Blood and casseroles: ‘Candy’ on Hulu
Hulu goes old-school in more ways than one. Not only does “Candy” take place in the 1980s, it will unfold like a traditional “event” miniseries, streaming a new episode every night this week before its Friday conclusion.
Produced by and starring Jessica Biel, “Candy” recalls the real-life story of Candy Montgomery (Biel), a seemingly prim, and devout Texas housewife accused of the brutal ax-murder of her best friend, Betty Gore (Melanie Lynskey) after embarking on an affair with Betty’s husband (Pablo Schreiber).
Not unlike “The Americans,” “Stranger Things” and “Halt and Catch Fire,” this miniseries makes the most of the curly perms, particular fashions, decor and monochromatic beige and browns of Reagan-era decor. It’s a little hard not to go over the top when dealing with Texas ax-murdering church ladies.
Biel is no stranger to the role of a pleasant wife who suddenly snaps, having played one in the first season of “The Sinner,” which she also produced.
Lynskey was most recently seen in Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” and may be best known from playing Rose on “Two and a Half Men.”
She is rather unique in having made a remarkable movie that was pretty much overshadowed by another actor’s debut. She co-starred in the 1994 thriller “Heavenly Creatures, based on a murder that shocked New Zealand in the 1950s. It was Lynskey’s luck that her co-star was a young Kate Winslet in a role that would launch her career. The film also marked the mainstream breakthrough for a New Zealand director named Peter Jackson, who would go on to helm the “Lord of the Rings,” trilogy among other efforts.
› Produced by Snoop Dogg, the 2021 documentary “When Claude Got Shot” is broadcast on “Independent Lens” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
Five years in the making, the film follows a story of gun violence from the perspective of the shooter and his victim. In this case, would-be lawyer Claude Motley returned to his home city of Milwaukee for a school reunion, only to be shot in the face by 15-yearold Nathan King during an attempted carjacking. Days later, King was shot in self-defense by the woman he was attempting to rob. Her bullet left him paralyzed from the waist down.
While a glib report might consider this a matter of just deserts, this film follows the three people whose lives were derailed by gunfire and Claude’s long path to forgiving his young attacker.
› TCM spends 24 hours with the films of Busby Berkeley, starting with the 1936 musical short “Stage Struck” (6 a.m., TV-G), featuring Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, who appeared in many of Berkeley’s films set on or around the Broadway stage.
Just as sound was being introduced to movies, Berkeley would electrify the screen musical with kaleidoscopic choreography and dizzying camera movement. Even his movie titles, like “Fast and Furious” (2:30 p.m., TV-G), would be recycled in later decades in different genres.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› Faced with tragedy, a long-reigning monarch (Helen Mirren) learns that her characteristic stoicism is interpreted as indifference in the 2006 true-life drama “The Queen” (7:15 HBO Signature). Written by Peter Morgan (“The Crown”).
› A winner emerges on “American Song Contest” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).