‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ takes to Netflix
The 2010 queer-inclusive comedy Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, about a young man who has to fight his new girlfriend’s exes as though it were a giant video game, was so wildly energetic that mainstream audiences didn’t quite know how to deal with it. It took a while for the film to find its ever-growing cult audience, but find that audience it did, and now Netflix has taken the story and adapted it into an anime series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, with the original cast — Michael Cera, Aubrey Plaza and Kieran Culkin (as Scott’s hilarious gay roommate) — returning to provide their characters’ voices.
The film was originally based on graphic novels, so this is something of a full circle move. You’ll get to binge the whole thing over Thanksgiving when the series drops on Nov. 17.
Josie Totah hunts for a title in ‘The Buccaneers’
Because we’re all still missing the goofy fantasy of Downton Abbey, we know you’re watching The Gilded Age. It’s simultaneously trashy and luxurious and queer and boring — no better combination.
But what if there was another not-exactly-Bridgerton series about more or less the same thing — young American debutantes sailing to England to find young men with titles and grand houses and empty bank accounts? Of course, you’ll watch that one, too.
Well, it’s called The Buccaneers, it’s based on the unfinished novel by Edith Wharton, and it stars Mad Men queen Christina Hendricks and a slew of young up-and-comers like Kristine Froseth (Looking for Alaska), Josh Dylan (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), Kate Winslet’s daughter Mia Threapleton (TV’s Dangerous Liaisons) and, best of all, the hilariously talented trans actress Josie Totah (Saved by The Bell) as one of the gold-digging girls on the make for status and mansions. Watch all the single ladies get what they want Nov. 8 on Apple TV+.
‘Rap Sh!t’ doubles down
Rap Sh!t, the hilarious hip-hop comedy series from Insecure creator/star Issa Rae, is returning for another round. Season one focused on Miami rappers The City Girls (real-life rapper KaMillion and non-binary actor Aida Osman) and the personal and professional trials of newfound viral music fame they experience in the wake of their first single’s success.
Their story continues as season two arrives, featuring the return of Daily Show alum Jaboukie Young-White in a recurring role. (For those joining his career already in progress, White is the queer comic actor and musician that made Disney history by voicing the first openly gay protagonist in one of their animated features, 2022’s Strange World.).
You’ve got a little time to catch up on season one, before the hits Max on Nov. 9.
A queer sleuth for ‘The End of the World’
Emma Corrin, the queer non-binary actor who starred as Princess Diana in The Crown, is heading to FX/Hulu to solve A Murder at the End of the World. The team behind cult series The OA, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, created this limited mystery series, and Corrin stars as a young amateur detective (a profession currently trending hard in the media thanks to the success of Only Murders in the Building and Poker Face) who has to catch a killer on the loose at a remote retreat before the murderer strikes again.
Rounding out the cast are some familiar faces/suspects: Clive Owen, Twin Peaks alum Joan Chen, Triangle of Sadness co-star Harris Dickinson, young gay playwright Ryan J. Haddad and queer Tony Award nominee Raul Esparza.
The episodes arrive on Hulu during sweater weather — Nov. 14, specifically — which technically makes it a cozy mystery.
Romeo San Vicente never figures out who the killer is.