What's on TV this week—The Franchise, La Máquina, Teacup
Plus, an animated Tomb Raider series, Ali Wong's new special, a Menendez brothers doc, and more
Photos: Colin Hutton/HBO, Nicole Franco/Hulu, Mark Hill/Peacock
Welcome to What’s On, our weekly roundup of notable shows. Here is what’s happening from Sunday, October 6 to Thursday, October 10. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]
The biggies
The Franchise (HBO, Sunday, 10 p.m.)
Satirical workplace comedy The Franchise, which is executive produced by Veep‘s Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes, follows the disastrous production of a Marvel-type superhero movie and boasts an impressive cast that includes Himesh Patel, Daniel Brühl, Aya Cash, Lolly Adefope, Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, and Richard E. Grant. The A.V. Club will recap the show weekly.
La Máquina (Hulu, Wednesday, 12:01 a.m.)
The stars of Y Tu Mamá También, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, reunite for this Spanish-language boxing drama. In the show, an aging pugilist (Bernal) and his manager/BFF (Diego Luna) try to make a comeback while dealing with a dangerous underground organization. All six episodes drop on Wednesday. Here’s a bit from The A.V. Club‘s review:
A big question hovering over La Máquina, the same one that hovers over a lot of miniseries these days, is: Would this—especially considering the filmmaking chops on display—actually have been better as a film? That the answer could be no (if only so we can see these two interact more) speaks volumes about their collective charm.
Teacup (Peacock, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Based on Robert R. McCammon’s novel Stinger, Peacock’s horror series is set on a Georgia farm where a married couple (Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman) and their children must team up with strangers to fight off a creepy threat. The ensemble also features Kathy Baker, Chaske Spencer, and Boris McGiver. The A.V. Club‘s review publishes on Thursday.
Hidden gems
Ali Wong: Single Lady (Netflix, Tuesday, 3:01 a.m.)