My professional advice for this weekend: Catch up on Squid Game or Midnight Mass from last weekend if you haven't already. But if that doesn't seem like an option, Maid on Netflix has received solid reviews. Starring Margaret Qualley (with her real-life mother Andie MacDowell playing her on-screen mother), the show is about a woman trying to survive under the poverty line.

It's reportedly more fun than it sounds. Friend of ABW Wenlei Ma writes for News.com.au:

Inspired by Stephanie Land’s memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive, Maid’s themes are in its source material’s title. But by placing a fictional character at its centre its gives creator Molly Smith Metzler the nimbleness to really balance the tone so that Maid never feels like a chore.

US readers of ABW might want to check out the high concept La Brea about a sinkhole that opens up in Los Angeles taking innocent people to a Land of The Lost-esque world. Despite the LA setting, it was actually filmed in Melbourne, Australia. So listen out for a whole bunch of Aussies doing American accents (in other words, it's just like the rest of TV these days). Australians keen to see the show will need to wait until 2022 when it starts streaming on 9Now.

Debuting in cinemas in the US and streaming on HBO Max is The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark. I'm especially keen to check this film out. It debuts down under in November in cinemas. Reviews for it are mixed - the general consensus is that the film is good, but not as good as The Sopranos.

Here's Jen Chaney at Vulture:

When considered purely on terms that aren’t informed by its predecessor, Many Saints is a much thinner experience. Without six seasons of premium cable TV to add context, it plays out like a reasonably well-executed but not particularly inspired mob movie reminiscent of other mob movies you’ve probably seen before, and with an antihero in Dickie who lacks the depth and surprise that James Gandolfini’s Tony possessed in abundance.

returning:

Blue Bloods (s12), SWAT (s05), Magnum PI (s04), Big Sky (s02), Grey's Anatomy (s18), Station 19 (s05), Hitmen (s02), The Good Doctor (s05), The Rookie (s04), Family Guy (s20), Bob's Burgers (s12), The Simpsons (s33), The Great North (s02)

new:

Maid - Netflix

Stars: Billy Burke, Andie MacDowell, Margaret Qualley
After fleeing an abusive relationship, a young mother finds a job cleaning houses as she fights to provide for her child and build them a better future.

The Many Saints of Newark - HBO Max

Stars: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal
A look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano.

Luna Park - Netflix

Stars: Paolo Calabresi, Edoardo Coen, Giulio Corso
In 1960s Rome, a free-spirited young woman who's grown up at her family's circus unexpectedly discovers she belongs to two very different worlds.

The Problem with Jon Stewart - Apple TV+

Stars: Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart takes a deep dive into important topics in the United States.

10 Year-old Tom - HBO Max

Stars: Steve Dildarian, Byron Bowers, Todd Glass
A youngster puts up with the bad influences in his life including litigious parents, drug dealing bus drivers, and inappropriate band teachers.

La Brea - Peacock

Stars: Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Chiké Okonkwo
A massive sinkhole mysteriously opens up in Los Angeles, separating part of a family in an unexplainable primeval world, alongside a disparate group of strangers.

BMF: Black Mafia Family - Starz | Stan

Stars: Russell Hornsby, Ajiona Alexus, Michole Briana White
Two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980's and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in the country.

Let's be careful out there.