Groening can’t save ‘Disenchantment’
Back in the 20th century, a premium network touted itself with the slogan, “It’s not television, it’s HBO.” We’re slowly arriving at a point where there’s “More Netflix than television.” Or “All television has moved to Netflix.”
Today, Netflix launches “Disenchantment” (TV14), a new animated series from Matt Groening (“The Simpsons,” “Futurama”), a talent long associated with 20th Century Fox.
Set in a Dark Age fantasy of castles and knights, peasants, public hangings, fairies and demons, the 10-episode first season features the voice of Abbi Jacobson as Princess Bean, the rebellious teenage daughter of King Zog (John DiMaggio).
Not to give too much away, but Bean recoils at participating in an arranged marriage to cement two kingdoms. Her runaway bride routine links her with Elfo (Nat Faxon), a naive elf fleeing the insipid, insistent cheer of his Keebler-like confection factory. But before leaving her castle, Bean is set upon by Luci (Eric Andre), a wisecracking personal demon sent by dark forces from below to wreak havoc. It’s not entirely clear why Luci was necessary. Bean is seen spreading chaos well before his arrival.
When “The Simpsons” arrived some 30 years ago, it was an obvious and mischievous send-up of TV family sitcoms, a staple familiar to viewers. Just what is “Disenchantment” satirizing? There’s a visual gag referencing “Game of Thrones,” but the jokey storyline doesn’t stick to that one target.
“The Simpsons” quickly transcended mere satire and established a sprawling community of familiar and likable characters. Few of the characters here are more than one-dimensional or terribly sympathetic.
Much like its title sequence and theme (written by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh), “Disenchantment” is frantic and rather slow-moving at the same time. The typical episode of “The Simpsons” follows one story for about five minutes before stumbling into another and ricocheting off yet another subplot, offering a lot of narrative and plenty of gags to savor in just 22 minutes. In contrast, “Disenchantment” offers a continuous saga.
This approach makes for a very long half-hour. And there are 10 of them.
SKATEBOARD LIFE
Shot over the course of 12 years in Rockford, Illinois, the documentary “Minding the Gap” (streaming today on Hulu) follows filmmaker Bing Liu and his skateboarder friends as they grow from adolescents to 20-somethings with a tenuous grasp of maturity and masculinity.
CHRISTIE REVIVAL
Agatha Christie has seen a bit of a recent revival. Kenneth Branagh leads an all-star cast in the 2017 revival of “Murder on the Orient Express” (8 p.m., HBO). It was not as well received as the 2015 BBC adaptation of “And Then There Were None,” broadcast here on Lifetime and now available to stream on Acorn. Amazon Prime has just acquired a number of British adaptations of Christie’s work, and began streaming “Ordeal by Innocence,” starring Bill Nighy and Anna Chancellor, just last Friday.
STREISAND TRIBUTE
TCM spends the day with 10 movies starring singer Barbra Streisand, including two she directed, “Yentl” (8 p.m.) and “The Prince of Tides” (10:30 p.m.), from 1983 and 1991, respectively.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› Former NBA stars play Big3 Basketball (8 p.m., Fox), live from Dallas.
› John Stamos hosts “WE Day” (8 p.m., ABC), a celebration of idealistic youth doing good in their communities. Participants include Jennifer Aniston, Dierks Bentley, The Chainsmokers, Will Ferrell, Whoopi Goldberg and Selena Gomez.
› Game 8 of the 2018 Little League World Series (8 p.m., ESPN) pits Peachtree City (Georgia) vs. Honolulu (Hawaii).
› “Treehouse Masters” (8 p.m., Animal Planet) enters its 11th season in Hawaii.
› A newly engaged single mother receives dreadful news in the 2018 shocker “My Little Girl Is Gone” (8 p.m., Lifetime Movie Channel, TV-14).
› John Quinones hosts “What Would You Do?” (9 p.m., ABC).
› Kevin Hart hosts “TKO: Total Knockout” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
› Two helpings of “Whistleblower” (9 and 10 p.m., CBS).
› “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC).
› “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC). Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin. tvguy@gmail.com.