After the shocking conclusion of Season 3, “Succession” has returned.  The premiere of its fourth and final season hit a series viewership high as 2.3 million people, according to Nielsen. Season 4 consists of eight episodes, released weekly before the May 14^th finale.

Ruthless Murdochian media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is preparing to sell Waystar RoyCo to Swedish tech tycoon Luklas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), completely bypassing his grown children: rebellious Kendall (Jeremy Strong), savvy Siobbhan – a.k.a. Shiv – Shiv (Sarah Snook), provocative Roman (Kieran Culkin) and leech-like Connor (Alan Ruck). So the big question is: who will succeed Logan?

In addition to Logan’s ambitious offspring, there’s Shiv’s self-serving husband Tom Wamsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), hapless cousin Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), general counsel Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron), vice-chairman Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman),  and CFO Karl Muller (David Rasche), among others.

Furious at their constant sniping and distrust, Logan now refers to his duplicitous offspring as the Rats because they’re courting potential investors for a risky rival media start-up called The Hundred, which Kendall describes as “Substack meets MasterClass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker.”

Created by showrunner Jesse Armstrong as a satire of the vapidity and moral corruption of corporate America, the Machiavellian series is notorious for the Roy family’s ferocious favoritism, shifting loyalty, constant betrayals and duplicitous backstabbing. 

Like Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” wily Logan relishes playing his progeny off one another. His dynamics have created a thoroughly dysfunctional family, as they vie for their pathological patriarch’s respect and love.  Yet Logan wails, “Everything I try to do, people turn against me…I’m 100-feet tall. These people are pygmies.” 

Plus, what’s endlessly intriguing is the depiction of the extravagant lifestyle of the uber-rich, including their impromptu helicopter rides, private jets, elaborate penthouses, palatial estates and ever-present sycophants.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10. “Succession – Season 4” is an entertaining 8 – with new episodes on Sundays, streaming on HBO Max.

According to the news in 1985, 40 pounds of cocaine was dropped from a bungled aerial drug run into the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia in September; the 175-pound black bear that ate much of it was found dead in December. 

While the action-comedy caper “Cocaine Bear” is loosely based on that story, screenwriter Jimmy Warden depicts a much different situation – following a giant, coked-up, apex predator on a rampage through the woods, hunting for as much blow as possible.

It opens with a drug smuggler (Matthew Rhys) tossing the cocaine out of a plane, only to plunge to his death because of an unopened parachute. 

The first packet is found by two naïve 12 year-olds – Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince) and Henry (Christian Convey) – who dare each other to try it, much to the chagrin of Dee Dee’s divorced mother (Keri  Russell).

After that, various packets are found by vacationing hikers, delinquent teenagers, forest ranger (Margo Martindale), PETA inspector/biologist (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), EMTs (Scott Seiss, Kahyun Kim), and drug dealers – with the voracious bear in crazed pursuit.

Meanwhile, local law officers (Isiah Whitlock Jr, Ayoola Smart) connect the drop to a broader drug operation run by a notorious kingpin (Ray Liotta), who dispatches his son (Alden Ehrenreich) and cohort (O’Shea Jackson Jr) to retrieve the white powder.

Director Elizabeth Banks (“Pitch Perfect 2,” “Charlie’s Angels”) confessed that she deliberately made the film more muscular and masculine in an attempt to combat the mythology about what kinds of movies women are interested in making, telling Variety: “I love gore. The gore is part of the fun of the ride.”

Allan Henry, a motion-capture/stunt performer, worked with the actors on the set, while the formidable CGI ‘bear’ was created by Peter Jackson’s Weta FX in New Zealand. And if you’re intrigued, “Blow, The True Story of Cocaine, a Bear and a Crooked Kentucky Cop” is streaming on YouTube.

On the Granger Gauge, “Cocaine Bear” is a silly, contrived 5, streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Despite what you may have heard, “Bad Cinderella” is not Andrew Lloyd Webber’s worst musical, nor – alas! – is it one of his best.

Working from a flimsy, trivial book by Alexis Scheer & Emerald Fennell with overly wordy lyrics by David Zippel, the stridently feminist theme seems to be society’s shallow standards of beauty. You see – in the fairyland of Belleville – everyone is measured by his or her superficial appearance.

The women are reputed to be gorgeous (but, unfortunately, the actresses chosen by director Laurence Connor are not). In contrast, the men – displaying their bare beefcake like sexed-up Chippendales dancers – are actually prettier, strutting to JoAnn M. Hunter’s choreography as the turntable spins.

Poor Cinderella (Linedy Genao), a waif dressed in rags, is considered plain which she, rightfully, resents, predictably displaying ‘bad’ behavior. Her only friend is the Queen’s (Grace McLean) hapless second Prince Sebastian (Jordan Dobson). Prince Charming is the presumed heir and Sebastian is the ‘spare.’ 

But since brawny Prince Charming went AWOL, Prince Sebastian must now choose a wife. Why not Cinderella, whom he loves? Because that would end the show in 30 minutes – and audiences have paid top ticket prices to watch them dither for another two hours, egged on by Cinderella’s wicked, scene-stealing stepmother (Carolee Carmello) and vainly moronic step-sisters (Sami Gayle, Morgan Higgins)

What about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music?  Sung by Joran Dobson, “Only You, Lonely You” is the most memorable song, followed by Carolee Carmello’s drolly comedic “I Know You” with Grace McLean.  Linedy Genao warbles “Easy To Be Me,” “I Know I Have a Heart (Because You Broke It)” and “Far Too Late,” but they’re quite forgettable.

What I find curious is that that all Andrew Lloyd Webber’s leading ladies somewhat resemble his second wife, soprano Sarah Brightman, who starred in “Phantom of the Opera,” among other notable roles. Too bad Ms. Genao lacks Ms. Brightman’s glorious voice and charisma.

It’s also bizarre that in an expensive Broadway production, Gabriella Tylesova’s scenery and costumes are tacky and garish – like those in a second-rate dinner theater.

So should you go to “Bad Cinderella”? Only if you’re a die-hard Andrew Lloyd Webber fan and determined to see every show he’s ever staged.