Happy Monday! This week’s list is so good!
Please enjoy this week’s selections, and make sure you share with at least 5 people this week how helpful this weekly list and my podcast are to making your week.
Reality TV Shows:
Grand Cayman: Secrets in Paradise (Hulu) follows a group of uber-rich and on-the-rise locals and expats navigating the rocky waters of their relationships, friendships, and careers. Armie Hammer’s ex-wife Elizabeth is featured, and she seems diabolical. (April 9)
The Challenge: All Stars (Paramount+) has old-school legends, modern power players, redemption-seekers and ex-lovers reunite in Cape Town, South Africa to compete for $300,000. (April 10)
Did you listen to my episode with Ace Amerson? Listen here.
Documentaries:
What Jennifer Did (Netflix) - (via Tudum) On the night of Nov. 8, 2010, a frantic 911 call went out from a family home in Ontario, Canada. The caller, a young woman named Jennifer Pan, told dispatchers that she had been at home with her parents when armed gunmen forced their way into the house and demanded money. Jennifer said that the intruders tied her up, shot both of her parents, and fled. As Jennifer pleaded with the dispatcher to send help, her father, Huei Hann, could be heard in the background — he had survived the shooting and needed urgent medical care. Her mother, Bich Ha, died instantly.
Initially, the Pans appeared to be the random victims of a deadly home invasion, a shocking anomaly in their quiet residential neighborhood. But as more details emerged, it became clear that Jennifer knew more about what happened that night than she was letting on. What Jennifer Did, a new documentary by Jenny Popplewell (American Murder: The Family Next Door) revisits that horrifying night, relying on police interrogation footage and new interviews with detectives and friends of the Pan family to get closer to the truth. (April 10)
Quiet on Set: Breaking the Silence (ID/HBO Max) will delve deeper into the toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic children’s television shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including allegations of abuse, sexism and racism” and “will feature former Nickelodeon child stars from the early 2000s, including Drake Bell. (April 7)
Eclipse Across America (ABC, National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+, Hulu) - Today at least 32 million people across America will find themselves in the path of a total solar eclipse, where the moon will completely block the sun in what will be the last of its kind in the U.S. until 2044,” and this event will show it from “10 cities across North America — from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Houlton, Maine — with each being in 100% totality of the eclipse. (April 8)
Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion (HBO) - Fashion is identity for teenage girls and one brand, Brandy Melville, has developed a cult-like following despite its controversial “one size fits most” tagline and some unsavory practices. Hiding behind a shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, and a broader reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn’t all glitz and glamor – it’s an exploitative business that pollutes the planet for the sake of profit. (April 9)
I interviewed the directors, and that episode is out on Tuesday, April 9.
Neighborhood Wars (A&E) has some of the most emotionally charged and shockingly raw events ever recorded on camera. (April 9)
Also, watch the scripted movie Scoop on Netflix, an insider account of how the women of "Newsnight" secured Prince Andrew's infamous 2019 interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Streaming now)