Oh, you’re excited about watching all the great college football airing this month? The championships? The bowl games? Congrats. I’m so happy for you. I’m not bitter AT ALL that my (unnamed) alma mater lost pitiably to our (unnamed) rival to cap off a losing season, and I’m definitely NOT pretending like the college football season in totum died right there on the field along with our bowl hopes. But, in case you ARE bitter and ARE pretending football doesn’t exist, here are some worthy Southern-tinged films and series to distract me, I mean you, from your nihilism.
Purple and Gold
Oprah and The Color Purple Journey, Max
It’s usually my Christmas tradition to do as little as possible and stay in my giant fluffy red robe like an overstuffed Mrs. Claus all day, but just as soon as I can button my pants, my butt will be in a seat to see Southerners Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Ciara, and Halle Bailey’s musical take on Alice Walker’s canonical novel The Color Purple, which lands in theaters on the 25th (trailer below). I’m also eager to watch Max’s behind-the-scenes documentary by Oprah Winfrey, who starred in the 1985 rendition and helped this one come to life, when it streams December 28.
Head South for Scandal
May December, Netflix
We geriatric millennials will surely remember Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle teacher who in the nineties raped her TWELVE-YEAR-OLD student, went to prison for it, had his babies, and married him upon her release. No? Well Oscar darlings Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman are here to remind you in this fictionalized (and critically lauded) take on the scandal that streams starting December 1. But this time, they’ve moved the (underage) action to…Savannah. What did Savannah do to deserve this?? Except offer fabulous tax breaks???
Grand Ole Spectacle
Christmas at the Opry, Peacock
Need some background music as you deck your halls? You might put on this two-hour NBC special when it airs December 7, or stream it on Peacock the next day. Hosted by Wynonna Judd, the Nashville shindig will star the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Mickey Guyton, and This Is Us actress and songstress Chrissy Metz, who told G&G about her love of singing here. On the sixty-fifth anniversary of her hit “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Atlanta-born crooner Brenda Lee will also perform (and perhaps make a case for finally unseating Mariah Carey for the number-one spot on the Billboard Holiday 100).
Not to Be Out-Nashvilled
CMA Country Christmas, Hulu
Okay, but I couldn’t leave off CMA’s fourteenth annual holiday hootenanny, which streams on Hulu on December 15 the day after it airs live on ABC—especially since my girls Trisha Yearwood and Amy Grant host. This year’s other performers include G&G favorites Ashley McBryde and the War and Treaty.
God of YA
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Disney+
Fans of young adult fiction and ancient myths lotus-ate up the San Antonio, Texas, native Rick Riordan’s utterly delightful Percy Jackson book series, about the half-sons and -daughters of Greek gods and goddesses. Film adaptations have barely done the Percy world justice, so my hopes are high for this Disney+ series, with which Riordan was heavily involved; the first episodes drop December 20.
