Return of 'Mrs. Maisel,' 'Pam & Tommy' Among February's Streaming Recs

by Julian Spivey

Photos: Hulu, Amazon, Peacock and Netflix

Pam & Tommy – Hulu – Feb. 2
Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” is a miniseries I’ve rolled my eyes at from the very moment it was announced. I really don’t care about Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee, their short-lived marriage or their sex tape. My initial thought was I wasn’t even going to bother with this series, which stars Lily James as Pam and Sebastian Stan as Tommy with a supporting cast of Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman and Taylor Schilling, but it’s gotten so much hype I feel like I’d be missing out if I didn’t at least give it a shot. 

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Murderville – Netflix – Feb. 3
Netflix newest comedy “Murderville,” premiering Thursday, Feb. 3, is one of those neat ideas for a show that hopefully will be as good as its premise. “Murderville” is a comedy mimicking (or maybe straight up mocking) the crime procedural drama but is done as improv. The series will star Will Arnett as Terry Seattle, a detective trying to solve a murder with a different celebrity guest every week as his partner. Improv is frequently hit or miss, but I can’t wait to see what this show is up to. 

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Inventing Anna – Netflix – Feb. 11
Shonda Rhimes has been a pretty hit or miss executive producer for me. I enjoyed “Scandal” for the most part, but often rolled my eyes. I watched the entirety of “How to Get Away with Murder,” but didn’t enjoy a whole lot of it. Her other series I’ve never seen. Her newest drama “Inventing Anna” hopefully has enough suspense to interest me in a based on a true story drama of Anna Delvey (played by Emmy-winner Julia Garner), an “Instagram-legendary heiress who stole the hearts and money of New York elites” being investigated by a journalist played by Anna Chlumsky. The two lead actresses are mostly what have piqued my interest. 

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Bel-Air – Peacock – Feb. 13
I truly don’t know about this one either. It’s quite the head-scratcher of idea. Set in today’s America “Bel-Air” is a reimagining of the beloved ‘90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” told as a drama. It sounds wacky, and the trailer doesn’t do a whole lot to make me think, “hey, this might actually be good,” but it’s such a different idea for a show based on a previous one that makes me at least have to check it out when it debuts on Peacock on Sunday, Feb. 13 (that’s the night of the Super Bowl, why debut a show on that day?). 

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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 4) – Amazon Prime Video – Feb. 18
This is one I’ve been waiting for since the end of season three of the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime Video comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” dropped in December of 2019. Since it’s been more than two years since I’ve seen an episode, I honestly can’t remember where the series ended up, but I know I love this cast featuring Emmy-winners Rachel Brosnahan, Tony Shalhoub and Alex Borstein so much that I’m ready to have the Maisels and Weissmans back in my life. 

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Race: Bubba Wallace – Netflix – Feb. 22
I’ve been a NASCAR fan for the majority of my life now and one of my favorite drivers of the sport’s current era is Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., who’s unique in that he’s the only African-American driver at the sport’s highest level and has become one of the sport’s most hated drivers for his outspokenness when it comes to the topic of race. Last year was Wallace’s first with the new upstart 23XL race team started by NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin with basketball legend Michael Jordan and a documentary crew followed him around. Recently ESPN’s “E60” did a great documentary of its own on Wallace, so I mostly hope ‘Race’ has something new to provide fans.