One of the many good things about the current streaming boom, with its attendant ballooning in content options, is the sheer choice available to us.
It’s almost mind boggling how diverse and multitudinous the viewing options are, evidenced by this post which includes a very cleverly-written traditional-style sitcom, a fantastically interesting addition to The Addams Family franchise and a piece of hard-hitting, heartfelt and highly intelligent sci-fi animation.
Saying there’s something for everyone is a supersized cliché writ large in neon but the truth is there is, which means the only issue now is finding the time to watch it all …
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (season 2)
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In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children. (via YouTube)
Abbott Elementary season 2 premieres on 21 September on ABC and Hulu/Disney Plus.
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A sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ time as a student at Nevermore Academy. Following Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships. Wednesday is series directed by acclaimed genre filmmaker Tim Burton, director of many films including Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie, Big Eyes, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children previously. The series is created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar; with writing by Kayla Alpert, April Blair, Matt Lambert, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar. Executive produced by Gough, Millar, Burton, Gail Berman, Kayla Alpert, Steve Stark, Jonathan Glickman, and Andrew Mittman. (courtesy First Showing)
Wednesday is listed as coming soon to Netflix.
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A sci-fi drama based on a collection of short stories by award-winning author Ken Liu, this thrilling speculative is centered on a bullied teen (Katie Chang) who receives mysterious help from someone online: a stranger soon revealed to be her recently deceased father, David (Daniel Dae Kim), whose consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud following an experimental destructive brain scan. David is the first of a new kind of being – an “Uploaded Intelligence” or “UI” – but he will not be the last, as a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war. The series writer, creator, showrunner and executive producer is Craig Silverstein (TURN: Washington’s Spies, Nikita, Terra Nova), and animation is by Titmouse (Motorcity, Big Mouth, Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head).Pantheon explores the outer limits of what we and our technology are capable of creating and destroying, focusing on the “uploading” of human consciousness into the cloud. It explores the theme of technology through the lens of family, focusing on both the people whose brains have been digitally uploaded, and the loved ones they’ve left behind. Ultimately, Pantheon challenges our understanding of what it means to be human.
The all-star voice cast features Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-O) as David, Katie Chang (The Bling Ring) as Maddie, Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora) as Caspian, Rosemarie DeWitt (Little Fires Everywhere) as Ellen, Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) as Cary, Taylor Schilling (Orange Is The New Black) as Renee, Ron Livingston (A Million Little Things) as Waxman, Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) as Pope, Raza Jaffrey (Homeland) as Chanda, and William Hurt (Black Widow, Goliath) as Stephen Holstrom. Other voice actors for the series include Scoot McNairy, Anika Noni Rose, Maude Apatow, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Grey Griffin, SungWon Cho, Kevin Durand, Samuel Roukin, Krystina Alabado, Lara Pulver, Madhur Jeffrey, Heather Lind, Nyima Funk, Tunde Adebimpe, Quinn Hawking, Clyde Kusatsu, Ken Leung, Jacob Sartorius, Vincent Ventresca, Julian Lerner, Magnus McLain, Ajay Mehta, Annabella Sciorra, and Suraj Sharma.
Craig Silverstein (Turn, Nikita) is writer, creator, showrunner and executive producer. Animation is by Titmouse (Motorcity, Big Mouth, Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head). Executive producers for Titmouse are Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio, Ben Kalina and Juno Lee. (courtesy AMC)
Pantheon premieres Thursday, 1 September with weekly episodes on AMC+