Always Be Streaming... pompous psychiatrists

Frasier is back. And it's just one of several shows you should think about pressing play on this weekend.

A quietly busy week with quite a few shows you should be paying attention to this weekend.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Reviews are mixed, but I rather liked the return of Frasier for the third sitcom to feature the Kelsey Grammer character. I’ve seen the first five of them and found myself looking forward to pressing play on each episode, which is the sign of a good sitcom. The show isn’t at the standard of either Cheers or Frasier, but it’s maybe more at that Wings level of sitcom - that is to say that the show is fine with characters you enjoy spending time with, but it’s not an all-timer. My review was posted a few days ago on the ABW website.

• The Fall of The House of Usher is the latest horror series from Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep). Shows by Flanagan are always an event, so this will likely already be on your radar if you’re keen on such shows.

• Brie Larson stars in Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry, based on the book of the same name. Brie stars as a chemist in the early 60s who is struggling to find respect professionally due to gender bias, but through circumstance takes her passion for cooking to TV where she cultivates an audience of housewives being taught about science through the guise of making dinner.

  

  I saw the first episode of this a while back - I enjoyed the overall vibe and artistic ambition of the show. It felt like a more sophisticated version of Max’s Julia. Ultimately, I found Larson’s character left me a little too cold, which is admittedly the point of the character. But I didn’t connect enough to want to stick with the show. Your mileage will vary with it.

• I haven’t seen it, but was thoroughly charmed by the trailer for Netflix film Once Upon a Star about voice dubbing artists touring with movies in the 1960s through rural Thailand.