The crime underworld rises to the surface this month on TV. This not only includes a show with Sylvester Stallone playing an exiled mafia boss but also a returning AMC series that plunges us deep into London gang warfare where the old-school rules no longer reign. As well, Netflix will bring us some true-crime drama that revolves around a bodybuilding couple in a marriage gone bad. Don’t worry, though; some residual October spookiness will surface with Tim Burton’s Addams Family offshoot series.
We’ve also got royal drama and a sci-fi opera coming with new editions of The Crown and Manifest, respectively speaking. Mythic Quest also makes a grand workplace-comedy comeback, the punchy Dead To Me ladies return with more homicidal intrigue, and Kumail Nanjiani is here to help dudes take it off (also with murder) in a historical Chippendales dramatization. The body count will be steep this month, which will lead us into bingewatching delights while warding off too many Thanksgiving pies.
Here are the must-see shows for November.
Killer Sally (Netflix limited series streaming 11/2)
In the wake of Bad Vegan, Sally McNeil is here to say, “Hold my protein shake.” This limited series arrives in a true-crime heyday for the streaming service, which is riding high upon Jeffrey Dahmer twin shows and will also soon see Joe Berlingers’s Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields arrive. In the case of bodybuilder/wrestler Sally, the show explores how she endured a troubling marriage and eventually killed her husband on Valentine’s Day. Don’t expect a standard retelling of events as they occurred because this one has a few tricks up its steroid-pumped sleeves.
Blockbuster: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming on 11/3)
Netflix famously helped bring Blockbuster Video down, so it’s wild that this series even exists. Randall Park portrays an idealistic manager of the world’s final Blockbuster store, and he’s crushed to learn that his beloved store could soon be an analog dinosaur. What follows is a mad dash to keep things together and help people realize that they need the store’s sense of community to maintain some human connection. Walking into a store to sift through sticky rental tapes (ew) is certainly a different experience than bingewatching entire seasons on streaming. It’s gutsy as hell for Netflix to tackle this subject matter, and we’ll see if audiences are here for it.
Manifest: Season 4, Part A (Netflix series streaming 11/2)
This sci-fi soap series never made much sense, but the soap operatics of people vanishing off the face of the earth doesn’t get old. That’s especially the case since these troubled souls returned to loved ones who had understandably moved on to different romantic relationships. Meanwhile, callings are swirling, and the Death Date still looms as Cal is inexplicably five years older than the last time anyone saw him. Flight 828 yields no easy answers, but showrunner Jeff Rake still aims to bring this in for a turbulent landing after Netflix rescued the show from the NBC graveyard.
The Mosquito Coast: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 11/4)
Justin Theroux returns for more of this adaptation of the 1981 novel from his uncle, Paul Theroux. The show’s a moderately engrossing study of a brilliant scientist’s descent into insanity. However, this season picks up with his wife (Melissa George) having had enough of his exhausting sh*t. They’re in real danger now, given that they’re deep within the jungle and searching for refuge with an old Allie Fox friend. Man, these kids simply need a normal life, and instead, they’ve got a terrorizing dad and no relief in sight.
The Crown: Season 5 (Netflix series streaming 11/9)
British Royal drama heats up even more than this show is accustomed to doing. The Windsors are steamed about this season, since it makes Charles look even worse and more resentful than the last round. Dominic West picks up with the heir who waits decades longer to be king, and it’s wild that this season will arrive a few months before King Charles III is officially coronated. This officially-“fictionalized” season will see Elizabeth Debicki pick up the Diana role as the marriage fully crumbles, and Dodi Fayed is on the horizon while Camilla Parker Bowles has been there all along. The monarchy’s in utter chaos, which also closely resembles our current times when the “spare” will soon tell his story to the world.
Down To Earth With Zac Efron: Down Under (Netflix series streaming 11/11)
No one can be mad to see more of Zac Efron being the purest lover of science and sustainability on TV. He’s witnessing truly “sick” revelations while having his “mind blown” in Australia. This venue seemed most convenient during the pandemic, given that the Aussies did things better, and Darin Elien is back to cuddle with koalas, too. Also, good food and good people are both good things.
Mythic Quest: Season 3 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 11/11)
Rob McElhenney’s workplace comedy about video game developers returns for a third round after Snoop Dogg got viewers stoned. This batch of episodes picks up with the GrimPop Studios offshoot with David navigating boss territory, and Carol has no idea how to fill her new role. Dana must be the peacemaker, and Brad’s attempting to feel his way through a post-prison life. As always, this show illustrates how achieving workspace harmony can be a trickier task than the actual work at hand.
Tulsa King: Season 1 (Paramount+ series streaming on 11/13)
Sylvester Stallone portrays a mafia capo who’s not swimming with the fishes. However, he might as well be on Mars in this Taylor Sheridan-created series that takes him to Route 66 and the land of the Golden Driller. Tulsa’s experiencing a hotspot-like effect these days in the midst of Reservation Dogs and following Watchmen, but it’s going to be quite pleasurable to see him as the O.G. who’s dropping a “nice little place you got here” in a weed dispensary. This show looks to be full of 1980s-style one-liners that could put the Sly and Arnold movies of yesteryear to shame.
Yellowstone: Season 5 (Paramount+ series streaming on 11/13)
I recently overheard someone brag about being able to sell a horse at an astronomical premium due to this show’s immense popularity, and I kind-of believe it. Kevin Costner is back in his cowboy hat for this show that has already spawned spinoffs and an upcoming prequel starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. Taylor Sheridan created this empire, and boy, is it ever prospering at breakneck speed. Power struggles with livestock on the side against the backdrop of an ever-shifting political landscape: it sounds like Succession in Big Sky Country, and people can’t get enough.
Dead To Me: Season 3 (Netflix series streaming 11/17)
Finally, the black comedy dream team of Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini is back together, and does James Mardsen live (and die) again? I love that this series showcases the unlikely but incredible friendship between these two messy women, and hopefully, we’ll get more headbanging to Caliban, too. This kind of buddy dark comedy is exactly what we need going into the time of year when people are posting even more face-forward group selfies on social media. In contrast, this duo lets their chaos hang out while not even bothering with the picture-picture perfect falsehoods. Gotta dig it.
Gangs Of London: Season 2 (AMC/AMC+ series returning on 11/17)
If you’re missing the recently departed Peaky Blinders and haven’t yet caught this AMC show, then you’re missing out. Fans of Marty Scorsese’s flicks should be chuffed, too, while this season plunges into even darker power struggles. Warring gangs find themselves in disarray while paramilitary forces are on the scene for one of the more merciless gang leaders. This is a straight-up dictatorship that lacks the courtesy codes of typical gangsters while the soul of London’s underground hangs in the balance. This show’s not only a collective character study but also includes brutally gorgeous choreography during action scenes.
Ziwe: Season 2, Part 2 (Showtime series returning on 11/20)
Chet Haze’s visit with host Ziwe Fumudoh did not go over well when he refused to apologize for his long-running cultural appropriation. This season, expect Ziwe to continue skewering the Karens and have hard-hitting discussions with guests including Drew Barrymore, DeRay Mckesson, Julia Fox, and Michael Che. The former Desus & Mero writer’s show outlasted her former stomping grounds, and she’ll be keeping it real in an unreal world.
Welcome to Chippendales: Season (Hulu limited series streaming on 11/22)
The Pam & Tommy creators are all over this one while taking viewers into the bounty and destruction wrought from the 1980s stripper empire. Kumail Nanjiani portrays the group’s founder, Indian immigrant Somen “Steve” Banerjee, who foresees the joy that women felt while flocking to these ridiculous shows. Unfortunately, greed rears its head after The White Lotus great Murray Bartlett seizes attention and (with it) power. Drugs, murder, and drama will rule the day while Juliette Lewis and Annaleigh Ashford also hop on board this excessive ride.
Wednesday (Netflix limited series streaming 11/23)
Yes, it only seems natural that both Rob Zombie and Tim Burton are all up in the Addams Family resurrection, but while Zombie veers into wild kitsch, Burton decided to reinvent his character’s mission a bit while creating a “eight-hour Tim Burton movie.” Call it a passion project, of course, while Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán step in as Morticia and Gomez, respectively, and Jenna Ortega slides into view as the title character. Don’t expect a typical reboot feel. Rather, Wednesday is on some missions here, and the show justifies its existence as a separate entity.
Willow: Season 1 (Disney+ series streaming on 11/30)
Seemingly, every other franchise has been revisited lately, so why not this one? The wild part about this series is that Warwick Davis is returning after 30+ years to play Willow Ufgood once more, so expect a whole new adventure-quest and plenty of trolls and sorcerers, too. The challenge here is to keep things fresh while still banding around the spirit that made the O.G. film so beloved. Expect fans to take this very seriously.
Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne: Season (Hulu series streaming on 11/29)
The supermodel with loads of famous friends will (as the title of this series suggests) explore all things related to sexuality and the relationships and dynamics that revolve around it. She recently told Variety that making this series made her feel slightly prudish, if that tells you anything at all. It’ll be sheer, awkward fun.