Posts tagged: Don Lichterman

Netflix’s latest reality show Squid Game: The Challenge — inspired by the hit scripted television show — premiered on the streamer with five episodes. But where are the rest?

The series follows 456 players as they compete in a variety of games to win a $4.56 million cash prize, which is the largest cash reward in game and reality show history.

As the competition continues, players begin to form alliances and work as a team in order to better their chances of proceeding to the next challenge. However, as the number of players dwindles, friends are separated and sacrifices are made.

The series got off the a rough start as ahead of the premiere, it received backlash from contestants who claimed they spent “hours” in freezing weather and faced medical issues during filming. At the time, Netflix denied the accusations and wrote in a statement that they “care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew.”

Squid Game: The Challenge is a three-week event, culminating in the finale. Curious about when to tune in for new episodes? Continue reading for everything you need to know.

How Many Episodes Are In Squid Game: The Challenge?

Squid Game: The Challenge consists of 10 hour-long episodes. The first five episodes will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix beginning Wednesday, November 22. Following its premiere, the next four episodes will air on the following Wednesday, followed by its finale on December 6, 2023.

When Do New Episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge Premiere?

New episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge will air weekly on Wednesdays until December 6, 2023. Here is the full list of episodes for this season:

• Episode 1, “Red Light, Green Light”: November 22, 2023
• Episode 2, “The Man With the Umbrella”: November 22, 2023
• Episode 3, “War”: November 22, 2023
• Episode 4, “Nowhere to Hide”: November 22, 2023
• Episode 5, “Trick or Treat”: November 22, 2023
• Episode 6, “Goodbye”: November 29, 2023
• Episode 7, “Friend and Foe”: November 29, 2023
• Episode 8, “One Step Closer”: November 29, 2023
• Episode 9: “Circle of Trust”: November 29, 2023
• Episode 10: “One Lucky Day”: December 6, 2023

Where to Stream Squid Game: The Challenge?

Squid Game: The Challenge is streaming exclusively on Netflix, therefore the series will only be available on that platform. The streamer typically releases new television shows and movies at 3 AM ET/12 AM PT. Need a subscription? No problem, Netflix has plans starting at $6.99 per month. The lowest tier is ad-supported. Additional plans are offered between $15.49-$22.99.

Premieres Wednesday:

Genie — That Melissa McCarthy, she just keeps on trying. Here she is again, this time teamed with British romcom king Richard Curtis to tell the story of a genie whose holiday mission is to help a guy who’s tragically down on his luck. And no, it isn’t her husband. (Peacock)

Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas — The Ted Lasso star favors a London audience with some of her favorite Yuletide numbers, with the help of some “surprise special guests.” Honestly, you just never know where Hamas is going to show up these days. (Apple TV+)

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America — Subjects of inquiry in Season 2 include the ways in which food has been used to fuel protest and reform movements. The revolution will not be televised, but it will be brought to you by Popeyes. (Netflix)

I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me — Keep an eye on your blood pressure as you watch a young writer get tormented by a vicious criminal gang. But hey, if he didn’t want to go back to working for the studios, he shouldn’t have pushed so hard for the strike to be over! (Netflix)

Squid Game: The Challenge — While we wait for Squid Game Season 2, Netflix is tiding us over with a game show in which 456 Brits compete in similar contests to win a big prize pot. The difference is that these games are supposedly nonlethal, which seems a bit beside the point. But I guess we should have known to not get our hopes up when Floor Is Lava didn’t use actual molten rock. (Netflix)

The Velveteen Rabbit — Writer Tom Bidwell, who turned Watership Down into an Emmy-winning animated series, continues his bunnylit fixation with a live action/animated adaptation of the classic kids’ book about the life-giving powers of love. Next up for Bidwell: Jojo Rabbit, but with actual rabbits. (Apple TV+)

Premieres Thursday:

My Daemon — Hellboy creator Mike Mignola miiiiight feel slightly triggered by this anime series set in a postapocalyptic Japan, where nuclear explosions release a cute little baby devil. OK, with Mignola it was Nazi occult experimentation, but how many cute demon tykes do you know? Especially if you never worked at Nickelodeon? (Netflix)

My Little Pony: Make Your Mark — As Part 1 of Chapter 6 commences, the ponies are hoping to forge an alliance with the dragons to save Equestria. Of course, the big risk is that their donor base will denounce them all as PINOs. (Netflix)

Premieres Friday:

Christmas With Walt Disney — In a film shown every year at the Walt Disney Family Museum but only now coming to streaming, Christmas-related clips from classic Disney programs are intertwined with home movies of Uncle Walt and his clan celebrating the season. Watch for the heartwarming footage of him funneling employees’ holiday bonuses to the Dick Nixon campaign without their consent. (Disney+)

Elena Knows — Claudia Piñeiro’s celebrated novel becomes a dramatic feature, telling the story of an Argentinean woman whose search for her daughter’s killer is complicated by her own battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Now there’s an idea for the next Knives Out picture: Knives Down, Please. (Netflix)

Elf Me — Proving that they understand the holiday season far better than we do, the Italians send us an inspirational flick about the fruitful relationship between a bullied kid and one of Santa’s elves, who makes elaborate weapons instead of toys. Seriously, what I wouldn’t have given for a good Howitzer instead of those stupid crew socks. (Prime Video)

Last Call for Istanbul — Two horny Turks meet cute at JFK Airport in New York, but their potential hookup is threatened by an unfortunate detail: Each of them is married to someone else. This one’s being billed as a “romantic drama.” I bet the spouses would disagree! (Netflix)

A Nearly Normal Family — Seeing their 19-year-old daughter slapped with a murder rap forces a Swedish priest and his lawyer wife to think long and hard about what they’re willing to do to save her. Then again, it’s hardly the first time a priest has thought about something long and hard. (Netflix)

Premieres Saturday:

Doctor Who: The Star Beast — The first of three 60th-anniversary specials reunites 10th (now 14th) Doctor David Tennant with Catherine Tate’s Donna. Neil Patrick Harris plays the villain of the piece — an enemy of all that is good who hasn’t made an appearance since 1966. Dang, I could have sworn we’d seen Frankie Avalon since then. (Disney+)

Premieres Sunday:

Faraway Downs — Baz Luhrmann expands his 2008 epic Australia into a six-episode series. You’d hope this will get those “Release the Luhrmann Cut” people to finally shut up, but they’ll probably complain it doesn’t have enough Cyborg or some shit. (Hulu)

Premieres Monday:

Love Like a K-Drama — Romance may bloom for real as four Japanese actresses are brought to South Korea to perform opposite a quartet of that country’s most desirable leading men. Don’t feel ashamed if you jumped to the conclusion this was a romcom (which it isn’t) and not a reality dating show (which it is). At least you didn’t assume Richard Curtis was writing the next season of Squid Game (which he shouldn’t). (Netflix)

Verified Stand-Up — WandaVision‘s Asif Ali and The Daily Show‘s Dulcé Sloan are among the 10 comedians seen performing brief sets at New York’s Webster Hall. Expect them all to be at the top of their game, because it’s gotta be inspiring for a comic to appear at a place named after Emmanuel Lewis. (Netflix)

Premieres Tuesday:

Comedy Royale — Twenty South Korean comedians compete for the honor of hosting their own Netflix series. The gag is that they don’t know the strike is over and the show will never air! (Netflix)

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Photograph courtesy of Netflix

Food writer and Atlanta native Stephen Satterfield (not to be confused with the Miller Union chef who spells his first name with a “v”) takes viewers on a wide-ranging journey in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series, High on the Hog. The series, an adaptation of the book written by food historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, digs deep into the rich history of Black American food. Whereas the show’s first season explored the history of Black American food in relation to its West African roots and the impacts of slavery, season two uncovers the role that Black American cuisine has played in fueling social justice movements, transforming communities, and awakening cultural creativity. To do so, Satterfield visited New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York, and, of course, Atlanta.

“My big thesis in life is that food touches everything. If one of the things is a movement for the liberation of Black people, then there’s going to be a food story there. There’s actually going to be a lot of food stories there,” Satterfield explains. “One of the ones that we covered was twofold. One about Black college students doing a tactical, strategic, and mindful interjection of a public food service establishment. The other side of that was the role of an establishment like Paschal’s as a safe place to organize and galvanize, especially after you were just released from jail or after a demonstration. Coming together to talk about what comes next—to talk about what to do, how it went, how to improve. This happens over food. Food touches everything.”

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

It’s impossible to discuss the Civil Rights Movement and its profound impact on American history without discussing the many sit-ins that took place in restaurants across the South. The sit-ins that took place in downtown Atlanta played a significant role in the work towards desegregation. During one protest that took place on October 19, 1960 at Rich’s Department Store’s Magnolia Room, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. joined several protesters, including Charles Black, a Morehouse student at the time, and Dr. Georgianne Thomas and Marilyn Pryce Scott, who were then studying at Spelman College. In episode three, over a meal at Paschal’s, Satterfield heard from Thomas, Black, and Scott about their experiences as teenage activists during the Civil Rights Movement.

“If you think about the importance of college students and the importance of Atlanta as a shining beacon of African American higher education—particularly, the Atlanta University Center, with Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark—you’ve got this place where students are coming together, they’re eating and they’re planning,” says Harris, the author of the High on the Hog book. “That’s another thing that makes Atlanta that hub for those movements; that galvanizing point of the higher education system, and particularly African American higher education.”

Satterfield’s passion for food and storytelling started in kitchens in and around Atlanta during his childhood. “I was primarily raised in Southwest DeKalb, Decatur, and then later, Stone Mountain. A lot of my early memories of food come from my grandmother’s house in Decatur. Watching my maternal grandmother and my father do their kitchen dance after church,” Satterfield says. “I went to a church called Turtle Road Church of Christ, a Christian church in South Atlanta. And after the service we would either cook at church, or most often, we would go home and my dad and my grandma would cook for all the children and the cousins. I grew up with Black Southern family Sunday suppers, and, of course, that made a huge impression.”

In High on the Hog, Satterfield acknowledges the relationship between Christianity and the stories of Black liberation, especially in Atlanta—as the significance of Black churches during the Civil Rights Movement is often discussed. To expand on the relationship between Black liberation and places of worship, he has a conversation with historian Zaheer Ali at Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam. The two discuss the influence of Black Muslims in Atlanta, from collective liberation to culinary influence. As he mentioned, there are food stories everywhere.

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

As viewers learn more about American history by way of Black American cuisine, Harris hopes they’re encouraged to be present in shaping our future. “The whole notion of community, large and small—your family, your extended family, the community in which you live, African Americans in the United States, and then the larger community in the diaspora—I would like people to think about this need for community and the need to respect community,” she says. “Also, [think about] the importance of intergenerational conversations. Talk to your elders. We like to think we’re going to be here forever, but we’re probably not. So get that knowledge. Talk to us while we are here.”

Season two of High on the Hog is available on Netflix, starting Tuesday, November 22. 

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It appears Billie Eilish now has an iconic Wednesday Addams look as the singer preps to attend Nevermore Academy.

While Netflix has a plethora of TV shows and movies that have been highly successful, there are a handful that has broken records, and for Netflix, appears to be the true leaders of the platform. Netflix, who is the king of streaming with over 260 million subscribers, achieved fame and success in a variety of ways.

The once-DVD rental company revolutionized the way people consume content by introducing an online streaming model. This allowed users to instantly watch a vast library of movies and TV shows from any internet-connected device, eliminating the need for physical DVDs. Netflix also invested heavily in producing original content, including series, films, and documentaries. This strategy not only differentiated the platform but also provided exclusive content that attracted and retained subscribers. Successful original series like House of Cards and Stranger Things became cultural phenomena.

On top of that, Netflix utilizes sophisticated algorithms that analyze user data and viewing habits to offer personalized recommendations. This data-driven approach enhances user satisfaction and engagement, making it more likely for subscribers to discover content they enjoy. The company also aggressively expanded its services internationally, making its platform available in numerous countries. This global reach allowed Netflix to tap into diverse markets and adapt its content to different cultural preferences.

The platform is user-friendly, and with multiple subscription tiers, the company has been able to scale while still providing affordable options.

One of the most successful shows on Netflix, however, is Wednesday.

The Tim Burton-directed supernatural drama infuses a coming-of-age story into the eerie and unique story of The Addams Family, as the show acts as a spin-off, focusing on Wednesday Addams specifically.

Wednesday has achieved the status of the most-watched series of all time, boasting an impressive 1,718,800,000 hours watched, equivalent to 252,100,000 completed views. Notably, it surpassed the previous titleholder, Stranger Things season 4.

Crafted by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the show features Jenna Ortega in the lead role as the enigmatic Wednesday Addams. The ensemble cast includes Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Georgie Farmer, Naomi J. Ogawa, and Christina Ricci, with Moosa Mostafa in a supporting capacity.

The narrative revolves around Wednesday’s expulsion from school, prompted by her unconventional response to the water polo team’s bullying of her brother Pugsley—dumping live piranhas into the school’s pool. Consequently, her parents, Gomez and Morticia Addams, enrolled her at their alma mater, Nevermore Academy, situated in the peculiar town of Jericho, Vermont.

Wednesday’s stoic demeanor and rebellious spirit create challenges in connecting with her schoolmates and lead to clashes with the school’s principal, Larissa Weems. However, as the story unfolds, Wednesday discovers her inherited psychic abilities, enabling her to unravel a local murder mystery.

Our braided heroine has taken the world by storm, as Ortega is easily a household name now, with over 70 million followers on social media. 

Jenna Ortega, acclaimed for her recent foray into the horror genre, has earned the moniker of the official “scream queen.” Her journey in the spotlight commenced at the tender age of three, navigating the complexities of being a Latina actor with limited roles available. Ortega highlighted the challenge of often playing younger versions of characters or the child to a character, given the scarcity of Latina characters in those roles.

Her breakthrough arrived with the Disney sitcom Stuck in the Middle, where she secured a leading role, followed by a notable stint in the CW hit Jane the Virgin. The horror phase of her career soon unfolded, marking a significant chapter.

Ortega took on roles such as Annie in Insidious: Chapter 2, Phoebe in The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Tara Carpenter in Scream 5 and 6, Sky Willow in Studio 666, Loraine in X, and the iconic Wednesday Addams in Wednesday. Her future projects include portraying Lydia Deetz’s Daughter in Beetlejuice 2 and collaborating with Paul Rudd on a horror film titled Death of a Unicorn for A24.

While it is hard to argue that there could be anyone better suited for the role of Wednesday Addams, one fan has cast singer Billie Eilish in the role.

Eilish’s breakthrough came in 2015 when she uploaded the song “Ocean Eyes” to SoundCloud, which quickly went viral. The success of the single led to her signing with Darkroom and Interscope Records. In 2017, she released her debut EP, Don’t Smile at Me, which included popular tracks like “Bellyache” and “Idontwannabeyouanymore.”

Her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), catapulted her to international stardom.

The album featured hit singles like “Bad Guy” and “Bury a Friend” and showcased Eilish’s distinctive voice and genre-defying sound. The album received critical acclaim and won several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, making Eilish the youngest artist to win in that category.

Billie Eilish is known for her unique style, both musically and in her fashion choices. She often collaborates on her music with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, who is also a musician and producer. Her more “gothic” sense of style was surely a determining factor in placing the singer in the world of Wednesday.

Astrozombie137 (@gpart_137) created A.I. generated artwork of Elish as Wednesday Addams, and fans are loving it.

Billie Eilish as Wednesday Addams with Nevermore Academy suit.

I didn’t know I needed this until now.
(A.I. image generated edited by me).

Billie Eilish as Wednesday Addams with Nevermore Academy suit.

I didn’t know I needed this until now.
(A.I. image generated edited by me).#BillieEilish #wednesdayaddams #wednesdayaddamsnetflix #wednesdaynetflix #jennaortega #nevermoreacademy #wenclair pic.twitter.com/0HoOj8cLgI

— Astrozombie137 (@gpart_137) November 18, 2023

The creator also shared some unedited versions of Billie as Wednesday.

Unedited versions:

Unedited versions: pic.twitter.com/752nwflN2k

— Astrozombie137 (@gpart_137) November 18, 2023

At the moment, things are looking fragile at Nevermore Academy. Thora Birch, known for her work in Hocus Pocus, was removed from the show entirely after she walked away from filming, and Percy Hynes White who plays Xavier Thorpe was essentially fired. The actor was written out of season two following allegations, and while they were not proven to be true, Netflix decided to cut Wednesday’s future love interest.

The second season of the show is set to begin filming next year in Ireland, but it will be Jenna helming the ship, and not Eilish. 

Would you be interested in seeing Billie Eilish join the cast of Wednesday? 

Is “Leo” better than Disney’s blockbuster wannabe “Wish?” Yes, while it doesn’t boast Disney’s lavish production values, Netflix’s memorable and colorful computer-animated musical comedy directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim, all veterans of “Saturday Night Live,” is a small gem. Boasting Adam Sandler and Bill Burr voicing its two talking reptilian lead characters: a dyspeptic turtle named Squirtle who is a master of mean comedy (yes, Burr) and a Yoda-like tuatara lizard named Leo (Sandler), who finds his purpose in life by advising children and helping them get through life’s challenges.

At first, a bitter Leo refers to the children in his class at Central Florida’s Fort Myers Elementary School as “fifth grade head cases” and does not have a lot of patience for them.

But when he finds out that a lizard’s life expectancy is 75 years and that he is 74, Leo has a “old-life crisis,” and his heart softens. Squirtle and a jowly Leo have lived inside a small, cramped glass box for decades, eating bugs and lettuce and sharing jokes, wise-cracks, zingers and wisdom alike. They have seen the children come and go. They love the smell of vomit in the morning. They can’t believe how many “Coles” and “Justins” there are and are horrified by “kale cupcakes.”

Squirtle makes tea using a bug on a string as a teabag. For Leo, blinking his eyes is an exhausting workout. Everything changes for Leo and Squirtle with the arrival of an old, cranky substitute teacher named Ms. Malkin (a wonderful Cecily Strong, formerly of “SNL”), She cleverly insists that each child take home one of the creatures for a weekend and take care of it. They must return alive. The children pick Leo and learn individually that Leo can talk. He swears them each to secrecy.

The screenplay, co-written by Smigel, Sandler and Paul Sado (the Sandler vehicle “The Cobbler”), seems full of the sort of advice Sandler probably offered to his own children when they were growing up, and, lo and behold, in a case of nepo-baby indulgence that has generated a lot of digital ink two of the children in the film are voiced by Sandler’s daughters: motor-mouthed Summer (Sunny Sandler) and spoiled Jayda (Sadie Sandler). There are also two Smigels in the cast. Leo reminds people that he is not a chameleon. He tries on one girl’s dental apparatus (ew). One of the children, an overprotected boy named Eli (Roey Smigel), has a drone-like AI companion literally hovering over him. In one amusing scene, the robot-drone incinerates a bag of Cheetos.

Eventually, the children come to love Leo, and with his and Squirtle’s help they even win a day trip to an amusement park. Meanwhile, Ms. Malkin becomes jealous of Leo’s relationship with her students and plots to get rid of him. “Leo,” a Netflix hit for sure, works both as a comedy about childhood and a musical coming-of-age tale. Plus, it mentions “The Canterbury Tales” and “The Shape of Water.”

The kids sing of their youth, and we see funny cartoonish renderings of them. Leo meets animals that he helped to escape captivity and other tuatara lizards in the Everglades in a weird, but loving evocation of “Pinocchio.” In the supporting voice-cast are Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Stephanie Hsu, Kevin James, Heidi Gardner and Nicholas Turturro. I hope to encounter Sandler and Burr’s lizard-and-turtle mismatched buddies and their talented friends again, soon.

(“Leo” contains rude humor and some suggestive language)

“Leo”

Rated PG. On Netflix,

Grade: A-