Sammy Younan

#SetTheVCR: October 4-10, 2020

Sammy Younan

Girth Radio Presents…

It’s October! As that Autumn wind begins to chill your bones I’ve got some horror suggestions destined to produce warm Fear Pee! Ah, the sites and smells of October and Halloween Season.

Sunday, October 4

The Circus (8 p.m. / Showtime & Crave)
The Simpsons: Season 32: (“I, Carumbus”) (8 p.m. / Fox)
Fargo: Season 4: (“Raddoppiarlo”) (9 p.m. / FX)

Sammy Suggestion: The Comedy Store (10 p.m. / Showtime)

Far more than the Comedy Cellar in NYC The Comedy Store is The comedy institution: it’s like graduating from a comedy Harvard. Everybody is in this five part docuseries: Jim Carrey, Dave Chappelle, Whitney Cummings, Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Bob Saget, Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, and Bill Burr. Plus more: like Michael Keaton. This is bound to be an incredible documentary because with comedy it takes time to be good; it’s not a smooth road to be great. This is how so many of these legends pull it off.

Monday, October 5

Sammy Suggestion: Soulmates: Season 1 (10 p.m. / AMC)

AMC’s latest is Soulmates a 6 episode anthology series set 15 years from now about a corporation with a scientific test that determines your soulmate. It’s basically Brave New World meets Black Mirror (co-creator William Bridges has written for Black Mirror and produced Stranger Things so that’s your “tone” heads up.). So: will it be love at first sight? AMC thinks so: AMC has renewed Soulmates for a second season.

Tuesday, October 6

The Lie (Anytime / Amazon Prime)
Black Box (Anytime / Amazon Prime)

Sammy Suggestion: Swamp Thing (8 p.m. / The CW)

So if you’ve read the comics this simple description will make sense: “Abby Arcane returns home to Marais, Louisiana to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus, only to discover the dark, terrifying mysteries of the swamp.” However, the actual swamp has been DC’s streaming mess: this show was canceled shortly after it premiered on DC Universe. Meanwhile, Doom Patrol and Titans have graduated to HBO Max empowering them a larger mainstream audience. This horror show had it; I know I’m saying what everyone else is saying but it shoulda gotten at least a second season. Studios have greenlit worse. Will we ever see “The Return of Swamp Thing?” This is a decent series that was not long for this world; I so want “Moore” episodes. We were probably cheated of that classic Heather Locklear Season 2 guest star moment too: boo! Cue Len (Wein)’s If You Steal My Sunshine…!

Wednesday, October 7

Books of Blood (Anytime / Hulu)
Hubie Halloween (Anytime / Netflix)

Sammy Suggestion: War of The Worlds: Season 1 (8 p.m. / CBC)

When The War of the Worlds was radio broadcast live at 8 pm on Sunday, October 30, 1938, it created a panic. Orson Welles said: “Houses were emptying, churches were filling up; from Nashville to Minneapolis there was wailing in the streets and the rending of garments.” Amazing no matter if that’s marketing magic or a myth. Well like Brave New World which has recently been added to Corus; this fall Canadian nerds will also enjoy 2019’s: War of The Worlds from Fox. This dramatic Gabriel Byrne show has been broadcast in Asia, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and now it’s finally in Canada. This modern retelling has been recast as a Walking Dead style show focusing on the survivours following an “an apocalyptic extra-terrestrial strike.” Wednesday nights on CBC though all episodes will also be added to CBC Gem. Season 2 is currently being shot so the “war” is not over.

Thursday, October 8

Sammy Suggestion: Fantasy Island (Anytime / Amazon Prime)

Cue Hervé Villechaize pointing and yelling: “The remake! The remake!” Fantasy Island was a fantasy drama that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. It was partly made famous of course for the James Bond villain creepy-like host Ricardo Montalbán who contributed notable nerd roles in Planet of the Apes movies and of course as Khan in Star Trek II. This horror “reimagining” focused on a collection of guests invited by the “owner and operator of a luxurious island to live out their most elaborate fantasies.” Think Westworld meets The Cabin in the Woods. This may be a Fantasy on my part but it’s October and everybody’s in the mood for a satisfying horror movie…so here ya go?

Friday, October 9

Influence (Anytime / CBC Gem)
The Right Stuff (9 p.m. / Disney+)

Sammy Suggestion: The Haunting of Bly Manor (Anytime / Netflix)

2018’s The Haunting of Hill House was a surprise Netflix hit and terrific ghostly fun. It’ll be hard to top Hill House: the advantage was that it came out of nowhere. (I’d seen Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil in the cinemas so I was already familiar with Mike Flanagan before the series began. Cool points for me; no points for my tastes…). Hill House’s success means Bly Manor is saddled with expectations. So the pressure is on to deliver. The premise this time is loosely based (adaptation is an ill-fitting word for Hill House. It’s technically based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel though if you’ve read the novel and watched the show there clearly aren’t a lot of similarities.) on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. That I have not read though like Hill House I do not expect much adapting. According to Netflix: “The story tells of a young governess hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at the family country house after they fall into his care. Arriving at the Bly estate, she begins to see apparitions that proceed to haunt the premises.” Of course, she does. Happy Halloween.

Saturday, October 10

Sammy Suggestion: Eli Roth’s History of Horror Season 2 (10 p.m. / AMC)

Did you watch Eli Roth’s History of Horror Season 1 back in 2018? Might still be on Shudder or AMC on Demand. As you can guess from the title this is a deep dive into all things horror. So do you want Season 2’s topics or interviewees? Topics this season range from: “magic-wielding witches” (every block has one!) to “misshapen monsters” (is there any other kind?!) to “hell houses” (which must be a true story with this housing market.). Interviewees include Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, Bill Hader, Nancy Allen, Megan Fox, Greg Nicotero, Rob Zombie, James Brolin, Edgar Wright, Piper Laurie, Leonard Maltin, Katharine Isabelle, Jack Black, Slash, Rachel True, Ashley Laurence, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Mary Harron, John Landis, Tom Savini, Karyn Kusama, and many others. If you want to up the creep factor in your life without going on Tinder Shudder is producing the accompanying TV show podcast: Eli Roth’s History of Horror: Uncut? podcast. Look for that…the guests are the horror luminaries listed above. Let the fear pee flow!