Welcome to the weekend edition of What’s On. Here are the big things happening on TV from Friday, September 23, to Sunday, September 25. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekly What’s On will publish on Sundays.]
1. Allison Janney leads the new thriller Lou
Friday, Netflix, 3:01 a.m.: Anna Foerster directs the action-thriller Lou starring Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, and Logan Marshall-Green. The film follows a mysterious loner named, yes, Lou, who is happily living a quiet, isolated life with her dog. Everything changes when her neighbor’s young daughter is kidnapped during a storm.
2. It’s a feeding frenzy in Shark Tank season 14
Friday, ABC, 8 p.m.: Who’s ready to watch billionaires fight and compete to invest in an up-and-coming business venture? Emmy-winning unscripted series Shark Tank returns with season 14 to see Mark Cuban, Barbara Cochran, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, and Robert Herjavec do exactly that. This season adds new sharks to the tank, including the one and only Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s bound to give us new meme fodder, right? The season premiere is a live show where viewers can weigh in on whether the Sharks should make a deal. Regular episodes resume the following week.
3. Oprah Winfrey presents Sidney
Friday, Apple TV+, 12:01 a.m.: Produced by Oprah Winfrey and directed by Reginald Hudlin, Sidney is a documentary about the life and legacy of actor Sidney Poitier, who died at age 94 in January. The film will explore his career and activism, and feature interviews with Winfrey, Halle Berry, Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, and Lenny Kravitz. Here’s a snippet from The A.V. Club’s review:
Hudlin delivers a standard talking-heads documentary that’s more hagiographic than revelatory, which is a shame, as Poitier surely channeled some of his bitterness over racism, aspects of his complicated love life, etc., into his indelible performances in films like Blackboard Jungle, Lilies Of The Field, The Defiant Ones, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, A Raisin In The Sun, To Sir, With Love, and In The Heat Of The Night.
4. Sanaa Lathan helms On The Come Up
Friday, Paramount+, 3:01 a.m.: Sanaa Lathan makes her directorial debut with On The Come Up, a musical drama based on Angie Thomas’ 2019 book of the same name. The coming-of-age story follows 16-year-old Bri Jackson (Jamila C. Gray) as she aims to become a rap star. The cast includes Lathan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Method Man, and Mike Epps.
5. Netflix drops Spanish drama The Girls At The Back
Friday, Netflix, 3:01 a.m.: Get those tissues ready because it looks like The Girls At The Back is a tearjerker. The emotional Spanish drama centers on a group of five best friends in their thirties who take an annual weeklong holiday together, no matter what. The circumstances are different this time, as one of them has been diagnosed with cancer.
6. Global Citizen Festival is back with a celeb-heavy lineup
Sunday, ABC, 7 p.m.: Global Citizen Festival, which always coincides with the UN General Assembly, returns for its 10th year with a star-studded roster and the aim of bringing artists, activists, philanthropists, and world and corporate leaders together in an effort to end poverty. Priyanka Chopra-Jonas hosts this year’s ceremony, which features performances by the likes of the Jonas Brothers, Mariah Carey, Charlie Puth, Metallica, Rosaliá, and Maneskin.