Is religion a source of comfort? Or is it just fodder for horror movies and scary true-crime documentaries?
Time was, show business treated religion with deference, even reverence. From the 1930s on, the Hollywood Code (created in cooperation with the Catholic Church) pretty much demanded a positive cinematic depiction of organized religion. Even as the Code faded away in the 1960s, movie screens reflected singing nuns, rebellious “angels” and an Austrian novitiate filled with “The Sound of Music.”
But in 1970s films like “The Exorcist” and “The Omen,” organized religion joined the occult as a source for gothic horror tales.
And that trend continues.
Viaplay, the streaming service that offers series from Scandinavian countries, imports the two-part Danish series “The Priest From Hell,” about Thomas Gotthard, a local preacher who convinced his neighbors that his wife had ditched him and left town … until two dogged detectives dug up her body, revealing that he had actually murdered her and gruesomely disposed of her remains.
Over on the Peacock streaming service, the three-part true-crime docuseries “Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder” dives into the strange and secretive world of the Hare Krishas. Once seen as an eccentric group and celebrated in songs from the musical “Hair” and George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,” Krishnas were often seen on city streets or in airports, recruiting new members, who often included young drifters and runaways. People who fell into the societal shorthand of “mixed-up kids” trying to “find themselves.”
The group’s communal vibe, exotic garb and renunciation of material goods made it attractive to some. And a perfect breeding ground for manipulative sociopaths bent on exploiting the naivete and devotion of lost souls.
“Krishnas” recalls the rise of an American-born guru who ran a West Virginia offshoot of the group with an iron fist, silencing all dissenters and making some disappear.
— Lip-syncing isn’t necessarily a crime, but it has inspired a documentary, “Milli Vanilli,” streaming on Paramount+. Hardly the first to document their rise and fall, “Milli” recalls a photogenic U.K. pop duo who appeared to be on the brink of superstardom until it was revealed that their voices were not their own, sending them from the top of the charts to punchline status. Something for today’s autotuned artists to contemplate.
— If “Milli Vanilli” recalls a career that ended in a flash, “Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles,” streaming on Prime Video, documents a musical phenomenon that has endured for decades. While probably unknown or barely acknowledged by many, The Wiggles have been described as “the Beatles for toddlers.”
Apparently this band of Australian singers met in college while studying Early Childhood Education. The self-deprecating performers describe their evolution from a dorky ensemble whose videos were dismissed as “cringe-worthy” by musical professionals to sold-out concerts at 10,000-seat arenas.
As one parent brags (and complains), tickets to The Wiggles are harder to cop than tickets to the Stones or Bruce Springsteen.
— The documentary series “Native America” (9 p.m., PBS) enters its second season. Tonight’s installment recalls Native American innovators in music, construction and space exploration.
— Britbox streams the pitch-black 2016 comedy “Flowers,” about a depressed children’s book illustrator and his eccentric children and neighbors. Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) stars as a deluded, love-starved housewife, as only she can.
Colman also appears as a determined intelligence officer in the 2016 miniseries adaptation of John le Carre’s novel “The Night Manager,” likewise streaming on Britbox.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Agents recall the Boston Marathon bomber on “FBI: True” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A kidnapping rocks the Air National Guard on “FBI” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— A child of divorced parents is kidnapped at church on “Found” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A deranged, failed ventriloquist (Anthony Hopkins) retreats to a faded Catskills resort to reconnect with an old flame (Ann-Margret) in the 1978 shocker “Magic” (8 p.m., TCM). Burgess Meredith also stars in this murky period curiosity directed by Richard Attenborough, written by William Goldman and scored by Jerry Goldsmith.
SERIES NOTES
“Big Brother” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “Name That Tune” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
Strand tells the firehouse that he has been working undercover for the FBI on “9-1-1: Lone Star” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … “Press Your Luck” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Trevor Noah, John Stamos and Tyla on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Andrew Rannells and Jesmyn Ward visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
