Monday’s premiere features two back-to-back episodes of the six-part docuseries. The documentary, produced by Farrow, includes never-before-heard interviews he conducted throughout the process of writing his book. This documentary features interviews with whistle-blowers, journalists and private investigators from Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predator,s” which delved into decades of sexual assault allegations against the film producer Harvey Weinstein. MondayĬATCH AND KILL: THE PODCAST TAPES 9 p.m. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, July 12 - July 18. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. “ Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes” premieres Monday, July 12 at 9 p.m. It’s hard not to feel this is just laziness masquerading as thoughtful content. “Catch & Kill: The Podcast Tapes” works strictly for those who didn’t read Farrow’s book and want a crash course on the Weinstein case. It begins and ends as a moment in time that we, allegedly, learned from. As it is, the finale doesn’t even end with any text about where Weinstein is or where his accusers are today. Had Farrow maybe discussed the case in the context of today’s developments, the six episodes may have felt fresh. With Bill Cosby recently released from prison and Kevin Spacey working on a new movie, it often feels like Weinstein was the only man actually punished for anything since #MeToo started. In another format, the series could have benefited from discussions with Farrow about the fallout of the Weinstein case in 2021. If anything, the series doesn’t magnify the new information (if there is any) in a way that those who listened to the podcast back in 2019 would notice it, let anyone anyone who missed it the first time. The series’ synopsis touts never-before-seen footage and new insights, but they’re hard to pin down, maybe because by this point the Weinstein case has played out so heavily in the public eye that we know everything there is to know. But the brevity of the series, again meant to be consumed as a podcast, doesn’t give us anything extra with the exception of arty footage of ink swirling through water or other stock images reminiscent of HBO’s other big docuseries, “The Vow.” In fact, it feels at times that this series wants to recreate “The Vow” - in its deep look at the sex abuses of one powerful man - but that would require more of a talking-heads style presentation. The subtitle of “The Podcast Tapes” implies something special to be found some added news or additional footage we could only see through our HBO subscription. It’s also a good thing that each episode is about 20-minutes because there’s only so much time you can spend watching Farrow and crew sit in chairs across from each other and have a very rehearsed conversation (or shots of Farrow furiously typing on his computer). All of this, on paper, sounds great, and it certainly read well in Farrow’s book. The premiere episode rehashes the various victims (albeit the ones Farrow talked to himself) with little depth or nuance because the primary way audiences would be taking this in is through audio.įrom there, episodes go through the same rote patterns, focused on the journalists from The Hollywood Reporter who tried to take Weinstein down, the editors and fact-checkers at The New Yorker who helped look at Farrow’s piece, and the famous Black Cube subcontractor who was sent to spy on Farrow. We start by meeting Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, the woman who recorded Weinstein’s harassment and was one of the first victims to go to the police with claims against him. The six episodes detail what we know about the Weinstein case, much of which was given far more detail in Farrow’s book. Really, that’s all the series is: portions of Farrow’s recorded podcast with the benefit of video.
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