Those three… I wanna say, cats(?)… Yakko, Wakko, and Dot–the ones with pay-for-play contracts and bologna in their slacks–are back in 2020 form. Narf! That’s gotta head any Friday. And it does. And there’s more, including the first of five films from Academy Award winning director Steve McQueen.

KATHERINE’S PICK:
Animaniacs [Hulu]
The best animated series from the ’90s, if not ever (sorry, Lisa Simpson), returns for modern times on Hulu!

BRAD’S PICK:
Marvel’s 616 [Disney+]
Marvel has more cultural clout than most other franchises and this new anthology documentary series explores just how deep that influence goes. Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs and Paul Scheer have all directed episodes for the first season.

JASON’S PICK:
Small Axe: Mangrove [Amazon Prime]
Call it a mini-series where all the episodes are feature length. From 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen comes the first of five flicks around the theme of life in London’s West Indian community. Tonight it’s Mangrove, about a 1970 protest in reaction to harrassment at the popular Mangrove restaurant.

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

• If you ask us, TV’s gone to the dogs–oh, wait, make that writing about TV. Cliched prose aside, Amazon Prime debuts The Pack, basically what if one of the globetrotting gladiators of The Amazing Race were more canine than man? We put aside our usual cynicism–doggies look cuuuuute!
• If there’s one thing Pharrell Williams is known for, it’s making people happy through music. He strives to achieve this again as he produces and stars in the Gospel choir reality competition show Voices of Fire on Netflix. How inspirational is this program? Does the line “that’s the voice that could sing cancer out of the body” give you a hint. Ah, there’s that trademark cynicism. But, no, this looks nice (and we really, really hope you read that last part in Shirley voice).
• On the other end of the spectrum is the new Netflix animated short, If Anything Happens I Love You, which tells the world of grieving parents through a silent world of shadows. It’s loosely based on the messages sent by victims of the Stoneman Douglas shooting, and we’re not ashamed to admit we’re bawling as we write this having just watched the trailer.

• Disney+ debuts the documentary The Real Right Stuff, a companion to the 2020 TV series, based on the 1983 hit motion picture, itself torn from the pages of the 1979 book, which told the real life story of the Mercury 7, the earliest American recruits to explore space.
• The third season of the Mandarin-language culinary travel series Flavorful Origins makes its way to Netflix to delight all your senses.
• If you’re not already Christmas-ed out–and we sure hope not as we’re still six days from Thanksgiving–television is a non-stop Yuletide monster! HGTV offers Holiday Crafters Gone Wild which we’re guessing is much more G-rated than it’s trying to sound. Fashion expert Jay Manuel hosts. Our requisite Lifetime movie of the day is A Taste of Christmas starring Nia Vardolos, attendee and architect of multiple weddings which were big, fat, and Greek, and telling intertwined tales of romance, love, and food. Finally, Communion meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in Alien Xmas, a new Netflix special that does not look half bad (nor does it look all bad, Statler!).