Melbourne radio program, JOY Breakfast with The Murphys, and actually revealed what he’s doing in Thor: Love And Thunder, which is currently filming down under. Spoilers ahead, of course, if you’d like his character to be a surprise.

“Now I’m gonna get on my bicycle, I’m gonna ride up to Disney-Fox studios, and I’m gonna get the hot tongs out, and round about 9:15 I shall be Zeus in Thor 4. It’s my last day of Zeus-ing about, and I’m gonna enjoy it.”

It’s a charmingly Australian bit of spoiling, as “hot tongs” are a local phrase for curling irons. And it finally confirms all the smoke we’ve seen regarding Crowe and the Marvel movie in recent weeks. Crowe appeared in some Getty photos with Love And Thunder director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth at an Australian rugby match, for example. So it’s not exactly like they were being super secretive about all this hanging out together.

Still, it’s unlikely Marvel is thrilled about the Zeus reveal here, as it had many speculating about other potential appearances in Love And Thunder if we’re going to get heavy into the Greek mythology tree. Like, say, a Hercules appearance as well? If that’s coming, however, we’ll have to keep monitoring Australian radio stations to see if they have any other interviews with Marvel stars willing to share the news.

[via Collider, Screen Rant]

Boris Diaw has been out of the NBA for a few seasons, last appearing with the Utah Jazz during the 2016-17 campaign. The 39-year-old Frenchman enjoyed a long and fruitful career, starting with a first-round selection (as a point guard prospect!) by the Atlanta Hawks in 2003 and including a championship run with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Diaw really came into his own as a player with the Phoenix Suns during three-plus seasons beginning in 2005 and, this week, he caught up with a former teammate to share stories from that stint, including how it ended.

Diaw joined the ‘Real Ones’ podcast with Raja Bell and Logan Murdock of The Ringer, and he revealed an amazing story of why he chose to stop shooting with the Suns, as well as the moment in which he learned he was traded, along with the Bell, to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Suns were coached at that point by Terry Porter, who didn’t like it when Diaw attempted (and missed) an open shot. Things progressed from there.

“In my mind, it’s like, If you’re going to tell me that’s a bad shot, I don’t know what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot,” Diaw said. “So I cannot make the decision anymore because you’re taking that away from me. Because, for me, I’m a grown man supposed to be able to make the decision of what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot. So if you’re going to tell me that, I don’t know what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot anymore, so I’m not going to take a shot.”

Diaw then said he didn’t attempt any shots in the next game, saying he was “a little bit of an asshole” in the process. Laughingly, Bell said “it was a phenomenal thing to witness,” admiring Diaw for sticking to his guns and actually attempting to prove his point.

From there, Bell went on to describe Diaw going out of his way to create shooting opportunities, only to pass on them while almost smirking at Porter. Diaw did push back in that instance, indicating he wasn’t really doing that, but fun was had by all.

The kicker is that, later, Bell was the one that got to tell Diaw he was being traded, and that happened through a chance encounter with Diaw not carrying his phone. This is the kind of thing that happens less and less in the modern era dominated by cell phones and social media, and all of these tales make for great podcast fodder more than a decade later.

Last year, knowing there was a new Mortal Kombat movie coming out at some point, I remember telling myself, “I should really get into Mortal Kombat, what else do I have to do, really?” Which is a sentence I hadn’t said to myself since Mortal Kombat was on Sega Genesis. The PlayStation store was offering Mortal Kombat 11 in a package that included Injustice 2 for a surprisingly good deal, so I bought that, which also included famed Mortal Kombat characters John Rambo, RoboCop, and The Terminator.

Anyway, smash cut to today and I still haven’t played Mortal Kombat 11, but I’ve now played Injustice 2 about 25 times. And I’ve never seen the original movies (though, like my half-hearted attempt to play the newest game, I’m thinking about watching at least the first one, so this might change by the time you actually are reading this) [Update: I did] This is all my somewhat winded, but hopefully not too long way of telling you that I don’t know much about Mortal Kombat, but the thought keeps crossing my mind to learn more. Anyway, now the new Mortal Kombat movie is here and I’m watching it with the knowledge of someone who hasn’t played it since the ‘90s.

This new Mortal Kombat movie is a tough one. Do you need a working knowledge of the game? Actually, yes, at least a little bit. In that I did find myself looking up a couple of things online to answer some questions that I had. (Like, “Hey, where’s RoboCop?”) And what’s also tough is I have no idea what Mortal Kombat superfans will think since fandom, these days, has kind of turned into an all-or-nothing proposition. So I suspect people will either really love it – because no one gets their property quite like they do – or really hate it, because it’s not true to the origins of the game. There’s not much in-between anymore. Except for me, I guess. I stand firmly in-between here.

It’s weird we are, what, let’s say roughly 40 years into the modern video phenomenon (at least since Pac-Man became popular) and it still seems impossible to crack the whole “movie based on video game” genre. Then again, maybe it makes a lot of sense. Maybe it’s kind of a letdown when someone hears, “So these will be the same characters I love, only this time I have zero control over what they do.” And I bet that mindset gets into the head of filmmakers. I bet there’s at least a subconscious thought of, well, I better focus on the action instead of character development because the people who like these characters are used to action, so I will smother them in action and the character development is left to exposition.

Mortal Kombat, this new 2021 movie, has a surprising amount of plot. In that, on the surface, you might just think this is just a movie about people fighting. But there is a lot this movie has to explain about other dimensions and why the world rests in the balance of the outcome of these fights. It begins many generations ago as we see a battle between fan-favorite Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim, and at least I assume he’s a fan favorite because he’s the only Mortal Kombat character I know by heart, other than John Rambo) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada). We then flash forward to the present and meet Cole Young (Lewis Tan, playing, from what I can tell, a brand new character), a former MMA champion who is just not as good as he used to be, but it turns out he’s a direct descendent of Scorpion and has a special birthmark that means he’s been chosen to fight in Mortal Kombat. But a good portion of the movie is spent with Cole sulking that he doesn’t really want to fight (although I guess I can’t blame him, it doesn’t sound very appealing; you know, the whole “to the death” part). But when evil monster after evil monster keeps showing up at his house, threatening his family, he changes his mind and teams up with most of the original characters from the original game.

The tone of this movie is weird, but I kind of get what it’s going for. It basically feels like a cartoon, then all of a sudden a character will get stabbed in the head, or sawed in half, in the most gory way possible. I do remember enough about playing the game to know this is also the tone of that, but the difference is there’s something weird about it in a movie. It feels a bit more jarring. But, like I said, I at least understand what was being attempted.

There were a couple of scenes I could imagine getting huge applause in theaters. And I suspect they will get applause from the people who do wind up seeing this in theaters. (Please only go if you are fully vaccinated. We still aren’t quite out of the woods just yet.) This is a movie I think I’d have enjoyed back when I played a lot of Sega Genesis. You know, get a six-pack of the cheapest beer and sneak it into the theater, then scream as loud as you can when a finishing move was completed. Actually, I take that back, that doesn’t sound like the worst thing to even do now. (Though, the ramifications of sneaking Milwaukee’s Best into a theater do sound pretty embarrassing at my age. And I’d probably be even more confused why the Terminator didn’t show up.)

‘Moral Kombat’ opens this weekend in theaters and streams via HBO Max. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is a show about many things and many characters, and Season 11 will officially include Richard Lewis despite a variety of medical issues the actor is currently recovering from. Lewis made it official on Thursday that he will appear in at least one episode of the long-running Larry David comedy on HBO.

Lewis posted on Thursday about his visit to the set, which included a photo of him and explained that he will show up on camera despite three surgeries that he feared may have limited his acting career.

“Great news for me! Although I’m still recovering from three surgeries and missing Season 11 of Curb, LD called me and asked if there was any chance if I felt strong enough to do one episode,” Lewis wrote, adding that he was “so grateful” to be able to perform.

Lewis had previously lamented he would be unable to take part in the show, where he plays a fictionalized version of himself, after he had two shoulder surgeries and one for his back trouble. Viewers noted that Lewis looked in pain while on camera in previous seasons, and in 2020 he confirmed that was the case in real life, too. But Thursday’s note is a sign that he’s healthy enough to at least appear once during the upcoming season, news that was received warmly online. That included another Curb mainstay, JB Smoove.

Seattle rapper Lil Mosey — whose real name is Lathan Moses Stanley Echols — is the subject of a warrant in his home state after he was charged with second-degree rape several weeks ago, according to TMZ and The Chronicle. The warrant was issued after he failed to appear for a court date yesterday (April 21). The charge against Mosey carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and up to $50,000 in fines.

The incident in question took place in January; a woman said she and a friend visited Mosey for a cabin party, where they passed out due to alcohol consumption and were in no state to give consent. They accused the rapper and another man, Francisco P. Prater, of having intercourse with them while unconscious. In an affidavit, the woman alleges injuries to her arm, neck, and inner knee, and that she received a message from another party guest telling her that the two men talked about “training two girls.”

Mosey first rose to national prominence in 2017, thanks to the single “Pull Up.” He was signed by Interscope, where he released “Blueberry Faygo,” his breakout and highest-charting hit, earning him a spot on the 2019 XXL Freshman cover. His most recent single, “Jetski,” was produced by Internet Money and featured fellow teen rapper Lil Tecca. He also appeared on Swae Lee’s “Krabby Step” single from the Spongebob soundtrack.

The idea of a federal minimum wage increase is gaining steam and it seems like President Joe Biden’s administration might be able to actually get the thing pushed through. There are a lot of opinions about what the new minimum wage should be, but the number that gets thrown around the most is $15 per hour. Wherever the final number lands, we can all agree that the current Federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 an hour is not liveable by any metric.

To prepare for an increase, fast food giants like Chipotle are treating some sort of bump as an inevitability. During the company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, Chipotle’s CFO Jack Hartung indicated that the chain was well prepared to manage an increase in worker’s wages, noting that the average hourly minimum wage for a Chipotle employee was already $13 an hour.

“We’re not that far off of, for example, a $15 number,” Hartung said. “But let’s say, for example, that there’s going to be an across-the-board 10% increase in our wages… that would, to offset that with menu pricing, take us 2% to 3% price increase… All of that is very manageable.”

According to Business Insider, the average Chipotle visit costs a single guest $11, so a 2% to 3% price increase would make your burrito and a drink cost an additional $.20 to $.35 cents. It’s a tiny hit that you will be able to manage thanks to all the new money you’re making! Business Insider also notes that a $15 minimum wage would require the company to boost average employee wages by over 15% and starting wages by about 35%, so clearly Chipotle isn’t offsetting the cost of a wage increase with price increases alone.

But maybe… since Chipotle is going to start charging us more, could they give us some piping hot food instead of keeping their proteins just warm? Also — just spitballing here — maybe they could save some money but not squeezing a million limes into a single bag of chips? Regardless, shouts to them for being so close to a living wage already. That’s a good sign for a chain that’s had a tough half-decade.

Dustin Milligan spent six seasons playing an adorkable veterinarian, who harbored a deep love for injecting puns into everyday conversation on Schitt’s Creek.

Ted Mullens didn’t always receive the same amount of fanfare as his love interest, Alexis Rose, or the rest of her wealthy, ridiculous family, but he’s gained a fan following anyway, which is why it might be surprising for some to learn that Milligan was hiding a dirty secret while filming the beloved Canadian comedy. Okay, fine, maybe “dirty” is the wrong word.

Sweaty. He was keeping a sweaty secret.

In a recent sitdown with Buzzfeed to promote his new NBC sitcom, Rutherford Falls, Milligan shared some memories from his Schitt’s Creek days. There were the usual stories about acting opposite dogs with steak-flavored treats stuffed in their diapers and meeting unofficial Canadian mascot Eugene Levy for the first time — Milligan was very relieved to learn the man is as kind and generous and funny as we all think he’d be. But the story that really stands out had to do with a very human problem that the show’s crew found hilarious ways of dealing with.

“I’m a human being and that means that I sweat sometimes,” Milligan said. “There’s a lot of scenes in Schitt’s Creek where you may not notice this, but I’ve got paper towels crammed into my armpits. Our lovely costumer on the show would have a hairdryer ready to go, so in-between takes, I’d be standing there getting my armpits blown. I think a lot of people wouldn’t have been able to spot any sort of TV movie magic going on there.”

Milligan revealed that his pesky perspiration habit disappeared in later season for some unknown reason, but that didn’t stop castmate Annie Murphy from congratulating him anytime he didn’t soak through his button-ups during hot days on set.

“There was actually a moment on a very hot day outside the motel, Annie [Murphy] turned around and was like, ‘I’m so proud of you!”‘ Milligan recalled. “And I was just like, ‘What?’ Then she pointed to my armpits and said, ‘Look at that, they’re dry!’ She was very supportive.”

Oh Ted Mullins, don’t sweat it. We still love you.

Big news: We’re almost to the halfway point of 2021.

Even bigger news: Hulu just announced its May lineup, and there’s A LOT happening on the streaming platform this month. Personally, we’re excited for the final season of Aidy Bryant’s Shrill and Marvel’s animated family drama that just happens to star a maniacal villain with a gigantic noggin voiced by Patton Oswalt. But there are plenty more TV shows and movies coming in May. Here’s the full list.

Shrill: Season 3 Premiere (Hulu series streaming 5/7)

The final season of Shrill promises fans that the show’s heroine Annie (the unfairly talented Aidy Bryant) will finally figure out exactly what she wants … or come closer to figuring that out, at least. But first, she’s got to wade through a lineup of “nasty boys” she’s been juggling, a series of cutbacks at her job, and some backlash to a high-profile assignment.

MARVEL’S M.O.D.O.K. (Hulu series streaming 5/21)

Egomaniacal super villains with oversized craniums have problems too, guys. That’s basically the premise of this new animated series set in the Marvel universe that follows a big-headed-baddie voiced by Patton Oswalt as he tries to hold onto his evil day job while also managing some family struggles at home.

Avail. 5/1
Are You The One?: Complete Seasons 4-6
Bad Girls Club: Complete Seasons 7, 9, 10 & 15
Blind Date: Season 1, Episodes 1 – 45
Dating #NOFILTER: Complete Seasons 1 & 2
I Am Cait: Complete Season 2
Married to Medicine: Complete Seasons 1 – 6
Shahs of Sunset: Complete Seasons 1- 6
Texicanas: Complete Season 1
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
The A-Team (2010)
The Age of Adaline (2015)
Almost Famous (2000)
An Elephant’s Journey (2018)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
The Assassin (2015)
Betrayed (1988)
Blast From The Past (1999)
Blue Chips (1994)
Bound (1996)
Burning (2018)
The Crazies (2010)
Cyrus (2009)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
Dinosaur 13 (2014)
Fascination (2005)
Goodnight Mommy (2015)
Grace Of Monaco (2015)
Grudge Match (2013)
Gundala (2019)
Hannibal Rising (2007)
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004)
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013)
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
I Am Legend (2007)
I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
The Iron Giant (1999)
Knowing (2009)
Lost in Hong Kong (2015)
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Machete (2010)
The Man From Nowhere (2010)
Midnight Heat (1996)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
One Fine Day (1996)
The Outsider (1980)
Predator (1987)
Predator 2 (1990)
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Sahara (1984)
Shattered (1991)
The Spy Next Door (2010)
Step Up 2 The Streets (2008)
Step Up 3D (2010)
Train to Busan (2016)
True Lies (1994)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
Vantage Point (2008)
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
The Wailing (2016)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2009)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993)
Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)

Avail. 5/2
Flight (2012)
The Iron Lady (2011)

Avail. 5/3
The Legend of Baron To’a (2020)

Avail. 5/4
Pikwik Pack: Season 1A, Episodes 1 – 12
Love Sarah (2021)

Avail. 5/5
Shadow in the Cloud (2021)
Skyfall (2012)
Warrior (2011)

Avail. 5/6
The Unicorn (2018)

Avail. 5/7
Shrill: Season 3 Premiere (Hulu Original)
Little Fish (2021)

Avail. 5/9
Robot & Frank (2012)

Avail. 5/10
Wander Darkly (2020)

Avail. 5/13
Saint Maud (2020)
Some Kind of Heaven (2020)

Avail. 5/14
MLK/FBI (2021)

Avail. 5/15
A Perfect Ending (2012)
Cowboys (2020)
Good Kisser (2019)
Mosquita Y Mari (2012)
Reaching for the Moon (2013)
The Mountain Between Us (2017)
Tru Love (2013)

Avail. 5/18
Supernova (2020)

Avail. 5/19
Red Dawn (2012)

Avail. 5/21
MARVEL’S M.O.D.O.K.: Series Premiere (Hulu Original)

Avail. 5/22
Neat: The Story of Bourbon (2018)

Avail. 5/25
Baewatch: Parental Guidance: Complete Season 1
Escape from the City: Complete Season 1
Farmer Wants a Wife: Complete Seasons 7 – 10

Avail. 5/26
Mr. Inbetween: Season 3 Premiere (FX on Hulu)

Avail. 5/27
Madagascar: A Little Wild: Complete Season 3 (Hulu Original)
The Bold Type: Season 5 Premiere
The Bachelor: Complete Seasons 20 & 23
The Bachelorette: Complete Season 12

Avail. 5/28
PLAN B (2021) (Hulu Original Film)
The Vigil (2021)

Avail. 5/31
The Donut King (2020)
The One I Love (2014)
The World To Come (2020)

Leaving 5/9
Gone Girl (2014)
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)

Leaving 5/14
Deadpool (2016)
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Love, Simon (2018)
Leaving 5/17
I Don’t Know How She Does It (2011)

Leaving 5/28
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
Intrigo: Death Of An Author (2018)

Leaving 5/30
Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Leaving 5/31
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Almost Famous (2000)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Betrayed (1988)
Big Daddy (1999)
Bug (1975)
Cinderfella (1960)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Dolphin Tale (2011)
Dolphin Tale 2 (2014)
Downhill Racer (1969)
Fascination (2005)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Judge Dredd (1995)
Just Married (2003)
Life of Crime (2014)
Malcolm X (1992)
Midnight Heat (1996)
One Fine Day (1996)
Patriot Games (1992)
Phase IV (1974)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Sahara (1984)
Shattered (1991)
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Soul Surfer (2011)
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
The 13th Warrior (1999)
The Bellboy (1960)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Descent (2006)
The Family Stone (2005)
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
The Ghost Writer (2010)
The Gift (2000)
The Great Debaters (2007)
The Last Face (2017)
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
The Out-Of-Towners (1999)
The Patsy (1964)
The Program (1993)
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
The Spirit (2008)
The Tenant (1976)
The Terminal (2004)
Traitor (2008)
True Confessions (1981)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Young Frankenstein (1974)

Rutherford Falls (Peacock series) — The newest Michael Schur sitcom is doing the streaming thing, and this show is flat-out putting its location in the title, in lockstep with the co-creator’s fixation with location. Can Rutherford Falls match up with Scranton and Pawnee, in the long run? That remains to be seen, but Ed Helms stars as Nathan Rutherford, who is (obviously, due to the last name) inextricably tied to the town’s history, and Nathan’s not taking too kindly to a movement to eject a historical statue. There’s more to that topic than one would assume, and the wrangling of Nathan seems down to his lifelong best pal, portrayed by Jana Schmieding. This looks about as refreshingly and delightfully offbeat as one would expect from The Good Place creator because everything he touches is magic.

Bigger (BET+ series) — Season 2 brings back the fan-favorite Will Packer comedy about thirty-somethings living in Atlanta, while they attempt to maneuver their way through, well, life. That would include professional, personal and other such obstacles, all while they’re searching for love and dealing with uncomfortable truths on occasion. The whole season’s dropping at once, only on BET+

Life in Colour with David Attenborough (Netflix series) — Earth Day needed this three-part series, and so does your soul. Or at least, I’m assuming that your soul will be soothed while watching Sir David Attenborough traveling from Costa Rica’s rainforests to Scottish Highlands’ snow-covered landscape to show the world how animals make extraordinary use of color. The show promises “revolutionary camera technology created specifically for this series” (according to Netflix) to reveal, uh, invisible-to-us colors? It’s fascinating, especially the details about a butterfly wing sending “seemingly magical ultraviolet signals” and the revelation of what a Bengal tiger’s stripes truly signal.

Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World (PBS, 8:00pm & 9:00 EST) — This series continues to follow Greta’s journey from Switzerland (at the World Economic Forum) to Poland, and a bonus episode takes her to Poland, where she spreads hope for how everyone can help limit climate change.

2040 (CW, 8:00pm EST) — This documentary film also tackles solutions to climate change while exploring how the future might be if humanity gets its sh*t together.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 9:00pm EST) — Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) and Fin (Ice-T) welcomed back Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) a few episodes ago. This week, Benson deals with a hostage situation, and Rollins has a family issue.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC, 10:00pm EST) — Here’s that full-on Stabler Time, baby. This week, Benson is on the scene (!) at a Stabler family event while the Wheatleys are also doing something sketchy (probably) at their own family gathering.

Secrets of the Whales (Nat Geo series on Disney+) — This four-part special event aims to celebrate Earth Day while exploring the newest technology to spotlight whales, including their friendships and traditions, and plenty of expertise shall be revealed by National Geographic Explorer and Photographer Brian Skerry.

Spy City (AMC+ original series) — Preacher‘s Dominic Cooper stars as an English spy in 1960s Berlin, right before the Berlin Wall goes up. He’s tasked with locating a traitor among the Allies or in the UK embassy, and he’s possibly surrounded by spies and double agents. He’s also dancing around the threat of nuclear war while American, British, and French troops are barely separated from their East German and Soviet counterparts. Good luck?

Stowaway (Netflix film) — For All Mankind arguably sets the bar too high for every other space travel-focused streaming offering out there, but listen up because the cast is the real treat. Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette are a dream-team when it comes to delivering the drama. As you may have guessed from the title, there’s an (inadvertent) stowaway aboard a three-person mission to Mars, and that’s going to affect the oxygen supply in a crucial way. It’s not the most original space crisis you’ll ever see, but with a cast like this, the freak-out performances (and the solving of the dilemma within mere hours) are guaranteed to be worth the click.

Rebel (ABC, 10:00pm EST) — Sons of Anarchy‘s Katey Sagal stars as an Erin Brockovich-inspired protagonist in this series that’s executive produced both by Brockovich and Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff. This week, Rebel’s fighting for clean water while Cassidy’s got a new role, and Grady’s irked with Rebel.