This week on Geektown Radio, Dave is joined by Domingos for an episode that swings from pop icon biopics and basketball greatness to murder mysteries, moonbases and more TV news than is probably healthy for one week. Leading the charge are thoughts on ‘Michael’, the Canadian crime drama ‘Saint Pierre‘, Apple TV’s upcoming alt-history spin-off ‘Star City‘, and the return of ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder‘.
Domingos kicks things off with ‘Michael’, the new biopic charting the early life and rise of Michael Jackson, with Jaafar Jackson taking on the role of his famous uncle. The film follows Jackson from his childhood in Gary, Indiana, through the Jackson 5 years, Motown, and into the period where he starts to become the global force of nature that took over the 1980s. Domingos is very good on the balance here too, praising the performances, the music and the recreations of those huge cultural moments, while also noting that the film focuses far more on the creation of the icon than the darker, messier parts that came later. In other words, this feels much more like the first half of a story than the full stop.
He then jumps from one MJ to another with ‘The Last Dance’, Netflix’s brilliant documentary series about Michael Jordan and the final run of the Chicago Bulls dynasty. Yes, it came out a few years ago now, but it is still one of the great sports documentaries, and Domingos makes a good case for revisiting it, particularly for the way it captures not just Jordan’s talent, but the scale of his fame and the strange pressure that comes with becoming something bigger than sport itself. Also, Dennis Rodman vanishing to Vegas in the middle of a title run remains one of the most completely normal things ever to happen in that team, which tells you quite a lot.
On the TV side, Domingos has also been watching ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’, the BBC and Netflix YA mystery starring Emma Myers (Wednesday, Family Switch) as Pip, a teenager who starts digging into a local murder case for a school project and gradually discovers her quiet town is hiding rather a lot. What stands out most in his take is how grounded it feels. Even with the heightened mystery setup, the characters behave like recognisable teenagers rather than glossy drama robots, and that makes the darker turns land much better. With Season 2 arriving next month, it is a good time to catch up if you have not already.
He also had a chance to see the opening of ‘Spider-Noir‘, although he is understandably careful not to wander anywhere near spoiler territory. What he can say is that Nicolas Cage (Longlegs, Pig) is exactly the kind of actor you want at the centre of something this pulpy and stylised, and that the series seems to understand the character’s world, its noir influences, and the Spider-Man mythology it is borrowing from. The fact that viewers will be able to watch it in both black and white and colour is also a very fun touch, because apparently choosing between moody atmosphere and shiny visuals is now part of the viewing experience.
On Dave’s side, one of the standout picks this week is ‘Saint Pierre’, the Canadian procedural led by Allan Hawco (Republic of Doyle, Caught) and Joséphine Jobert (Death in Paradise, Saint-Pierre). Set on the tiny French territory off the coast of Newfoundland, the show follows a disgraced officer shipped out there after crossing the wrong powerful people, only to find the supposedly quiet posting is not quite as sleepy as advertised. Dave is very keen on this one, and it sounds like the sort of procedural that gets the tone right, character-driven, well-cast, and just a bit sharper than the cosier end of the genre without turning into a total misery machine.
He has also seen the opening episodes of ‘Star City’, the new spin-off from ‘For All Mankind’, and it sounds like Apple has landed on a really smart angle. Rather than simply continuing the alternate history story from the American side, ‘Star City’ goes back and retells the early stages of the space race from the Soviet perspective. Which means you still get the ambition, the danger and the huge historical what-ifs, but filtered through a much grimmer, more oppressive system. With Rhys Ifans (House of the Dragon, Notting Hill) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Until I Kill You, Ludwig) in the cast, it sounds like one to watch if you have been enjoying ‘For All Mankind’.
There is also a quick ‘Geekstorians‘ plug this week, with the latest episode diving into Marvel’s bankruptcy and how, against all logic and common sense, that financial collapse helped pave the way for the MCU. Which is exactly the sort of improbable pop culture history the podcast was built for.
In the news section, there are a couple of cancellations, with ‘Gen V’ ending after two seasons, while ‘Vought Rising’ has been confirmed as the next spin-off in ‘The Boys’ universe. The BBC has also finally put ‘Football Focus’ out to pasture after more than 50 years, which feels less like a cancellation and more like one of those institutional British moments where everyone suddenly realises time has in fact been passing.
On the renewal side, ‘Hazbin Hotel’ is back for a fifth and final season, while ‘Grace’ returns for Season 7, although it does sound like the series may now be approaching the point where it starts running out of Peter James source material.
There are also a bunch of air date updates. ‘Matlock’ returns for Season 2 Part 2 in early May, ‘Citadel’ finally comes back for its second season, ‘Hudson & Rex’ is heading into an eighth season under slightly odd circumstances, ‘House of the Dragon’ is back in June, ‘Silo’ returns in July, ‘Heartstopper Forever’ lands in mid-July, and ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ is back later that month as well. Ryan Phillippe is also joining ‘9-1-1: Nashville’, which feels like exactly the kind of casting choice that show would make.
Elsewhere, ITV has commissioned ‘First Woman’, a lunar thriller starring Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie, Alice & Jack) and Ashley Walters (Adolescence, Top Boy), which sounds like a strong high-concept drama with just enough sci-fi flavour to make it extra interesting. Prime Video has picked up ‘Embassy’, starring Anna Kendrick (Woman of the Hour, Pitch Perfect), Sam Heughan (Outlander, The Couple Next Door) and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Counterpart), while Netflix has officially started production on ‘Scooby-Doo: Origins’, which may or may not be brilliant, dreadful, or somehow both at once.
As usual, the episode also rounds up what is coming to screens next week, including ‘This Is Not a Murder Mystery’, ‘Widow’s Bay’, ‘Man on Fire’, ‘Prisoner’, ‘St. Denis Medical’ and ‘Fallen’.
So if you want one podcast episode covering ‘Michael’, ‘Saint Pierre’, ‘Star City’, ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’, plus a healthy amount of TV and film news, Geektown Radio Episode 495 has you covered.
Listen below.
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