TV gets real this March with COVID Diaries NYC, Falcon And The Winter Soldier, and a Real World Homecoming

By Danette Chavez, Saloni Gajjar | March 1, 2021 | 6:00am

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TV gets real this March with COVID Diaries NYC, Falcon And The Winter Soldier, and a Real World Homecoming

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Clockwise from top left: Debris (Photo: James Dittiger/NBC); Tina (Photo: Dave Hogan/Courtesy of Getty/HBO); Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Photo: Disney Plus/Marvel Studios); Invincible (Photo: Amazon Studios) Graphic: Natalie Peeples

Few shows gripped audiences at the start of quarantine like Tiger King. The true crime wave has only continued to crest over the last (socially distanced) year, with the debuts of Night Stalker: The Hunt For A Serial Killer and Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel, as well as Starz’s Seduced: Inside The NXIVM Cult. This March, Netflix will stoke true-crime fans’ interest with a look at Murder Among The Mormons, while Peacock makes its first foray into the genre with John Wayne Gacy: Devil In Disguise.

March’s TV offerings include as many opportunities for escapism as stark looks at reality. Paramount Plus (a rebranded CBS All Access) will offer its own spin with The Real World Homecoming: New York, with the reunited cast from the first season of the reality TV giant. In more uplifting and compelling form, HBO presents a docuseries devoted to Tina Turner, while the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg will tell her story in her own words via a documentary airing on Starz early in the month. If that all gets to be too real, you can always follow the adventures of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, or the high-flying new animated series Invincible.

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Ruth: Justice Ginsburg In Her Own Words (Starz): Premieres March 1

The extraordinary life of the late , already the subject of and , is now told through her own words in this film from Oscar-winning director Freida Lee Mock. Ruth: Justice Ginsburg In Her Own Words uses archival interviews and news footage to span the career of the second woman ever appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Those who followed Ginsburg’s career and got a kick out of Kate McKinnon’s “Ginsburns” on Saturday Night Live won’t find much new ground here. But Mock and her co-writer, Mike Aguilar (The Choir And Conductor), layer the news coverage and anecdotes to present a vital portrait of a judicial trailblazer. [Danette Chavez]

Debris (NBC): Premieres March 1

NBC follows up Manifest with yet another high-concept science-fiction drama. Debris is a hybrid of X-Files and Fringe, which makes sense, as it’s created by the executive producer of the latter, J.H. Wyman. In this drama, two agents from different countries—MI6’s Finola Jones (Riann Steele) and CIA operative Bryan Beneventi (Jonathan Tucker)—are in charge of the team investigating debris from a destroyed alien spacecraft that seems to have mystical effects on the people who come in contact with it. That’s right, their “case of the week” includes tracking down actual pieces of debris with every episode and figuring out why they’re causing anomalies. They each get caught up in their own family drama as they find a way to work together despite the odds, Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop-style. Debris also stars Norbert Leo Butz, Scroobius Pip, and Anjali Jay. [Saloni Gajjar]

Most Popular

Murder Among The Mormons (Netflix): Premieres March 3

In Murder Among The Mormons, directors Jared Hess () and Tyler Measom (An Honest Liar) train their lenses to October 1985, when a series of pipe bombings rocked Salt Lake City, Utah. This was after the discovery of the so-called White Salamander letter threatened to upend the Church Of The Latter Day Saints. Hess and Measom, who were both raised Mormon, explore an increasingly tangled web of forgeries, religion, greed, and murder. Murder Among The Mormons is a change of pace for Hess, who previously directed Nacho Libre and Fox’s Son Of Zorn. But he has an informed collaborator in Measom, whose previous documentary An Honest Liar waded through similar territory at the intersection of faith and underhanded schemes. [Danette Chavez]

Pacific Rim: The Black (Netflix): Premieres March 4

Netflix is expanding the world of the first two live-action Pacific Rim movies—and, in turn, its own anime slate—with this new series created by Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle. In the Australia-set Pacific Rim: The Black, colossal sea monsters have overrun everything, causing the entire continent to be evacuated. Siblings Taylor and Hayley Travis (voiced by Yūsuke Kobayashi and Yui Shimodaya, respectively) are left behind, desperately trying to find their parents, even if it means risking their lives. When the teens find an abandoned Jaeger, a humanoid robot controlled by co-pilots and built to fight the kaiju, they have to learn how to make it work if they want any chance at survival. [Saloni Gajjar]

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years (Paramount Plus): March 4

Taking a cue from Netflix’s Jurassic Park animated series, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years sets up camp for a summer adventure that, thanks to SpongeBob’s loopiness, quickly gets out of hand. (Like certain scientists from Jurassic Park, the creative team behind Kamp Koral was so focused on whether they could create a SpongeBob spin-off that .) SpongeBob’s Under Years skews a bit more youthful than the original iteration, with slightly smaller versions of SpongeBob and his pals Patrick and Sandy Cheeks. But though the vibrant palette and character design have been refreshed a bit by CGI, the Under Years fits squarely in the SpongeBob canon. [Danette Chavez]

The Real World Homecoming: New York (Paramount Plus): Premieres March 4

This is the true story of seven strangers who reunite in a New York dwelling (reportedly the same loft) nearly 30 years after rooming together for MTV’s first reality TV series, The Real World. Everyone’s back—Kevin Powell, Heather Gardner, Julie Gentry, Norman Korpi, Becky Blasband, and former The Grind host Eric Nies—and so are many of the original tensions among the castmates. Even though they’re all middle-aged now, you can expect everyone to stop being polite at some point and start getting real in this reunion/continuation series that’s a clear bid to (though, upon its launch, Paramount Plus is ). [Danette Chavez]

COVID Diaries NYC (HBO and HBO Max): Premieres March 9

It might still be too soon for a documentary about the pandemic, but HBO is nonetheless unveiling COVID Diaries NYC. New York City became the epicenter of COVID-19 in the U.S. during the spring of 2020 (though that dubious honor has since shifted to other major cities). During this time, five young filmmakers—Marcial Pilataxi, Aracelie Colón, Camille Dianand, Shane Fleming, and Arlet Guallpa—turned their cameras on themselves and their family members, including some essential workers: MTA employees, a caretaker, restaurant managers, a teacher, and a building superintendent. The 40-minute film promises to offer an intimate look into the day-to-day efforts of these workers and to show the difficulties that gripped the city last spring. [Saloni Gajjar]

Generation (HBO Max): Premieres March 11

Lena Dunham is teaming up yet again with HBO, this time producing a dark yet playful half-hour comedy created by Daniel and Ben Barnz in collaboration with their daughter, Zelda. Genera+ion is a young adult series that tells the story of high school students who explore their sexuality in the modern world and test their beliefs about love, life, and family in their conservative community. Their storylines find root in Zelda’s experiences (she is now 19 years old) to lend authenticity to the show. The ensemble includes notable names like Martha Plimpton and Justice Smith as well as Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Chase Sui, Chloe East, Haley Sanchez, Lukita Maxwell, and Nathanya Alexander. Genera+ion will premiere with three episodes. [Saloni Gajjar]

Waffles + Mochi (Netflix): Premieres March 16

Michelle Obama hosts Netflix’s new kids’ cooking series, Waffles + Mochi. The titular duo (yes, Waffles and Mochi) are puppets and best friends who share a dream of becoming chefs and get hired at a whimsical supermarket. With the help of the former first lady, who is the supermarket owner, and some other friendly faces, including a magical flying shopping cart, the two travel to kitchens, farms, homes, and restaurants all over the world. All 10 episodes of Waffles + Mochi are designed to help kids and grown-ups cook together, focus on the importance of home-cooked meals, and connect with cultures around the globe, whether it’s making miso in Japan or picking potatoes in the Andes. The show will see notable appearances from chefs like Samin Nosrat, Motokichi Yukimura, and José Andrés as well as other celebrities. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Disney Plus): Premieres March 19

There won’t be much time to recover from the end of in March, because Disney Plus is all set with its next big Marvel series. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, as the title so simply suggests, follows Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson (a.k.a. Falcon) and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes (a.k.a. The Winter Soldier) after the events of 2019’s . Sam struggles with the mantle of Captain America, which was passed down to him in the film, even as he teams up with Bucky for a buddy comedy-style partnership that takes them across the globe to fight anti-patriotism group Flag-Smashers. Emily VanCamp and Daniel Bruhl will reprise their Marvel Cinematic Universe movie roles as Agent Sharon Carter and Sokovian terrorist Helmut Zemo, respectively. Kevin Feige has called the show a cinematic experience akin to a Marvel movie that’s played out over six 40- to 50-minute episodes. Brace yourselves accordingly. [Saloni Gajjar]

Genius: Aretha (Nat Geo): Premieres March 21

For its third installment, the National Geographic biopic series, Genius, will attempt to capture the monumental talent and rippling influence of the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. Fresh off an impressive turn in the Stephen King adaptation , Cynthia Erivo stars as young Aretha Franklin, whose indomitable spirit and powerful singing voice made her a legend in her own time, both as a performer and civil rights activist. Erivo will actually perform some of Franklin’s songs in the series, which is directed by . Helping to tell the story of Aretha Franklin’s genius are cast members Courtney B. Vance, Malcolm Barrett, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Steven Norfleet, Pauletta Washington, Omar J. Dorsey, Marque Richardson, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, and Shaian Jordan. [Danette Chavez]

John Wayne Gacy: Devil In Disguise (Peacock): Premieres March 25

John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer and sex offender known as the Killer Clown, murdered at least 33 young boys and men. He was incarcerated on death row for 14 years before he died by lethal injection in 1994. On March 26, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, will drop six episodes of the documentary series John Wayne Gacy: Devil In Disguise, which will feature archival interviews with Gacy from prison (only a few minutes from his hours-long prison interview in 1992 have previously been seen) as well as conversations with people whose lives were forever changed by his unspeakable actions, and those who believe the full truth about his case remains concealed to this day. His second ex-wife and closest confidante was also interviewed for this series. [Saloni Gajjar]

Invincible (Amazon Prime Video): Premieres March 26

Did someone say more superhero shows? Because Amazon Prime is here to deliver with Invincible, an adult animated drama created by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman, based on his comic book character of the same name. Mark Grayson, a.k.a. Invincible, is the son of the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man (whose alter ego is Nolan Grayson). Shortly after his 17th birthday, Mark begins to develop his powers and enters into his father’s tutelage while befriending some of the other heroes around him. Mark’s world begins to change when his father reveals a dark secret. Invincible’s cast is stacked: Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, and Gillian Jacobs are only a few of the big names that will lend their voice acting to the show. The superhero drama will drop three episodes followed by new ones every week, following a model that was successful for Amazon Prime Video with fellow superhero drama . [Saloni Gajjar]

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Disney Plus): Premieres March 26

The upending twist of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers has been making the rounds well in advance of the series premiere on March 26—the plucky team of hockey players who won the hearts of ’90s kids are no longer the underdogs. In this 10-episode Disney Plus series from Steven Brill (who wrote the 1992 film), Josh Goldsmith, and Cathy Yuspa, the Mighty Ducks are more like the Hawks from the big-screen iteration. Instead, the scrappiness of the Ducks lives on in a new ragtag team, this one coached by Alex (Lauren Graham), a single mom trying to help her tween son achieve his hockey-playing (but for fun) dreams. Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is also back, though he needs some convincing to lace up again. You can probably guess how long it takes him to make his way back to the rink to guide the new team. [Danette Chavez]

The Irregulars (Netflix): Premieres March 26

We’re getting a darker new twist on the classic stories of ingenious fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend and partner, Dr. Watson. The Irregulars is based in part on the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of troubled street teens from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels. These adolescents helped the duo by giving them a street-level view on London. Created by Tom Bidwell, The Irregulars will follow these teens as they’re manipulated by a sinister Dr. Watson to solve crimes while Holmes gets all the credit for their work. To make matters spookier, these crimes are increasingly of the supernatural variety. Henry Lloyd-Hughes plays Holmes, Royce Pierreson is Watson, and the rest of the cast includes Clarke Peters, Olivia Grant, Aidan McArdle, and Sheila Atim. [Saloni Gajjar]

Tina (HBO): Premieres March 27

We’re not sure what we did to deserve a Tina Turner documentary series in the same month that Aretha Franklin headlines Genius, but we’re grateful all the same for these in-depth (and long overdue) treatments. LA 92 and Undefeated directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin profile the Queen of Rock And Roll (born Anna Mae Bullock), who dominated the R&B and soul scenes before exploding into the mainstream in the late 1960s, only to reinvigorate rock music in the 1980s. Turner’s verve, voice, and captivating dance moves made her an icon, a journey that Tina will chart, along with the rock star’s personal history. [Danette Chavez]

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