This week: ‘All the Light’ premieres, David Oyelowo is ‘Bass Reeves,’ and family drama ‘Black Cake’ arrives
1. Perhaps you’ve heard of this one? The Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See” is based on Andrew Doerr’s best-selling Pulitzer Prizewinning novel about a blind French girl, a radio broadcast, rare jewels, and a German soldier in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Newcomer — and Rhode Island native — Aria Mia Loberti, who is legally blind, won the lead role after a global search. She stars along with Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and Louis Hofmann. It premieres Thursday.
2. David Oyelowo comes to Paramount+ in a new 1880s-set Western series called “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” that’s based on a true story. He plays Reeves, the first Black US deputy marshal west of the Mississippi River. Dennis Quaid costars as another deputy US marshal, and Donald Sutherland recurs as the town judge. Also in the mix: Barry Pepper, Demi Singleton, and Garrett Hedlund. It premieres Sunday.
3. On Wednesday, Hulu is premiering a new Oprah Winfrey-produced series called “Black Cake,” based on the novel by Charmaine Wilkerson. A family drama and murder mystery, it reaches back to the late 1960s and a runaway bride who disappears off the coast of Jamaica. Cut to 50 years later, when a dying woman leaves her adult children a flash drive with the story of her journey from the Caribbean to America. The cast includes Mia Isaac, Chipo Chung, Glynn Turman, and Adrienne Warren, who won a Tony for her starring role in “Tina.”
4. For the first time, the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony” will be aired live, Friday at 8 p.m. on Disney+. This year’s inductees include Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliot, Willie Nelson, George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, and the Spinners. The Musical Excellence Awards will go to Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin, and the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performing individuals will go to Don Cornelius. An edited version of the ceremony will also air on ABC, but not until Jan. 1.