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Docuseries
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Mastermind: To Think Like A Killer' On Hulu, A Docuseries About Dr. Ann Burgess, Whose Methods Changed The Way Serial Killers Were Pursued
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Receiver' on Netflix, a New Documentary Series Looking at the NFL’s Top Pass-Catchers
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sasha Reid And The Midnight Order' On Freeform, A Docuseries About A Group Of Women Who Get In The Minds Of Serial Killers
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Man With 1000 Kids' On Netflix, A Docuseries About A Prolific Sperm Donor And The Parents Who Felt He Lied To Them
FX’s brand new half-hour docuseries The Weekly is a new kind of news magazine. Made in conjunction with The New York Times, the series goes in-depth on some of the newspaper’s most intriguing reported pieces. The Weekly debuted on FX this weekend with a harrowing tale called “The Education of T.M. Landry.” It is the story of a heinous college admissions scandal that didn’t puncture the zeitgeist in quite the same way as another one. Instead of involving wealthy parents buying their kids ways into school, “The Education of T.M. Landry” is about a school that landed a record number of black students into Ivy Leagues, only to be revealed as one couple’s predatory pyramid scheme.
In 2016, T.M Landry College Prepatory made the news with viral videos of students getting accepted to Ivy League colleges. In addition to winning placements at several of the nation’s top universities, in 2018, it was reported the school had an unheard of 100% college acceptance rate. Students even appeared on Ellen! However, an investigation launched by The New York Times revealed that something was not right. In addition to being an uncredited school that wasn’t recognized legally as a high school, T.M. Landry’s founders Michael and Tracey Landry were accused of lying on students’ college applications to make their predominantly black students look like bigger “sob stories.” Students also were given false or no transcripts, and some entered these prestigious colleges unable to keep up with the rigorous academic course load as they had not been properly academically prepared in the first place.
However, the worst sin committed may have been the physical abuse on campus. At least one student and his family went to the police with charges that Michael Landry had assaulted him. Later it was revealed that Mr. Landry often punished children through physical abuse, including forcing them to kneel on hard and uncomfortable surfaces. Landry would also threaten to issue failing grades to students who tried to leave, thereby holding the kids hostage.
This weekend, The New York Times reported that the F.B.I. is now getting involved in investigating T.M. Landry. While you can read the Times’ great reporting online or in the paper, The Weekly brings the emotions of the wronged parties and the intrepid reporters investigating their stories to vivid life. Even better, rather than being presented as a multi-hour slog, The Weekly clocks in at under 30 minutes.
Future episodes of The Weekly take a closer look at how New York City taxi cab drivers are struggling to stay afloat in the age of Uber and the journey of one single baby lost at the border. Hulu is the exclusive next-day SVOD partner on the series, and you can catch up on the episode there.
