TV review: ‘Chimp Crazy’ may be even more bananas than ‘Tiger King’

“Tiger King” will be remembered as the show that helped us to get through the pandemic. It was perfect water-cooler TV for a time when we couldn’t gather around the water cooler.

“King” director Eric Goode’s latest docuseries might not generate the same buzz, but it’s just as weird and watchable.

The main protagonist in “Chimp Crazy,” premiering at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO, is Tonia Haddix, a Missouri woman who’s an irresistible mix of Dolly Parton, Tammy Faye Messner and Tan Mom. She’s so sweet and vulnerable that it takes a while to realize her affection for a chimpanzee named Tonka is deeply disturbing.

In the four-part series, she’s just one of several “chimp moms” who have an unhealthy relationship with their pets, putting the lives of their loved ones — and themselves — at risk.

Because “King” made Goode a bad guy to many exotic-pet owners, Goode has to hire a proxy director to get access to some key figures. That’s just one of the bizarre twists in a tale that also includes clowns, psychics, kidnappers and Tony winner Alan Cumming.

But it’s Haddix that will stick with you long after the series concludes. You won’t share her obsession with a primate, but you’ll probably relate to her quest for unconditional love.

The primate in this adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s comic novel takes a back seat to Vince Vaughn, playing the same kind of slick operator that you loved in “Swingers” and “Wedding Crashers.” His character, Andrew Yancy, is attempting to get reinstated by the Miami Police Department by solving the kind of murder that seems to happen only in Florida. The mystery isn’t very compelling, but Vaughn and his sexy co-stars keep the action as flippant and fun as a “Fletch” adventure. Apple TV+

As part of its 40th anniversary, Lifetime has teamed up with the acclaimed author for a series of movies about Black women. McMillan is only an executive producer on this latest offering, in which a fancy chef (Garcelle Beauvais) falls for her much younger driver (Vaughn W. Hebron), but the story shares a lot of themes prevalent in her novels. The chemistry between the two leads is strong enough to overlook a script that might have been scribbled out during an Uber ride. 7 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime

McMillan was much more involved in the production of this 1995 favorite that also marked the directorial debut of Forest Whitaker. Whitney Houston proved her performance in “The Bodyguard” was no fluke by holding her own with a top-notch cast that included Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine, both of whom pop up in “Tempted by Love.” “Exhale” isn’t a great romantic comedy, but it proved that a nearly all-Black cast, led by women, could be a major box-office draw. Tubi

The producers of “Worst Roommate Ever” are back with another series tailor-made for viewers who consume true-crime stories like they were potato chips. In the first episode, a disturbed drifter who looks like a country music star abuses girlfriends one after another, resorting to more and more violent acts as time goes on. Netflix