It List: Real-life father-son duo Rob and John Owen Lowe play a father-son duo in comedy 'Unstable,' 'The Young and the Restless' celebrates 50 years, 'A-ha: The Movie' tells the origin story of the iconic Norwegian pop band and all the best in pop culture the week of March 27, 2023
The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for March 27-April 2, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
STREAM IT: Rob Lowe and his son, John Owen, bring the family drama to new comedy Unstable
Rob Lowe returns to TV with a show that he and his youngest son, 26-year-old John Owen, co-created together and co-star in, playing father and son. The premise is that John Owen's more straitlaced character is trying to help his father recover from grief and, in the process, save the family business. However, working with his "biotech genius" dad who happens to be more than a little eccentric, is not easy. "All my dad ever does is try to change me to be more like him," he says. To make matters worse, the board wants to oust Rob. (A colleague gives him the news a day later than she would have, due to the fact that he was earlier occupied with, as she puts it, "bounding about your office, balls out, dick in the breeze." And he really was!) Portlandia fans will appreciate that Fred Armisen makes an appearance, too. — Raechal Shewfelt
Unstable premieres Thursday, March 30 on Netflix.
WATCH IT: A-ha finally get their moment
In the U.S., thanks to the groundbreaking “Take on Me” music video that dominated and revolutionized MTV, Norway’s finest often get dismissed as a cartoon band — or even worse, a one-hit wonder. Of course, that just isn’t true: What about “The Sun Always Shines on TV” and the James Bond theme “The Living Daylights,” huh? Actually, in many parts of the globe, A-ha are still U2-level superstars, and it could even be argued that they’ve since released better songs than their signature hit. (Just check out 1988’s exquisite, epic “Blood That Moves the Body,” for starters.) A-ha: The Movie tells the trio’s whole story (albeit with a bit of “Take on Me”-inspired Rotoscoped animation), from their reluctance to be teen pinups, to the brilliant but willfully uncommercial post-punk albums that followed their breakthrough debut Hunting High and Low, to the members’ ongoing bitter infighting and recent MTV Unplugged triumph. The sun will shine on your TV if you give this enlightening rock doc a spin. — Lyndsey Parker
A-ha: The Movie premieres Wednesday, March 29 to stream on Viaplay.
WATCH IT: Even at 50 years old, The Young and the Restless is forever young
When The Young and the Restless premiered on CBS in March 1973, Richard Nixon was still in the White House, Brian De Palma's Sisters was terrifying moviegoers and Elvis had recently beamed in from Hawaii via satellite for a hit special. And while numerous other soaps have since headed for the TV graveyard, Y&R is still going strong five decades later, one of the few remaining daytime dramas to keep airing on its original network. And CBS is giving the series its due by elevating it to primetime for an hour-long 50th anniversary special that looks back on all the weddings, plot twists and fan favorite characters that have kept the show forever young... and the characters forever restless for more soap opera shenanigans. — Ethan Alter
The Young and the Restless 50th Anniversary Celebration airs Monday, March 27 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
STREAM IT: Kevin Hart’s self-parody action series lives on with Die Hart 2: Die Harter
Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of Quibi, Die Hart lives on. Kevin Hart’s tongue-in-cheek action comedy series — in which he plays a comedic actor named… Kevin Hart, who’s trying to break into more action roles — was among a handful of properties to escape the demise of the short-lived, short-form streaming service when it was picked up by Roku in 2021. Not only did it survive, now it’s trying to thrive. The aptly titled second season, Die Hart: Die Harter (still told in 10-15 minute intervals, ultimately adding up to about the length of a feature film) ups the stakes as Hart’s idea to make an unscripted action thriller becomes frighteningly real. Check out an exclusive clip from the season, which returns co-star Nathalie Emmanuel and adds John Cena and Ben Schwartz, above. — Kevin Polowy
Die Hart: Die Harter premieres Friday, March 31 on The Roku Channel.
WATCH IT: Smoking Causes Coughing is your cure for superhero fatigue
From Rubber to Mandibles, French humorist Quentin Dupieux specializes in crafting hilariously surreal 80-minute satires that never wear out their welcome. His latest bit of eccentric whimsy follows a superhero team known as the Tobacco Force — think the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers meets the Avengers meets Joe Camel — who take some time away from fighting rubbery monsters for a much-needed bonding retreat. But their attempts at getting to know each other better are thwarted by a planet-ending plot as well as internal tensions brought on by some odd story-sharing sessions. This exclusive clip from the film shows off its DIY aesthetic and delightfully over the top sense of humor. — E.A.
Smoking Causes Coughing premieres Friday, March 31 in theaters and on most VOD services.
STREAM IT: David Tennant and Michael Sheen enjoy another round of Zoom therapy in the final season of Staged
We've got some Good Omens about this one. During the COVID pandemic, friends, co-stars and geek heartthrobs David Tennant and Michael Sheen connected over Zoom for two seasons of a true-ish comedy series called Staged. Now that the world has re-emerged from lockdown, the duo has put together one last edition that premieres on Britbox on March 28. (The first two seasons are available to stream there as well.) Conceived as a series of virtual rehearsal sessions for a play, Sheen and Tennant instead use the Zoom time to goof on each other's personas and bond over pandemic-era stories — a tradition that continues in this third and likely final season. Watch an exclusive outtake from the new batch of episodes above. — E.A.
Staged premieres Tuesday, Mar.ch 28 on Britbox.
WATCH IT: Spinning Gold is a silver-screen smash
Casablanca Records was the biggest independent label of all time, launching some of the biggest superstars of the '70s. But while everyone knows the names of Casablanca roster artists like KISS, Donna Summer and Village People, now it’s time to tell the story of the man behind the crazy scene, late label founder Neil Bogart. The ambitious biopic Spinning Gold was written and directed by Neil’s son Timothy Scott Bogart, with an original score by his son Evan “Kidd” Bogart (a hitmaker in his own right, having penned songs for the likes of Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo and Rihanna), and it features an all-star musical cast. Jason Derulo plays Ron Isley, Ledisi is Gladys Knight, Pink Sweats is Bill Withers, Tayla Parx is Donna Summer, and Wiz Khalifa is absolutely uncanny as George Clinton. Other cast members include Jay Pharoah, Chris Redd, Michael Ian Black and Sebastian Maniscalco, but it’s perfectly cast theater veteran Jeremy Jordan, who made his Broadway debut 14 years ago in Rock of Ages, who truly triumphs as Bogart. Pro tip/spoiler alert: Make sure to stay for the end credits, or you’ll miss an epic fever-dream of a finale. — L.P.
Spinning Gold premieres Friday, March 31 in theaters.
WATCH IT: Sundance winner, A Thousand and One, comes to theaters
For the second year in a row, Sundance's coveted Grand Jury Prize — the top award for narrative and documentary features — went to a Black female filmmaker making their feature debut, with A.V. Rockwell's drama A Thousand and One following Nikyatu Jusu's chilling horror story Nanny. That's a track record that's all the more notable in light of Oscar voters snubbing Woman King helmer Gina Prince-Bythewood (and female directors in general) in this year's Best Director category. Singer-turned-actress Teyana Taylor plays a struggling single mother trying to keep her young son out of foster care and off of the mean streets of New York City circa the mid-1990s. But she's also harboring a secret that has serious implications for their future. It's a vividly dramatized story of the families you make set against an immersive evocation of '90s era New York. — E.A.
A Thousand and One premieres Mar. 31 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.
STREAM IT: How I Met Your Father features — wait for it — Barney Stinson
Neil Patrick Harris's mischievous character from How I Met Your Mother returns to the Hilary Duff-starring sitcom for its midseason finale, the last of its new episodes until May 23. Details of the appearance of one of the franchise's original characters, who last appeared on HIMYF in January, are still under wraps, but Duff has been open about the joy it gave her. "I was really nervous to work with NPH. He's just such a stud. He's legendary," Duff told ET in February. "Everything he does is, if he's hosting something or he's got a TV show on the air or he's doing Broadway, he's just fantastic. And so the fact that he said yes made us really excited. And obviously, our goal is to hopefully collect them all." Cobie Smulders's Robin already popped up at the end of the first season, so you're up next, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Josh Radnor. — R.S.
The How I Met Your Father midseason finale airs Tuesday, March 28 on Hulu.
WATCH IT: The Library is open for Joni Mitchell
An all-star tribute filmed earlier this month in Washington, D.C. by veteran Grammy telecast director/producer Ken Ehrlich, Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebrates one of the most important singer-songwriters of all time. Among the performers are Mitchell’s contemporaries, James Taylor and Graham Nash, respectively singing “California” and “A Case of You,” but it’s the women directly influenced by Mitchell who truly shine. Annie Lennox’s “Both Sides, Now” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Blue” are nothing less than Emmy-worthy performance art; Angélique Kidjo’s “Help Me” is the biggest crowd-pleaser, with a delighted Mitchell herself grooving and vamping along in the front row; and a spirited group number by Brandi Carlile, Kidjo, Lauper, Lennox, Ledisi and Lucius, “Big Yellow Taxi,” is a delight. Other performers include Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall and Marcus Mumford (the latter doing “Carey” with the man who inspired that song, Cary Raditz, in the audience). But of course, the star of the show is the glowing, triumphant Mitchell herself, as she finally receives the nation’s highest award for influence, impact and achievement in popular music. Mitchell not only croons the Porgy & Bess classic “Summertime” (with Celisse on guitar) and an impromptu encore of “The Circle Game,” but her exquisite original paintings decorate the Constitution Hall stage to stunning effect. — L.P.
Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song airs Friday, March 31 on PBS at 9 p.m., and will be available to stream on PBS.org and the PBS app.
WATCH IT: New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD collection packs most turtle power ever
Sure, everyone’s excited about the upcoming CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot from kings of comedy Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. But let’s not forget our roots, people. There will never be anything like the original series about our beloved heroes in half-shells Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Ralphael, which kicked off in 1987 and ran almost a decade — improving millions and millions of childhoods along the way. The OG Turtles adventures now come packed together in a complete DVD series set, featuring all 124 episodes from the gracious folks at Nickelodeon. We don't use this word lightly, but Cowabunga! – K.P.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Series is now available. Buy it on Amazon.
HEAR IT: The Zombies are still in the game
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and first-wave British Invaders the Zombies are having a moment right now, 55 long years after releasing their landmark masterpiece Odessey and Oracle. Their new documentary Hung Up on a Dream, directed by superfan Robert Schwartzman of powerpop band Rooney, was the toast of this month’s South by Southwest festival, where they won the 2023 Grulke Prize for Career Act. Now they’re riding that momentum with Different Game, their first studio album since 2015. It’s clearly their time of the season once more. — L.P.
Different Game by the Zombies is available Friday, March 31 to download/stream on Apple Music.
HEAR IT: Enjoy a stroke of boygenius
Five years ago, boygenius — the indie-rock supergroup comprising Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus — released their self-titled cult EP. Since then, all three women have taken off as critically acclaimed solo artists (Baker with Little Oblivions, Dacus with Home Video and especially Bridgers with the Grammy-nominated Punisher), so their long-gestating full-length debut, The Record, is understandably one of the mostly hotly anticipated album of 2023. — L.P.
The Record by boygenius is available Friday, March 31 to download/stream on Apple Music.
READ IT: Go on tour with David Bowie in an all-new photographic memoir
David Bowie was an artist of many phases and faces, and photographer Geoff MacCormack was there to capture all of them. In his new photo-driven memoir, MacCormack reflects on his travels with the late musician and allows fans to look at never-before-seen images of Bowie at work and play, from the Ziggy Stardust era up to his New York residency with Iman. Bowie posthumously pens the appropriately meta afterword for the book — as his original identity, David Jones — where he credits his longtime friend for the "clever idea" of pretending that two ordinary kids from working class England somehow changed rock 'n' roll history. — E.A.
David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll With Me is available now at most major booksellers, including Amazon.
