Beautiful, breathtaking and violent, “Ratched” debuts on Netflix. Sarah Paulson (“American Crime Story”) stars in a meditation on the character of Mildred Ratched, the sadistic nurse at the center of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Unlike the FX series “Fargo,” which maintains a close tonal resemblance to the original film, this series departs radically from Milos Forman’s 1975 adaptation of “Cuckoo.”
In fact, “Ratched” offers a lavish homage to other directors, most notably Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. If you can imagine the lurid doings of “Vertigo,” “The Birds” and “Psycho” taking place in the hotel featured in “The Shining,” you’re just getting started.
Ratched arrives in Northern California in late 1946, just after the deranged killer Edmund Tolleson (Finn Wittrock) slaughtered a number of priests in a rectory. Ratched does her best to insinuate herself into the asylum where Tolleson is being held. She’s immediately seen as a threat to Nurse Bucket (Judy Davis), the officious assistant to Dr. Hanover (Jon Jon Briones), the “genius” who runs the place.
A remarkable cast includes Sharon Stone as a woman with a grudge against Dr. Hanover. Amanda Plummer is Louise, the operator of the motel where Ratched resides, and Cynthia Nixon is Gwendolyn, the press secretary to the governor (Vincent D’Onofrio), who sees the handling of the Tolleson case as central to his reelection campaign.
“Ratched” can be watched for the music alone. Its use of “Danse Macabre, Op.40” by Camille Saint-Saens immediately sets the tone. Much of the score evokes — when it is not lifted from — Bernard Herrmann’s shimmering pieces written for “Vertigo” and “Psycho.”
It can also be watched just for the wardrobe and, most of all, the set design and decoration. Many of the interiors, and most notably those associated with Stone’s character, are straight out of Hollywood Regency, a style associated with decorator Billy Haines. His own story seems to resonate with the sensibility of “Ratched” and the works of co-creator Ryan Murphy. A silent-movie leading man, Haines was pressured by the studios to keep his gay lifestyle in the closet. Instead, he quit acting and became one of the most influential decorators of Hollywood’s golden age.
“Ratched” is simply one of the most amazing-looking television series I’ve seen in some time. It may be too violent, lurid and just plain “sick” for some. For the rest of us, it’s rarely short of dazzling.
— Speaking of movie adaptations streaming on Netflix, “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” debuts.
— The adults-playing-adolescents comedy “Pen15” returns for a second season on Hulu.
— Friends and motorcyclists Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman travel more than 13,000 miles over 100 days on an epic, 11-episode adventure from the tip of South America to Los Angeles on “Long Way Up,” streaming on Apple TV+.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG).
— Michael Douglas, the producer of the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” stars in the 1995 drama “The American President” (8 p.m., StarzEncore). Directed by Rob Reiner, “American” was written by Aaron Sorkin four years before the debut of “The West Wing.”
— “Great Performances” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) celebrates composer Joseph Haydn.
— An officer is charged with brutality on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A grumpy New Yorker (Art Carney) travels across America with his cat in the 1974 road trip “Harry & Tonto” (10 p.m., TCM), directed by Paul Mazursky. In a year that saw Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson nominated for their roles in “The Godfather Part II,” “Lenny” and “Chinatown,” respectively, Carney won the Oscar for best actor. One of the greatest upsets in Oscar history.
SERIES NOTES
In dreams on “MacGyver” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Healthy drinks for kids on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Dean Cain hosts “Masters of Illusion” (8 p.m. CW, TV-PG,) followed by a repeat episode (8:30 p.m.).
Making the beast with two backs on “Love Island” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) … Celebrities and critters on two episodes of “World’s Funniest Animals” (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jessica Alba, Jack Huston and Keith Urban on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … David Spade guest-hosts Dan Levy and Elle King on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r).
John Cleese and Glenn Howerton visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Bryan Cranston and Declan McKenna appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
