Recycling intellectual property remains all the rage. The adaptation of movies, novels, comics and graphic novels continues to make up most of subscription streaming services’ “original” content, and this week is no exception. Disney Plus is coming out with a live-action adaption of Pinocchio. The 1881 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio inspired Disney’s 1940 animated movie, which inspired the latest rendition of the story about a wood carver and his puppet. Three separate novels inspired Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Peacock’s Last Light, and Starz’s The Serpent Queen. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Cobra Kai stems from the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and Showtime’s new series American Gigolo is rooted in the 1980 eponymous Paul Schrader film. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton do have an original interview format show debuting for Apple TV Plus called Gutsy, but even that show is based on a book the mother and daughter published three years ago.
Pinocchio (Sept. 8, Disney Plus)
This live-action retelling of Disney's 1940 animated classic stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto, a wood carver who creates the puppet Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), whom he treats like a son. From director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump), the film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, who serves as Pinocchio’s guide and his conscience when he becomes human. Interestingly, Zemeckis’s Pinocchio is one of two remakes of the 1881 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio written by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s stop-motion animated adaptation of Pinocchio will be released on Netflix on December 9.
The Good Fight – Season 6 (Sept. 8, Paramount Plus)
The sixth and final season of the legal spinoff of The Good Wife will once again tackle current events. While Season 5 featured a plot line about the January 6 insurrection, Season 6 will find Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) in a state of anxiety over the overturning of Roe v. Wade, threats to voting rights and the possibility of a civil war. “The series is sharper and more incisive than it's ever been, and it clips along at a brisk pace so that each episode never loses its momentum,” wrote New.com.au’s Wenlei Ma about the fifth season.
Last Light (Sept. 8 Peacock)
This dystopian five-part thriller series is based on Alex Scarrow’s eponymous international best-selling novel. Matthew Fox stars as oil engineer Andy Yeats who, while on a work trip in the Middle East, discovers that the world’s oil supply is in danger due to an infectious agent. Within a few days of the discovery, society unravels while Yeats desperately attempts to reconnect with his family. The series marks Fox's return to television after a 12-year hiatus.
Cobra Kai – Season 5 (Sept. 9, Netflix)
In the latest installment of Cobra Kai, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) teams with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and friends to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who now has complete control of the Cobra Kai dojo and is planning to expand the dangerous “No Mercy” karate creed across the San Fernando Valley. The series is set 30 years after The Karate Kid movie (1984). The reboot premiered on YouTube in 2018 but was later acquired by Netflix in 2020 after YouTube stopped producing original scripted content. Cobra Kai has received eight Emmy nominations, including two this year for stunt coordination and sound editing. Critics have consistently praised the series. “Frankly, topnotch revivals are so rare that it seemed inevitable Cobra Kai would experience a misstep or simply run out of gas,” wrote CNN.com’s Brian Lowry in the run-up to Season 4.
American Gigolo (Sept. 9, Showtime)
This 10-episode series is an adaptation of the 1980 Paul Schrader film that stared Richard Gere as a male escort Julian Kaye. The series, starring Jon Bernthal as Kaye, kicks off with Kaye being released from prison after 15 years for a murder he didn’t commit. We follow Kaye as he navigates his relationships with his former lover, his troubled mother, and the people who betrayed him. Meanwhile, Detective Sunday (Rosie O’Donnell) continues investigating the murder that sent Kaye to prison and eventually unearths a conspiracy. The pilot was written and directed by Ray Donovan’s David Hollander.
Gutsy (Sept. 9, Apple TV Plus)
This eight-part documentary series follows former Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, as they speak with prominent women, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Kim Kardashian and Goldie Hawn. The series is based on Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's 2019 title, The Book of Gutsy Women. "Say what you will about Hillary Clinton — and people have been saying what they will about Hillary Clinton for decades upon decades — it’s difficult to fathom how anyone can deny the power and the inspiration found in the stories told in Gutsy," wrote The Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper.
The Serpent Queen (Sept. 11, Starz)
Following the success of Elizabeth York-themed The White Princess and The Spanish Princess, which was focused on Catherine of Aragon, Starz has made yet another series about past royalty. This time around, the focus is Catherine de Medici. The eight-episode series based on Leonie Fried’s book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France was written and executive produced by Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road). Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead) stars as de Medici, one of the most powerful and influential women of the 16th century. The series will chronicle de Medici’s marriage and her unlikely rise to power. “Catherine isn’t a particularly good person, but The Serpent Queen doesn’t ask her to be; rather than whitewash her worst traits, the show re-contextualizes them as a necessary fact of her survival,” wrote Paste Magazine’s Lacy Baugher Milas.
The Handmaid’s Tale - Season 5 (Sept 14., Hulu)
Based on Margaret Atwood’s eponymous 1985 novel, the series takes place in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the United States. Starring Elisabeth Moss as a former handmaid, June, the series launched in 2017. Its first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 13 nominations. The drama's fifth season focuses on June and the consequences she must pay for killing Gilead’s Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). “Female heroines can be in short supply on screen, but Moss has a knack for making them real, no matter the stakes,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald’s Louise Rugendyke about season four. ￭
