No glance back at November’s many offerings would be complete without an appreciation of the fourth season of Netflix’s masterpiece “The Crown.”
In many ways, this season brings the series full circle. Created by Peter Morgan, “The Crown” was an outgrowth of his work on “The Queen,” the 2006 historical drama starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, reeling from public outrage at the royal family’s seemingly chilly reaction to the death of Diana in 1997.
That film not only redeemed the queen’s reputation, it put her story in historical context, recalling her youthful influences and exploring her relationship with newly installed Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen).
In fact and fiction, Diana’s arrival, her unhappiness, her divorce from Charles and subsequent early death, seemed to have been written for the soap operas and tabloids. “The Queen” and then “The Crown” returned history-with-a-capital H to the story, but without jettisoning the juicy melodrama(s).
Early episodes of this season’s “Crown” echo “The Queen.” In the first, Diana (Emma Corrin) must pass muster at Balmoral by participating in a hunt for a giant stag that has wandered onto the property. In “The Queen,” Elizabeth retreats from the tragedy of Diana’s death by stalking similarly enormous prey. Not to put too literary a point on it, but both allude to the pagan origin of the name Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. And to the fact that at the hour of her death, she had been literally hunted down by the paparazzi she encouraged.
Wide-eyed and flirtatious, Corrin more than acquits herself as the shy, yet cunning Diana, barely 18, seen winning over her future father-in-law; Rollerblading through the palace while listening to new-wave tunes on her Walkman and enduring Charles’ petulance, hesitancy, condescension and obsession with another woman.
Less successful is Gillian Anderson’s strange impersonation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Unlike John Lithgow’s Winston Churchill, who appeared so vulnerable in season one, or the surprisingly warm and avuncular Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins) in season three, Anderson’s Thatcher seems on loan from Madame Tussaud’s. Her hairdo is beyond parody and her head tilts and tics are rather affected. Whether fussing over dinner or launching warships toward the Falklands, she speaks with the same stilted delivery. Given Anderson’s much better performances in “Great Expectations” and “Bleak House,” you have to suspect this one-dimensionality is a choice of her director(s). Their feelings about Thatcher are abundantly clear.
As with every season of “The Crown,” the writing and research are impeccable. It tends to avoid the obvious, while unearthing more obscure, if revealing moments. We never (spoiler alert) see Diana dancing with John Travolta, but we discover her love for the songs of Billy Joel. Or Billy Jo-elle, as the queen (Olivia Colman) mangles his name. We learn of an intruder who broke into the royal bedchambers and a branch of the royal family tree, written off as dead and consigned to an asylum for the feeble-minded.
“The Crown” remains one of the most lavishly produced television series. And every dollar spent seems to show up on screen. For that reason alone, it’s simply unfair to compare it to mere television. Or for that matter, most films.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Feeling used on “L.A.’s Finest” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Ryan Seacrest hosts “The Disney Holiday Singalong” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-G).
— The Eagles host the Seahawks in NFL football (8 p.m., ESPN).
— Lola recognizes her own biases on “All Rise” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— A secret threatens the family on the season finale of “Filthy Rich” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins host “CMA Country Christmas” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Defending an escaped con on “Bull” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— An intern botches a diagnosis on “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— “Independent Lens” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) repeats “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the 2018 profile of Fred Rogers.
CULT CHOICE
— Shelley Winters meets a watery end in three memorable movies: “A Place in the Sun,” “Night of the Hunter” and “The Poseidon Adventure” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-14).
SERIES NOTES
Different strokes on “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Improvisations on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., CW, r, TV-14) … A good nurse is hard to find on “Bob Hearts Abishola” (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
Illusionists audition on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Jane Lynch hosts “Weakest Link” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Heidi Gardner appears on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Nick Kroll and Matt Berninger on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Jim Parsons, Amber Ruffin and Yaa Gyasi drop by “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Sen. Cory Booker and Jack Harlow visit “The Late Late Show With James Corden (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
