What you need to know about TV this week:
- The big release this week is Steve Carell’s return to TV as the lead. His supporting turn in The Morning Show a few months ago doesn’t count - he’s the proper star of Space Force. Most reviews of the show have been negative, though it does apparently find its footing in the back half of the season.
- Love Life is the biggest launch title on the new US streaming service HBO Max (and streams in Australia on Stan). Reviews for Anna Kendrick’s show have been middling - critics haven’t liked it much. I’ve seen the first two episodes and thought it was fine. The series isn’t as charming as it thinks it is and there’s little to no substance to it. But it’s still pleasant to watch.
- Fans of The Inbetweeners might want to track down new show The First Team. While none of the cast of The Inbetweeners are in it, the show is from the same writing duo and is focused again on the horrors of teenage boys. Notably Will Arnett is in the show, along with Chris Geere from cult US comedy You’re The Worst.
On my list of things to watch this weekend is the new feature documentary Spaceship Earth. It’s about the group of scientists from the BIOSPHERE 2 experiment. They wanted to show that humans could live in outer space by living in a self-sustaining dome for 2 years in Arizona.
If you’re immediately thinking about the Pauly Shore film Bio-Dome, this was its real world inspiration. The documentary, but presumably not the Pauly Shore film, is streaming on Hulu in the states and is available in Australia on DocPlay.
returning:
American Soul (s2), QI (s18), Agents of SHIELD (s7), Somebody Feed Phil (s3)
new:
Space Force - Netflix
Stars: Steve Carell, Owen Daniels, Noah Emmerich
The people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services: The Space Force.
Love Life - HBO Max | Stan
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Zoe Chao, Peter Vack
Anna Kendrick stars in a fresh take on a romantic comedy anthology series about the journey from first love to lasting love, and how the people we're with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever.
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich - Netflix
Survivors worldwide reveal the manipulation, abuse and emotional scars suffered at the hands of wealthy convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their stories expose a sex trafficking ring of powerful enablers leading up to his 2019 arrest.
The First Team - BBC2
Stars: Will Arnett, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Chris Geere
The misadventures of three young football players at a fictional Premier League club.
Barkskins - Hulu
Stars: Matthew Lillard, Steven McCarthy, James Bloor, David Wilmot
Based on the novel by Pulitzer-winner Annie Proulx, Barkskins follows a disparate group of outcasts who must navigate brutal hardships, competing interests, and tangled loyalties at the crossroads of civilization- late 1600s New France.
We Hunt Together - Alibi
Stars: Babou Ceesay, Hermione Corfield, Kamara Abraham
Freddy and Baba are a deadly duo, drawn together by violence and the dark past that haunts each of them. DS Lola Franks and DI Jackson Mendy are new partners thrown together to catch the killers before they strike again.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend.
