ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY AND AWARD NEWS MARCH 1, 2019 The Michael Jackson Reckoning Contrary to what you might believe, Leaving Neverland,writes TV critic Sonia Saraiya, “is not a documentary about Michael Jackson. He’s present, of course—conjured in memory, examined in photographs, permeating every frame. But the HBO documentary, which premiered at Sundance in January and makes its TV debut Sunday and Monday, does not seek to tell the story of the King of Pop, or even only the story of his alleged abuse.” Instead, she explains, this sobering, sometimes incredibly difficult to watch four-hour film is just the latest example of a twist on the true-crime genre: a narrative style that takes the focus away from alleged perpetrators, and puts it instead on alleged victims. There are not two sides to this documentary; there is only the testimony of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who explain in graphic detail how Michael Jackson allegedly abused them when they were children, and of their still-shell-shocked families. The overall effect is absorbing and convincing, Saraiya writes—though, as she also points out, Leaving Neverland “can only do so much. For fans around the world, the dream of Michael Jackson—singer, dancer, philanthropist, lover of children, healer of the world—is still very much alive. Jackson’s fame, and impact, is staggeringly broad; a four-hour documentary on HBO, no matter how searing or detailed, is only a drop in the bucket against a lifetime backgrounded by Jackson’s hits.” Elsewhere in HWD, Richard Lawson is less won over by Greta, starring a very game Isabelle Huppert; Joy Pressexplains why even industry outsiders should care about Richard Plepler leaving HBO; Nicole Sperling talks to Larry Charles about his daring new Netflix series; and Press looks into how the advent of streaming has changed the global TV game.

Must-Watch Leaving Neverland, a sober testimony from Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who say Jackson sexually abused them when they were children, forces us to consider the King of Pop in a new light. READ MORE » Not Freaky Enough Isabelle Huppert is game as a sneaky villain in Greta, but Neil Jordan’s staid film—also starring Chloë Grace Moretz—seems allergic to fun. READ MORE » Shake-Up Richard Plepler, HBO’s longtime boss and an architect of the Peak-TV era, departs amid a merger—just one more bit of chaos of the ever-intensifying streaming wars. READ MORE » Very Nice Borat director Larry Charles on finding humor among Liberian warlords, Iraq war survivors, and American neo-Nazis in his new Netflix series, Dangerous World of Comedy. READ MORE » Going Global For most of TV history, networks assumed foreign fare would be unappealing. A global grab bag of bingeable series on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime disprove that notion. READ MORE »