Streep steals ‘Big Little Lies’; ‘Pose’ resets in second season
In recent weeks there has been a flurry of new program premieres, including HBO’s “Deadwood” movie and Netflix’s “When They See Us,” to get in under the wire for consideration in the 2019 Emmy race. (May 31 was the deadline.)
But several dramas also are purposefully premiering after that deadline so they can avoid competing against “Game of Thrones” in 2019 and look ahead to the 2020 Emmys, including returning shows “Big Little Lies” and “Pose.”
‘Big Little Lies’
The hit HBO limited series — which turned out to be less limited than initially conceived — is back for a second season (9 p.m. Sunday) that moves at a quicker pace and has an emphasis on dark humor thanks largely to the arrival of Meryl Streep as Mary Louise, disarming mother of the late Perry (Alexander Skarsgard, back for the new season in flashbacks), abusive husband of Celeste (Nicole Kidman).
Fans of writer David E. Kelley’s past series — “Picket Fences,” “Ally McBeal” — will recognize the type: On the surface she’s pleasant, but once Mary Louise opens her mouth, her words knock those around her off balance. At times she seems like a truth-teller; in other instances, she just seems rude.
Streep fully commits to her sometimes noxious character, whether she’s demonstrating a grief scream or tangling with entitled, gossipy Madeline (Reese Witherspoon).
“I find little people to be untrustworthy,” Mary Louise says as she sizes up Madeline. “You seem like a nice person, but also you strike me as a wanter.”
However it ultimately turns out, this second season is worth it just for the opportunity to watch Streep have fun.
Several months have passed since Perry attacked wife Celeste (Nicole Kidman) at a school function and Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz) pushed him down a flight of concrete steps to his death. The women made a pact to toe “the company line,” as Mary Louise calls it, that Perry lost his balance and fell.
By episode two, secrets begin unraveling as Renata (Laura Dern) faces a life she refuses to contemplate: “I will not not be rich!” she rages.
Mary Louise isn’t the only mother butting in. Bonnie has been a zombie since “the incident,” so husband Nathan (James Tupper) calls Bonnie’s mother (Crystal Fox), who in no short order tells Nathan, “I’m here because you’re ill-equipped to deal with your wife.”
Although Kelley is credited with the teleplay — he shares story credit with Liane Moriarty, author of the book that was the basis for the show’s first season — season two feels more Kelley-like due to the brash mother characters introduced and because the show’s pace is significantly revved up. “Big Little Lies” still takes time for the gauzy flashbacks as Celeste grapples with assorted emotional responses during sessions with her therapist (Robin Weigert), but the whole enterprise feels peppier, poppier and more entertaining as viewers spend more time with these pretty people with pretty significant problems.
‘Pose’
FX’s “Pose” (10 p.m. Tuesday) was designed to be an ongoing series but begins its second season heavy on exposition and the resetting of characters. Episode one, especially, falters on some wooden dialogue delivered in an unconvincing manner.
It’s now 1990 — about a year since the end of season one — and Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) and her House of Evangelista have risen to prominence in ballroom competitions, but the alliance with imperious Elektra (Dominique Jackson) falters as the writers revert to casting Elektra as this show’s Joan Collins-esque interloper.
Pray Tell (Pittsburgh native Billy Porter) becomes political over the first episode — a rushed awakening — as he attends the 210th funeral for a friend who died of AIDS, a more prominent threat in season two.
“Pose” remains an above-average characterdriven cable drama, but it all feels a little more forced this year as the writers attempt to invent new stories for this collection of generally likable, striving LGBTQ characters.
Kept/canceled/spun off
Starz renewed “Vida” for a third season and “The Spanish Princess” for a second and final season.
Netflix renewed “Dead to Me” for a second season and ME-TV did the same for “Collector’s Call.”
HBO’s “Silicon Valley” will end with its upcoming sixth season debuting later this year. Netflix’s “The Ranch” will end with its fourth season that will air in 2019 and 2020.
NBC canceled “Abby’s,” “A.P. Bio,” “The Enemy Within” and “The Village.”
Amazon canceled “Sneaky Pete,” and Syfy canceled “Happy” and “Deadly Class.”
Nickelodeon ordered the “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoff “Kamp Koral,” a CGanimated series following a 10-year-old SpongeBob at a summer sleepaway camp.
Channel surfing
AMC-owned horror streaming service Shudder announced Tom Savini (“Dawn of the Dead”), who heads the Special Make-Up Effects Program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, will direct an episode of its upcoming “Creepshow” series, executive produced by McCandless native Greg Nicotero (“The Walking Dead”). Savini previously created gory effects for the 1982 movie the series is based on. John Harrison (“Dune”), who grew up in Oakland and Oakmont, will write and direct “Creepshow” episodes. … Former “CBS Evening News” anchor Jeff Glor will now anchor “CBS This Morning: Saturday” beginning June 22 and also serve as a special correspondent for CBS News.