The Velvet Underground documentary is here to chart the rock band’s rise

Plus, it’s horror weekend with You season 3, Halloween Kills, Amazon’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Syfy’s new zombie drama

By Saloni Gajjar  |  October 15, 2021 | 5:00am
TV Lists The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground documentary is here to chart the rock band’s rise
Archival photo of John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Lou Reed from The Velvet Underground Photo: Apple TV+

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, October 15, and Saturday, October 16. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): “The Velvet Underground chronicles the band’s short-lived run by eschewing many traditional conventions of the music documentary. Instead of a purely band-focused archival approach (an impossibility considering there’s relatively little footage of The Velvet Underground on stage) or a more formulaic Behind The Music-style history lesson, [director] Todd Haynes tries out a collage-like method that tells the Velvets’ story while evoking the warm, unsettling feeling of listening to their music.” Read the entire review by Vikram Murthi here.

You (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Season three elicits some empathy for [serial killers] Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), but doesn’t excuse any of their disturbing behavior. It renders an understanding of how generational trauma is passed down to them with detrimental results. Though it can be overstuffed at times, You balances brazen humor with emotional intelligence, all while keeping the mystery intact.” Here’s the full review of the Netflix thriller’s third season.

Regular coverage

Foundation (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m.): Rami Malek will host SNL for the first time, with musical guest Young Thug.

Wild cards

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The newest iteration of I Know What You Did Last Summer is fueled by a compelling idea, but crashes pretty quickly. The YA thriller aims to be kitschy, like the early seasons of Riverdale, but comes off as a rocky mix between that, Pretty Liars Liars (the killer frequently sends taunting texts the core friend group), and Euphoria (moody lighting and glittery makeup galore).” Here’s the full review of the slasher series inspired by Lois Duncan’s 1973 novel and the subsequent 1997 film of the same name.

Halloween Kills (Peacock, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Director David Gordon Green places us back where his 2018 Halloween left off with brisk, efficient scene-setting cuts. Soon, however, he succumbs to the temptation to try to make these functional edits funny as well. And that’s where this overstuffed, overwrought, insincere, borderline incomprehensible movie begins to go wrong.” Read Katie Rife’s full review of the film here.

Day Of The Dead (SYFY, Friday, 10 p.m., series premiere): This horror series is based on George A. Romero’s 1985 film of the same name. The zombie apocalyptic drama follows a group of strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion in their small, conflict-filled town.

 
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