Basketball isn’t providing the only madness this month—March also brings a top-seeded roster of stuff to watch in between bracket busters. But first things first: Before ABC’s telecast of the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, I suggest you catch up on The Color Purple, now streaming on Max; South Carolina native (and past G&G Interview subject) Danielle Brooks is up for Best Supporting Actress.
Freshly Squeezed Juice
Palm Royale, Apple TV+
One of the most anticipated shows of the spring, Palm Royale takes viewers starting March 20 into the pastel-and-paisley heart of 1960s Palm Beach high society, with episodes executive produced and directed by Mississippi’s Tate Taylor. SNL alum Kristen Wiig stars as Maxine Simmons, who is trying to wiggle her way in with the Florida ladies who lunch. And who plays her husband and partner in duplicity but another G&G Interview subject, Yellowstone’s Josh Lucas?
Like Putting an Elevator in an Outhouse
Road House, Amazon Prime Video
Sigh. Your faithful Southern Streaming correspondent is insanely torn to report on this “adrenaline-fueled reimagining” of what, to her mind, is a perfect movie as is: 1989’s Road House, with a best-in-show Patrick Swayze as head bouncer, or “cooler,” Dalton. Why remake a cinematic classic? A constant question in this day and age of Hollywood. Regardless, it is my sworn duty to tell you that instead of the original setting of Missouri, this remake, out March 21, sees star Jake Gyllenhaal breaking up brawls as Dalton at a Florida Keys roadhouse. At least watch the original, streaming on Amazon Prime and Max, first, will you?
Party in the A
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told, Hulu
As a former Atlanta resident, I’m on the edge of my seat in an open-top convertible for this new documentary that appears to give Freaknik, the eighties and nineties street party that would literally stop traffic before its downfall, the look it deserves. When it drops March 21, you can watch footage and interviews with A-Town legends like music producer Jermaine Dupri (also an executive producer on the doc), Lil Jon, CeeLo Green, and Killer Mike. Unfamiliar with Freaknik? Check out this well-done 2015 oral history from Atlanta magazine, by Errin Haines and G&G contributor Rebecca Burns.
…Ready for It?
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), Disney+
Sadly, I did not make it to the theater for the sing-along to Taylor Swift’s box office–busting Eras Tour documentary, so I’m jazzed to watch it from the comfort of my recliner, with less fear of sensory overload, when it begins streaming on March 15. Wondering why I’m including Taylor in Southern Streaming? Well, read our associate editor Caroline Sanders Clements’s smart defense of Swift’s Southernness here.
Slingin’ Mudd
Manhunt, Apple TV+
What happened after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.? He skedaddled south and for twelve days hopped from Confederate sympathizers’ homes to pine thickets before Union soldiers and detectives cornered him in a Virginia barn. Follow along on the chase with this star-studded series starting March 15, when the first two episodes premiere.
The Great Southern Bake-Off
Is It Cake?, Netflix
A full five of the eight bakers on this third season of Is It Cake? are Southern: Raina Washington, of Richmond, Virginia; Timmy Norman, of Johnson City, Tennessee; Henderson Gonzalez, of Orlando; Caitlin Taylor, of Bowie, Maryland; and Julie McAllister, of Charleston, South Carolina, who, as it happens, baked this cake shaped like G&G’s Southern Women book for our launch party back in 2019.
Tight Hour
Tig Notaro: Hello Again, Amazon Prime Video
Notaro, a Mississippi native (and Southern Women interviewee), returns with a big stand-up special on March 26 for Amazon, which aired two seasons of her über-delightful One Mississippi.
Drive to Survive
The Lionheart, Max
In February 2012, I moved to Indianapolis for work, and the racing-rabid city was still reeling from the death of driver Dan Wheldon, a Brit nicknamed “the Lionheart” who had won the storied Indianapolis 500 twice, including in 2011, before dying in a crash in the last IndyCar race of that year. This March 12 documentary begins more than a decade later and follows Wheldon’s widow, Susie, as his two young sons, Sebastian and Oliver—all now Florida residents—begin to wheel their way into their father’s love of the racetrack.
Following the System
Justice, USA, Max
Over six episodes dropping March 14, this sure-to-be-compelling docuseries will take a multifaceted view of Nashville’s criminal justice system, with looks into the city’s men’s, women’s, and juvenile jails and interviews with judges, lawyers, inmates, and deputies.
