Soledad O’Brien’s potent new docuseries Black And Missing premieres on HBO

Plus: The Flash, Holly Hobbie, The Fastest, Masters Of The Universe: Revelation, and Shop Around The Corner

By Sulagna Misra  |  November 23, 2021 | 6:00am
TV Lists HBO
Soledad O’Brien’s potent new docuseries Black And Missing premieres on HBO
Community member posting a missing poster for Amaria Hall in Black And Missing Photo: courtesy of HBO

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, November 23. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Black And Missing (HBO, 8:00 p.m., series premiere): From Stephen Robinson’s review: “HBO’s new four-part documentary Black And Missing showcases the inspirational stories of Black people searching for their missing loved ones, but offers more than just feel-good advocacy… A common right-wing response to the Black Lives Matter movement was to bring up unrelated crime in Chicago, as if Black people only care about violence in their communities if they can blame the police. Black And Missing explicitly debunks that argument, as [creators Geeta] Gandbhir and [Soledad] O’Brien focus on Derrica and Natalie Wilson, co-founders of the Black And Missing Foundation, which works to raise awareness for missing people of color.”

Regular coverage

The Flash (The CW, 8 p.m.)

Wild cards

Holly Hobbie (Hulu, 12:01 a.m., season 3 premiere): This adorable teen series, which stars The Unicorn’s Ruby Jay, continues with its third season.

The Fastest (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): Here’s a new docuseries for all you car buffs, as well as Top Gear and Fast & Furious fans.

Masters Of The Universe: Revelation (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): The second part of the sequel to the ’80s classic is here!

Season’s Streaming

The Shop Around the Corner (HBO Max): Have you seen You’ve Got Mail too many times? Maybe to the point where you’re like, on the one hand, closing the shop led Meg Ryan’s character to move beyond her mother’s shadow. But on the other hand, why the hell would her shop have to close? She could’ve just expanded to include YA books or something. Anyway, that Borders Fox Books isn’t going to last long.

Free yourself from deliberating over the machinations of 1990s NYC publishing and watch the 1940 rom-com that inspired Nora Ephron—a film which itself was based on the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László. Surreal as it is, the 1940 movie stays in Budapest even as it hires all American actors who all speak English. Store manager Alfred Kralik (Jimmy Stewart) and shopgirl Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) have a lacerating chemistry, but the best lines remain, specifically Klara’s devastating dressing down of Kralik and his response: “That’s a very interesting mixture of poetry and meanness.” Who doesn’t love a dash of dramatic irony in their holiday spirit?

 
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