TV: ‘Death by Lightning’
There’s something a bit wonderfully off about this otherwise gripping Netflix miniseries, which details the election and assassination of James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. Is it the fake-looking sets, the cuss-spotted dialogue, the semi-bawdy tone? (Episode 1, set at the Republican National Convention, plays like a profane “Conclave” with lots of itchy-looking beards.) Michael Shannon (so brilliant in the current “Nuremberg”) lends gravitas as the idealistic Garfield, while Matthew Macfadyen (an Emmy winner for “Succession”) plays his eventual killer as a wide-eyed Rupert Pupkin. — Doug Brod
Documentary: ‘The Carman Family Deaths’
There’s something about a death at sea that’s even creepier than usual, isn’t there? True-crime heads will love this tale of a fishing trip gone awry: two people left that night — but only one came back. Nathan Carman’s miraculous survival is called into question, along with his potential involvement in another tragedy. The documentary (streaming on Netflix) is worth watching not only for the fascinating family drama, but also for its exploration of the unique defence challenges faced by autistic murder suspects. — Briony Smith
Documentary: ‘Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe’
There was hardly a dry eye in the house when this doc about late, legendary children’s entertainer Ernie Coombs, a.k.a. Mr. Dressup, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. To watch is to be transported back to childhood and not just for folks like me who grew up in the 1960s, since Coombs’s CBC show was on the air for three decades, plus another decade of reruns. Though Coombs was born in the U.S., he was very much ours, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1994. He didn’t have his elbows up, but he was an exemplar of the kindness we’d like to think characterizes our nation. The film airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC and can be streamed on CBC Gem through Jan. 3. — Debra Yeo
Theatre: ‘A Christmas Carol’
For nearly a decade, the Shaw Festival’s imaginative production of “A Christmas Carol” has been a staple of the company’s holiday season, as much a fixture in Niagara-on-the-Lake as the town’s Christmas-themed shops and tree-lined boulevards. This year, artistic director Tim Carroll returns to helm his own whimsical adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, after handing the reins to other directors in recent seasons. The revival, now running through Dec. 21, also marks the final production at the intimate Royal George Theatre (85 Queen St.), before it is torn down and rebuilt. The cast includes familiar faces Sanjay Talwar as Scrooge, Gabriella Sundar Singh as Christmas Past and Kristopher Bowman as Christmas Present. — Joshua Chong
