Always Be Streaming - January 10, 2025
What will YOU be watching this weekend?
One cannot imagine that anyone could be short of viewing options this weekend with an avalanche of returning and new shows.
But, my recommendation would be to jump on board with new hospital drama The Pitt. You may have read my review for it last weekend, but I’m really very taken with this show.
My interest in the show stems from this:
The Pitt is designed to emulate the feel of a broadcast TV show with a 15-episode long first season order. Most streaming shows run 6-12 episode seasons, so the longer episode count makes The Pitt feel exactly like the sort of old-school network TV drama that so many of us long for on streaming.
While it harkens back to the spirit of the old-school US network drama, the storytelling is more sophisticated and adult. It’s a hospital drama, so expect to see some genuine moments of medical gore and flashes of completely appropriate for the setting nudity.
The Pitt is a streaming show that you will be excited to return to every week for a new episode.
Also debuting this weekend is On Call, a new half-hour cop show from Dick Wolf’s production company (but more specifically, Dick Wolf’s son). The show has the episodic spirit of Wolf’s first responder Chicago-set dramas (Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago PD), but is formatted to work in a shorter format. It’s basically Dragnet meets the David Ayer film End of Watch.
You can find The Pitt on Max in the US, BINGE here in Australia. On Call is on Prime Video.
Returning TV
When Calls The Heart (s12), Family Law (s03), Skymed (s03), Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (s02), Silent Witness (s28), The Rookie (s07), Will Trent (s03), Son of a Critch (s04), The Oval (s06), Grantchester (s09), Fake Profile (s02), Wild Cards (s02), The Upshaws (s06), Father Brown (s12), Alpha Males (s03), Goosebumps (s02)
New TV
The Pitt - Netflix
Stars: Noah Wyle
A realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
On Call - Prime Video
Stars: Troian Bellisario, Brandon Larracuente
A rookie and a veteran officer patrol duo in Long Beach, California, face the morality of protecting and serving a community.
American Primeval - Netflix
Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham
A mother and son fleeing from their past form a found family while confronting a harsh landscape of freedom and cruelty in the American West.
Asura - Netflix
Stars: Rie Miyazawa, Machiko Ono, Yu Aoi, and Suzu Hirose
In 1979 Tokyo, four distinct sisters uncover their aging father's affair, causing their happy facades and bottled-up emotions to slowly unravel.
Shifting Gears - Fox
Stars: Tim Allen and Kat Dennings
Headstrong widower Matt owns a classic-car workshop. When his separated daughter and her teenage children arrive at his house, the real restoration begins.
Video Nasty - BBC3
Stars: Justin Daniels Anene, Cal O'Driscoll, Leia Murphy, Valerie O'Connor
Comedy drama set in 1985 about three teenagers who go on an quest to complete a cult VHS collection.
Patience - Channel 4
Stars: Ella Maisy Purvis
Against the backdrop of the historic city of York, detective Bea Metcalf forms an unlikely duo with young autistic police archivist Patience Evans, opening a door into a whole new world for Patience.
Doc - Fox
Stars: Molly Parker, Scott Wolf
After a brain injury erases the last eight years of Dr. Amy Larsen's life, she must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she's treated, colleagues she's crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves or the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away.
Saint-Pierre - CBC
Stars: Joséphine Jobert, Allan Hawco
A Newfoundland cop is exiled to French islands where he teams up with a headstrong deputy to solve baffling crimes beyond the idyllic locale's facade.
Subteran - Netflix
Stars: Cezar Grumazescu, Ana Ularu
A young mother's life is upended when she finds herself hiding behind a secret identity to escape the Bucharest gang responsible for her fiancé's death.
The Breakthrough - Netflix
Stars: Peter Eggers and Mattias Nordkvist
When the double murder in Linköping, Sweden, back in 2004 was finally solved after 16 years, it was a genealogist who made the breakthrough.
New Movies
Ad Vitam - Netflix
Stars: Guillaume Canet, Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot, Alexis Manenti, Johan Heldenbergh, Etienne Guillou-Kervern, and Rayan Bouazza
After escaping an attempted murder, Franck Lazarev must find his wife Leo, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. He is caught up with his past and plunged into a state affair that is beyond his control.
Hound’s Hill - Netflix
Stars: Mateusz Kosciukiewicz
A successful and renowned novelist — haunted by trauma and a mysterious blackmailer — returns to his hometown to reckon with his unresolved past.
Black Warrant - Netflix
Stars: Zahan Kapoor
Vikramaditya Motwane brings this riveting story about a prison officer who is determined to root out the systemic problems plaguing Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Screen Watching Podcast
Check out this week’s Screen Watching podcast. Dan Barrett takes a look at new Max hospital drama The Pitt, while Simon Foster considers whether to say Yesferatu to the new Robert Eggers film Nosferatu. And why is there so many bleeped out words this week?
Find Screen Watching on your podcast app of choice: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
Supporters of the newsletter receive it on Friday. Those receiving it for free get it on the Sunday afternoon. That’s capitalism, baby!
If you found the email useful, forward it on to a friend.
Connect with Dan on Bluesky. Connect with Dan Barrett on Threads. Connect with Dan on Letterboxd. Connect with Dan on Linkedin.