Schedule to watch: These are the shows you want to pencil in on your calendar or unpack in a group chat.
Photo illustration: by cut. Photo: Stars
I understand. There are an overwhelming number of TV shows available today. The streaming landscape is a surreal maze, and the good stuff can easily get lost in the shuffle. But most of us can find one show that breaks through the noise. We call this “scheduled viewing.” That means carving out time in your busy schedule to watch the shows you want to watch with your friends the next day while they’re still fresh in your mind. Every month, read here what writer Michel Ghanem, also known as @tvscholar, thinks is worth digging into in your group chat.
So far this year, we’ve covered buzzy hits like “Shogun” and “True Detective,” cheered underrated masterpieces like “Big Mood” and “Interview With the Vampire,” and cheered “Chimp Crazy” with all my might. This month, watch Three Women on Starz, the long-awaited film adaptation of Lisa Taddeo’s best-selling nonfiction book, starring Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise, and Gabriel Creevey.
I haven’t seen this many dicks on TV since the second season of Euphoria. “Three Women” hits the big screen in a way we probably expected, given that Taddeo, who also writes and produces the show, has pivoted her career to writing best-selling books about sex. Pushing the limits of nudity above. The book on which the show is based was written over eight personally turbulent years as the author traveled in a van across the United States at a turning point in his life and career. Although she was initially looking for a story about a married man who cheats on his wife, she ended up writing about three women who engage in different types of infidelity and their complex sexual and emotional lives. It has become. In the show, the author is played by Shailene Woodley (here named Gia), who supports the story through narration and episodes from her perspective.
At times in a non-linear manner, the ten episodes are dynamically structured, moving between multiple storylines and focusing on one woman’s perspective. The women in question are Lina (Betty Gilpin), Sloane (DeWanda Wise), and Maggie (Gabrielle Creevey). Lina is a sexless housewife living in suburban Indiana who reunites with her high school sweetheart. Sloan is a Rhode Island party planner who begins an affair with her husband (Blair Underwood) and experiments beyond their arrangement. Maggie is a young North Dakotan who begins to unravel her relationship with her high school teacher. Three Women is clearly focused on sex and desire, and therefore penises and many sex scenes, but it’s also about grief, courage, and how powerful the stories we tell ourselves about life are. tells an equally compelling story.
Three Women will premiere on Friday, September 13th, and will run in single episodes for 10 weeks until November 15th. The first episode provides an overview of all four women, followed by subsequent episodes that focus on individual women. If you weren’t completely captivated by the first three episodes, I recommend going to at least episodes 4 and 5 to watch Maggie and Gia’s story unfold. Maggie’s episode is a cathartic story of a survivor confronting her past, supported by Creevey’s powerful performance. The actress, who starred in the BAFTA-winning British drama In My Skin, is no stranger to traumatic stories. Gia’s episodes, written by Taddeo and her husband Jackson Waithe, are something of a writer’s Nomadland, laying the foundation for the series by depicting the events that led Gia to Lina, the first woman she wrote about. Build. The remaining episodes were written between Taddeo and Laura Eason (House of Cards) and are thoughtfully shot by all-female directors.
“Development hell” is what TV industry insiders call a show that faces obstacles before production, such as the firing of a showrunner or a revised script. Some shows never make it out of development hell. Stories often get shelved without ever seeing the light of day. Three Women is a case in point of post-production hell, a new phenomenon plaguing an industry desperate to cut costs. The production was fully completed and ready to air on Showtime in 2023 before being sold to Starz (with some moves for a second season after Minx gets canned by Max). (This is another show that wasn’t afraid of penises.) Despite already airing in Australia earlier this year, Three Women is finally hitting North American screens.
It’s puzzling why Showtime, the same network that aired the very sexy political period drama “Fellow Travelers,” avoided airing “Three Women.” But don’t assume that just because you’re late you’ll be dead by the time you arrive. This series is definitely worth watching. It’s a bit reminiscent of Tiny Beautiful Things and Mrs. Fletcher, two Kathryn Hahn-led series that explore the emotional and sexual lives of women at crossroads. “Three Women” share an intimacy coordinator with “Claire Warden”). The four main actresses each deliver powerful performances that utilize their respective strengths. This is Woodley’s best performance since “Big Little Lies.” Weisz reminds us that Netflix shouldn’t have canceled her last polyamory project, She’s Gotta Have It. And Gilpin plays a character whose self-discovery feels like a precursor to the confident roles in Mrs. Davis and GLOW.
“Three Women” also stands out in a television world increasingly hesitant to show sex scenes. Even House of the Dragon seems to have cut back on the sex scenes in its latest season, and don’t get me started on the lack of intimacy in The Gilded Age. While not all sex scenes in Three Women are created equal, and the romantic scenes between Maggie and her predatory teacher are clearly nauseating to watch, this show is The focus is on showcasing the freedom, joy, and self-discovery that can bring. I would definitely like to see another season of it.
Please keep in touch.
Receive the Cut newsletter daily
Vox Media, LLC Terms of Use and Privacy Notice
See all
