Now streaming on Apple TV+, “The Big Cigar” offers a Hollywood take on the Black Panthers in every sense of the word. The first episode explains the radicalization of Huey P. Newton (Andre Holland). A transplant to the Bay Area from the rural South, he finds California no more tolerant than the old Confederacy. After witnessing and experiencing brutal treatment at the hands of the police, he co-founds the Black Panther Party to protect Black citizens from harassment.
As he explains in a voiceover, the sight of Black men embracing weapons, confronting authorities and citing the Second Amendment quickly turned conservative Californians like Gov. Ronald Reagan into enthusiastic proponents of gun control.
“Cigar” wastes no time thrusting the audience into the tumult of the times. This crash course in 1960s radicalism is undercut by the series’ production values. Moments of angry confrontation and radical jargon take place on pristine streets, a kind of Disneyfied version of a ghetto distilled through decades of nostalgia and interpretation.
“Cigar” becomes a real Hollywood production when Newton encounters producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola).
For a brief moment, Schneider possessed a kind of creative Midas touch that birthed the New Cinema of the 1970s. He would go from producing “The Monkees” for NBC to films including “Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces” and “The Last Picture Show.”
His success coincided with his embrace of leftist politics. His career and political zeal reached a radical crescendo at the 1975 Oscars ceremony. When accepting the Best Documentary Oscar for the 1974 anti-war film “Hearts and Minds,” he saluted the Communist victory in the Vietnam War taking place at that very time with the fall of Saigon, an event seen by many as a painful symbol of American humiliation. Emotions ran so high that figures from old Hollywood, including Frank Sinatra, all but took over the stage, repudiating Schneider’s remarks, much to the chagrin of new Hollywood figures, including Warren Beatty. It was easily the wildest and most controversial night in Oscar’s long history.
Over six episodes, “Cigar” recalls the interaction between Newton and his radical-chic patron, culminating in Schneider’s efforts to sneak Newton out of the country while Newton was facing charges of killing a prostitute, a case Newton dismissed as a frameup.
“Cigar” explores a short, strange period when celebrities, including Schneider, John Lennon and Leonard Bernstein, embraced radical politics from the comfort of their palatial digs while real radicals, including Fred Hampton and George Jackson, were being shot down. “Cigar” places the emphasis on the madcap, as Schneider creates a fake film production to hide his efforts to secrete Newton out of the country to the safe haven of Communist Cuba.
As recalled in the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”) that forms the basis for this series, these shaggy and highly improvised plans go sideways very quickly.
— Shudder streams “Nightwatch: Demons are Forever.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— While pursuing a lifelong dream of working at a hotel made of ice, a woman attracts the affections of a visiting prince in the 2023 romance “A Royal Christmas Crush” (7 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
Bombers and extremists target Los Angeles on the season finale of the ridiculously violent “S.W.A.T.” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A traumatized woman retreats to a bucolic beach town in the 2023 shocker “Hiding From My Husband” (8 p.m., LMN, TV-PG).
— Gabriela’s big day is not without revelations on the season finale of “Fire Country” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Audra McDonald performs at the London Palladium on “Great Performances” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings). Songs include Broadway favorites “I Am What I Am,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Will He Like Me?” and “Summertime.”
— A detective can’t understand why a rapist he arrested is back on the streets on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A grieving mother upsets a cosmic balance when she opens an ancient mystic portal to her deceased son in the 2016 shocker “The Other Side of the Door” (8 p.m., Cinemax).
SERIES NOTES
“Password” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Jeopardy! Masters” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Gayle King, JoJo Siwa and Rachel Feinstein on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … David Beckham, Chris Perfetti and Cage the Elephant appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r).
John Oliver and Mikey Day visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
