The It List: 'Fruitcake Fraud' doc tells a true crime story, Jason Sudeikis leads 'It's a Wonderful Life' table read, 'Citizen Ashe' profiles the tennis legend and the best in pop culture the week of Nov. 29, 2021

The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Nov. 29 - Dec. 5, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)

STREAM IT: Fruitcake Fraud serves up a scandal

You'll never look at the infamously staid (and sometimes loathed) dessert again, after this special that slices up the true story of how one couple, executive Sandy Jenkins and his wife, Kay Jenkins, embezzled more than $16 million from the Collin Street Bakery in the quaint town of Corsicana, Texas, home of one of the most famous fruitcakes around. The shady business dealings were discovered by a newly hired accountant in 2013, when the stolen money had already been spent on a lavish lifestyle. In this exclusive clip, investigators discuss how Kay unexpectedly helped their case against the couple by keeping a log of her extensive jewelry collection, including what each piece cost. — Raechal Shewfelt

Fruitcake Fraud premieres Wednesday, Dec. 1 on discovery+.

WATCH IT: Citizen Ashe profiles the life and times of the pioneering tennis player

Someone had to be first: Arriving on the professional tennis scene in the early 1960s, Arthur Ashe was the first Black player to break the barrier of what had previously been an almost exclusively white sport. And he didn't just break barriers — he also broke records. To this day, he's the only Black tennis player to win the Wimbledon as well as Australian and U.S. Open singles titles. (The main U.S. Open stadium in Queens, N.Y., is named after him.) Rex Miller and Sam Pollard's new documentary, Citizen Ashe, uses archival footage and new interviews with family, friends and tennis luminaries like Billie Jean King to tell his origin story, his on-court triumphs and his post-tennis career as a human rights activist and global ambassador, which continued up until his death from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993. This exclusive clip from the film shows how Ashe always did his talking with his racquet as soon as he hit the court. — Ethan Alter

Citizen Ashe premieres in theaters Friday, Dec. 3 in New York, and a week later in Los Angeles. Visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.

WATCH IT: George MacKay and Lily-Rose Depp unleash their inner-animals in Wolf

No, it’s not a remake of the 1994 Jack Nicholson-Michelle Pfeiffer horror movie Wolf. If you’re looking for a reference point, Nathalie Biancheri’s new drama might be most comparable to Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2015 black comedy The Lobster, in which Colin Farrell and company were given 45 days to find love or they’d be turned into animals. In this story, however, George MacKay (1917) and Lily-Rose Depp (Tusk) believe they’re animals trapped in humans' bodies — he a wolf, she a wildcat — diagnosed as “species identity disorder," they’re sent to a clinic specializing in the disorder and run by the sketchy “zookeeper” (Paddy Considine). That’s all to say that, yeah, this one is pretty incomparable. Check out an exclusive clip from the film above. — Kevin Polowy

Wolf opens in theaters Friday, Dec. 3. Get tickets on Fandango.

STREAM IT: The Candy Queen reigns over Hulu's new holiday reality series, Candified: Home for the Holidays

If you thought building an ordinary house was tough, imagine what it takes to build a comfortable abode out of candy. That's the challenge that Jackie Sorkin (aka the Candy Queen) takes on in Hulu's new four-part unscripted series, which presents the candy expert and her team of sweet-toothed collaborators with the Herculean challenge of designing and constructing a life-sized, holiday-friendly home. While Jackie plays foreman, the rest of the crew huddles in the design room, alternately bickering and bonding as the house takes shape. This exclusive clip from the series features Sorkin meeting with an investor to talk about one of her crazy candified concoctions: a holiday Christmas tree made out of Rice Krispie treats that will actually spin. "Good luck," the investor says as he surveys an early version that doesn't do much of anything. Don't be surprised if he eats his words… literally. — E.A.

Candified: Home for the Holidays premieres Wednesday, Dec. 1 on Hulu.

STREAM IT: Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan is on London's watch in Britbox mystery The Tower

Goodbye Westeros — London's calling. Former Game of Thrones star Gemma "Yara Greyjoy" Whelan is on the case in this new procedural, which is based on a mystery novel by an actual U.K. detective-turned-author, Kate London. Whelan plays detective Sarah Collins, who is tasked with investigating the deaths of a cop and a teenage girl, after they plunged from a tower block in the East End. But uncovering this mystery also means finding possible corruption within her own ranks — and her superiors aren't exactly eager to have her learn the truth. This exclusive clip reveals the blue wall of silence that Sarah's about to run into headlong if she continues asking difficult questions. — E.A.

The Tower premieres Wednesday, Dec. 1 on Britbox.

STREAM IT: Hot dog! It's a star-studded table read of It's a Wonderful Life

Haven't yet fit in your annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life? Do it here for a good cause. The Ed Asner Family Center, created by the son and daughter-in-law of the late star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to realize the actor’s dream of supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families, have partnered with TCM for this festive online event. Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, Rosario Dawson, Jean Smart, Martin Sheen and Mark Hamill lead the cast in this iteration of the Frank Capra classic about a man who's given the gift of seeing a world in which he'd never been born. Look out, too, for appearances by Kathy Bates, Lou Diamond Phillips, TCM's Ben Mankiewicz and many more. Tom Bergeron hosts the evening, which also includes a tribute to Asner, who died in August, music by Wallows, a Q&A with the cast and more. — R.S.

The It's a Wonderful Life table read streams Sunday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $25 at the Ed Asner Family Center's website.

STREAM IT: Riz Ahmed faces a close Encounter in new thriller

Fresh off of his first Academy Award nomination for his stunning work as a drummer who loses his hearing in the drama Sound of Metal, Riz Ahmed is back on Amazon Prime — this time playing a decorated Marine on a desperate mission to save his two young sons from an extraterrestrial threat in Michael Pearce's taut thriller. Imagine War of the Worlds meets They Live meets The Road meets Octavia Spencer, who reliably elevates everything she's in. — K.P.

Encounter opens in theaters Friday, Dec. 3, one week ahead of its Amazon Prime debut.

STREAM IT: The Great British Baking Show: Holidays is here to lift your spirits

No soggy bottoms for the holidays, please! Your favorites from past Great British Baking Show seasons past are back in the tent for showstoppers galore in what Paul Hollywood hopes is "a new year, a new challenge." Bakers will be put to the test with challenges that include festive feast illusion cakes, seasonal breads and, as always, a bit of cheery chaos. Who will be crowned star baker by Prue and Paul? Who will get a coveted Hollywood handshake? Tune in to find out. — Alexis Shaw

The Great British Baking Show: Holidays Season 4 premieres Friday, Dec. 3 on Netflix.

STREAM IT: Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas is a gift for fans of the canceled NBC musical series

The grinches at NBC may have canceled Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist after two seasons, but at least fans of the Emmy-nominated series are getting a feature-length special/series finale for the holidays. Premiering Dec. 1 on the Roku Channel — which is available to download for free on all Roku devices — the 90-minute film picks up after the events of the Season 2 finale, when Zoey (Jane Levy) learned she was no longer the only person in the world who could hear other peoples' heart songs. Her boyfriend, Max (Skyler Astin), also now has that power and it comes in handy as Zoey confronts the prospect of celebrating her first Christmas without her beloved dad (Peter Gallagher). And holiday carols aren't the only tunes the cast — including returning favorites Mary Steenburgen, Alex Newell and Bernadette Peters — are belting. Expect to hear pop hits from the likes of Taylor Swift and Cyndi Lauper. — E.A.

Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas premieres Wednesday, Dec. 1 on the Roku Channel.

WATCH IT: Shang-Chi marks one of Marvel's best standalone adventures

In crafting Marvel's first Asian-lead superhero movie, it's possible MCU architect Kevin Feige, director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) and his co-writers may have taken a couple notes from the playbook of another one of the studio's game-changing cultural touchstones, 2018's Oscar-nominated box office mega-hit Black Panther. There's family drama, Sibling Power and a mystical secret homeland. But most importantly, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, like Black Panther, is a triumph — a fiercely entertaining standalone adventure that makes a star out of Simu Liu (an MCU mainstay in the works, for sure), thrills with its action sequences and offers a nice side helping of comic relief, courtesy of newbie sidekick Awkwafina. One of Marvel's best entries yet hits 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray this week with bonus features including deleted scenes, a gag reel, audio commentary and more. — K.P.

Shang-Chi is available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at Amazon.

WATCH IT: Taraji P. Henson plays Miss Hannigan in Annie Live!

The classic comic strip gets its umpteenth retelling in this live staging of the phenomenally successful Broadway show, with newcomer Celina Smith in the title role. Crooner and actor Harry Connick Jr. plays Daddy Warbucks, while Taraji P. Henson steps into the part that comedy legend Carol Burnett played in the 1982 movie. "I have actually already sent her a letter because I love her so much," Henson told E! News of Burnett. "I grew up in the hood, but I watched Carol Burnett. I didn't miss [The Carol Burnett Show]. I have big shoes to fill. I totally have the talent to make it my own but with so much respect for her." Viewers will recognize much of the supporting cast, too. For instance, Tituss Burgess fills the role of Hannigan's no-good brother, Rooster, and Megan Hilty plays his love interest, Lily. Meanwhile, Nicole Scherzinger is Warbucks's aide, Grace. — R.S.

Annie Live! airs Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

WATCH IT: Finally out of DVD purgatory, Heaven Can Wait is now on Blu-ray

Apparently, Heaven really could wait. Warren Beatty's 1978 fantasy-comedy about a Los Angeles Rams quarterback mistakenly led to the afterlife by his guardian angel (Buck Henry), based on the famous play Here Comes Mr. Jordan, is finally, finally landing on Blu-ray — a full 22 years after its initial DVD release. Maybe they were just waiting for the Rams, who relocated from L.A. to St. Louis in 1994, to return to La La Land, which they did in 2016. Also out this week: a newly remastered version of Beatty's 1981 Russian Revolution drama Reds. — K.P.

Heaven Can Wait is available on Blu-ray Tuesday, Nov. 30 at Amazon.

— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo