Peacock’s original shows, at least so far, have underwhelmed a bit. But the streaming service from Comcast and NBC Universal has some big things planned for the month of September, including a slate of original documentaries, and a resurrected sitcom from NBC. The “staggered” arrival of the Harry Potter movies on Peacock, meanwhile, won’t begin until October.

Some highlights:

• Brother From Another (September, TBA.) Peacock, on August 24, announced the addition of NBC Sports on Peacock to its roster of free channels. The channel will be the new home of such shows as  PFT Live with Mike Florio, The Dan Patrick Show, and The Rich Eisen Show. A new show, Brother From Another, with Michael Holley and Michael Smith, will join the channel in September.

• A.P. Bio (September 3.) This sitcom, which ran for two seasons on NBC, was cancelled in May of 2019, but showing the power of what having a streaming service owned by the same company and network can do, the series was revived for Peacock not long afterward. The show stars It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton as a disgraced Harvard professor who becomes a high school teacher in his Ohio hometown. Comedian Patton Oswalt co-stars as the principal. 

• A Most Beautiful Thing (September 4.) A documentary about the first-ever African-American high school rowing team, in Chicago. Narrated by rapper and actor Common, the documentary was executive-produced by retired NBA stars Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade. The film, which was set for theatrical release, will premiere on Peacock and then will jump to Amazon Prime in October.  
• Anthony (September 4.) A feature film about the murder of Anthony Walker, a Black student who was murdered in London in 2005. The film, starring Toheeb Jimon, tells the story in release of what may have happened had Anthony lived.
• The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show (September 10.) A documentary about the week in 1968 when Belafonte, the performer and activist, guest-hosted The Tonight Show. Addressing racism and the Vietnam War, Belafonte’s guests including Sidney Poitier, Aretha Franklin, and two men who would be assassinated just months later, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy.

• The Public (September 15.) This film, directed by actor Emilio Estevez, had a brief theatrical run in 2019, but it will make its streaming debut on Peacock next month. The film depicts a sit-in, and later a confrontation with police, at a public library in Cincinnati. Estevez stars along with Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, Gabrielle Union and Taylor Schilling.

• Departure (September 17.) This six-part drama series, produced in Canada and starring Christopher Plummer and Archie Panjabi, is about a plane that mysteriously disappears while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. 

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Peacock.