This week: Mandy Patinkin’s Hulu whodunit, the Emmy Awards, and the ‘Hazbin Hotel’ opens
1. Ruth Wilson from “The Affair” returns to Showtime for a six-part British mystery series called “The Woman in the Wall.” She plays a tormented survivor of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, the cruel facilities where young women were sent for being “fallen” because they were willingly — or unwillingly — sexually active, or because they weren’t passive enough, or because they flirted with a boy, among many other things. A sleepwalker, she wakes up one day to find the dead body of a mysterious woman in her house. The miniseries premieres Friday on Paramount+ and Sunday at 9 p.m. on Showtime.
2. Still recovering from the mess that was the Golden Globes? Well snap out of it, because it’s time for the Emmy Awards, which were postponed in September due to the writers and actors strikes. The big titles include “Succession,” “The Bear,” “Ted Lasso,” and “The White Lotus,” but take note: The eligibility period was from May 31, 2022, to June 1, 2023, so some of the competitors ran more than a year ago. “The Bear,” for example, is up for its first season, even though we saw season 2 last summer. Anthony Anderson hosts the event, which will feature a few cast reunions, including Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt from “Cheers.” The telecast airs on Fox at 8 p.m. on Monday.
3. Mandy Patinkin seems to be aiming for an “Only Murders in the Building” of his own with his new series, “Death and Other Details.” The 10-episode Hulu series, which premieres on Tuesday, is a light murder mystery set on a Mediterranean cruise ship. Patinkin is a well-known detective trying to help the prime suspect. The cast also includes Linda Edmond, Violett Beane, Rahul Kohli, Lauren Patten, and Angela Zhou.
4. Here’s yet another adult animated comedy, this one a musical premiering Friday on Amazon. Called “Hazbin Hotel,” it was created by Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano, and it’s about a princess of the overpopulated Hell who’s trying to rehabilitate demons so that they can move into Heaven. Voice actors include Erika Henningsen, Stephanie Beatriz, Keith David, Blake Roman, and Alex Brightman. By the way, the pilot was crowdfunded and put on YouTube back in 2019.