TV Talk: Are Netflix’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Sweet Girl’ and ‘The Chair’ worth watching?

Here’s an inside-entertainment tip: When networks/studios/platforms put an embargo date (that is, when stories can be published) on reviews of a new movie or TV show that is well in advance of the release date that the project becomes available to the public, it’s because those in charge of publicity efforts believe reviews will be generally good and draw positive attention.

When the embargo date is the same as the release date, well, that’s a sure sign that publicists anticipate negative reviews.

With that in mind, it’s worth noting the embargo dates for two filmed-in-Pittsburgh projects released by Netflix today: “The Chair” had an Aug. 4 embargo; the embargo on reviews of “Sweet Girl” just lifted today.

‘Sweet Girl’

“Sweet Girl” is one of those movies that makes Pittsburgh look fantastic but is itself not great (see also: “Striking Distance”).

In this revenge thriller with a twist, Jason Momoa stars as Ray, a man whose wife (Adria Arjona) gets cancer, leading him to threaten revenge on the pharmaceutical executive (Justin Bartha) who withdrew the generic brand of a cancer-fighting drug from the market.

(If the film addresses why they couldn’t use the brand-name drug, other than cost, I missed it.)

When his wife dies, Ray goes on the warpath with daughter Rachel (Isabela Merced) in tow. Ray seemingly kills an attacker every few minutes as he finds himself rooting out a conspiracy. R-rated mayhem ensues, including one rival getting shot in the forehead.

“Sweet Girl” deserves some credit for an unexpected plot left turn, but all the beats up to that are pretty pat. And Momoa’s over-the-top breakdown scene in a hospital may not provoke the intended reaction among viewers.

But “Sweet Girl” sure gives a greatest-hits view of Pittsburgh’s most cinematic locations, showing off PNC Park, Fort Duquesne Boulevard, the Benedum Center, the City County Building, the city entrance from the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel, Mt. Washington and the fountain in the courtyard of the Allegheny County Courthouse, which is the setting for a soaking-wet fight sequence.

“Sweet Girl” also deserves credit for being pretty true to local geography. A long sequence on a T train starts at Gateway Station and processes logically to Steel Plaza station and then First Avenue. A car chase proceeds down Fort Duquesne Boulevard before turning onto the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

The film doesn’t traffic in mix-and-match locations that make no geographic sense.

“Sweet Girl” delivers a gorgeous video postcard of Pittsburgh, but as a movie, it’s pretty meh.

‘The Chair’

Though it’s billed as a comedy — with episodes running a traditional comedy-length 25 minutes — “The Chair” is more absurdist than belly laugh-generating, similar to plenty of premium cable “comedies” of the past decade. That’s not a slam, just an effort to set expectations accordingly.

Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”) stars as Pembroke University English professor Ji-Yoon Kim, who’s just been named the first woman chair of the English department. Her career advancement almost immediately hits the skids when fellow professor and possible love interest Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass, “Transparent”) creates a firestorm on the show’s New England campus.

(While the Chatham and Washington & Jefferson campuses look great, “The Chair” is much less Pittsburgh-y in its visuals than “Sweet Girl.”)

Oh is excellent as always, delivering another naturalistic, feels-like-someone-you-could-know performance. She plays a harried single mom to a challenging adopted daughter, when she’s not trying to put out fires at work.

The true scene-stealer is Holland Taylor as Chaucer-loving professor Joan. Taylor has done so many dramatic parts lately (“Hollywood,” “Ann,” “Mr. Mercedes”) that “The Chair” offers a welcome reminder of how agile she is in a comedic role (see also: “Two and a Half Men,” “The Powers That Be”).

The academic setting and problems-piling-up nature of the story brings to mind the 2000 filmed-in-Pittsburgh Michael Douglas movie “Wonder Boys,” based on the 1995 Michael Chabon novel.

“The Chair” is the sort of show in which, even if you’re not laughing much, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the lives of the characters and want to see what happens next. At six episodes, it’s an easy binge over a night or two.

It’s also a show that raises big questions. There are no villains — the show doesn’t paint with a broad, judgmental brush — but this is also where “The Chair” runs into some headwinds.

“The Chair” has a lot it wants to address — gender dynamics in academia, cross-cultural adoption, grief and self-destruction, white privilege, wokeness and cancel culture — and it’s probably too much for a six-episode, half-hour show that’s also a romantic comedy.

While attempting to deal with all those heady ideas, there’s scant time to develop the secondary characters.

Where one lands in regards to Bill’s transgression, which largely drives the show’s plot, will likely vary by viewer. Was it a sarcastic, wrong-place-wrong-time joke, or was it actually an offense worthy of getting him canceled when he fails to weigh its impact on others and properly apologize?

To its credit, “The Chair” offers no easy answers. It’s more interested in exploring the complexities of transgression and the multitude of reactions than in villainizing or lionizing the individuals involved.

The show’s focus wanders through its run — Is this Ji-Yoon’s story or Bill’s? Should it have been Joan’s? — and ultimately lands with a realistically predictable (as scandals like Bill’s tend to) whimper that can be interpreted as either the end or as stage-setting for a second season.

Channel surfing

Edinboro University grad Sian Proctor will be one of four civilian astronauts on a three-day SpaceX mission scheduled to launch in September that will be chronicled in a four-part Netflix docu-series, “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space,” debuting episodes Sept. 6 and 13. … The second season of Shudder’s “Creepshow,” which streamed earlier this year on AMC+ and features an episode inspired by WQED-TV, airs on linear cable’s AMC at 10 p.m. Sept. 6. The third season of “Creepshow” begins rolling out on Shudder and streamer AMC+ on Sept. 23. … Munhall native Gabby Barrett will perform on the “CMA Summer Jam” (8 p.m. Sept. 2, ABC). … On Sept. 20, Fox Business Network will replace its prime-time Monday-Thursday lineup with assorted docu-series, including one hosted by Mike Rowe. … Free, ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity Flex and X1 platforms. … Netflix renewed “Never Have I Ever” for a third season. … The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards will bypass the networks in 2022 and stream on Amazon’s Prime Video. … “Hightown” returns to Starz for its second season at 9 p.m. Oct. 17.