This weekend Cheddar recommends the drama series "Snowfall" Season 5, the limited series "Inventing Anna," the sitcom "Ghosts," and the '90s satirical sci-fi action film "Starship Troopers."
Snowfall: Season 5 - FX/Hulu
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
Franklin Saint is back. Snowfall, created by John Singleton before his untimely death in 2019, chronicles the origins of the crack epidemic in Los Angeles and the CIA's role in flooding Black neighborhoods with drugs. I promise not to spoil the previous seasons too much, but if you're new to the craze that is Snowfall, I highly recommend starting from the beginning. At the end of Season 4, there were a lot of unanswered questions, like what happened to Franklin's father (played by Damson Idris)? And Alvin Saint, a Black Panther who exposed the CIA? Was he killed? With Franklin's CIA connection out of the picture, what would happen to the business? It's just three episodes in, and so far, the latest season is living up to the hype of the series. One thing to note: It's jarring to see the 180-degree transformation Franklin makes from Season 1, when he was an outgoing, successful kid on his way to college, into the savage kingpin he becomes.
Inventing Anna - Netflix
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
Salacious, unbelievable, and based on a true story. I started watching this Netflix miniseries last week and can't stop. The story of Anna Delvey, or Anna Sorokin, came to light in 2018, when New York Magazine published "Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It," a feature on a socialite who was busted for fraud. The young woman swept through the highest echelons of New York society and convinced those in-the-know that she was one of them, an heiress to a foreign fortune born with style and grace. The miniseries depicts how she tricked everyone and what happened when it all came crashing down. While the story is based on reality, it's not a documentary, so there are elements that have been made up for the series — don't believe everything you see (just like with Anna).
Ghosts - Paramount+
Picked by Digital Editor Mike Nam
At the risk of making an understatement, things are pretty heavy lately. Typically, I'm not a big fan of the single-camera sitcom format, but when I needed something lighthearted to decompress recently, I was pointed toward Ghosts on CBS/Paramount+. Based on the UK series of the same name, Ghosts follows a New York freelance writer Sam, played by Rose McIver, who inherits the Woodstone Mansion, and her husband Jay, played by Utkarsh Ambudkar, an unemployed chef, as they try to turn the decrepit estate into a bed and breakfast — to the chagrin of the many spirits trapped there for their afterlives. After a brush with death, Sam can see and communicate with the ghosts, who proceed to negotiate "living" arrangements with the couple. Hijinks ensue. It's schmaltzy, broad humor, but the silliness of the ghosts, who range from a sardonic, 500-year-old Native American to a '90s Wall Street bro, is balanced with heartfelt emotion. And McIver and Ambudkar really show some chemistry. It's a half-hour comedy that took my mind off of a darkening world for a time, and that's high praise indeed.
Starship Troopers - Netflix
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
Paul Verhoeven's sly science fiction satire Starship Troopers popped up on Netflix this week, and if you haven't seen it yet, now is as good a time as any to check it out. While this subtext sort of went over the heads of audiences in 1997, the film offers a sharp critique of nationalism, propaganda, and the pointlessness of war — all while delivering the goods in the big-budget action movie department. I found myself laughing quite a bit during a recent rewatch, even as I remained invested in the characters. Despite being the unfathomably gorgeous foot soldiers for a facist world government, in the end they are really just looking for love and connection.
Looking for more to watch? Check out our recommendations from last week and the week before.
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
