Always Be Streaming... surprising Aussie comedies

Strewth, Gold Diggers is a good 'un.

What a surprising week this turned out to be. Two shows I had zero expectations would be watchable, let alone any good, proved to be two of the best shows I’ve seen so far in 2023.

First you have Aussie sitcom Gold Diggers which is lewd, brash, and funny as heck. It plays that card that a few comedies have of late, which is to create a show with a period setting, but to update the language and attitudes to the modern era. For the first 10 minutes, the first episode of Gold Diggers leans a bit too heavily on that as being what makes the show funny. But once the show gets past that and starts to lean on proper jokes, it feels more authentically funny.

The premise has two women on the run from something that happened in Sydney. They have travelled to an outback mining town where they are hoping to marry old money or find a prospector who has just struck it rich.

Australia’s ABC has been on a good run of comedies in the last few years -In addition to the new Gold Diggers, there was also the recent Fisk and Frayed from a few years back. I’d also mention Rosehaven, but that started back in 2016 and I feel like that’s maybe being a bit too timeline loose.

The other good show debuting this week is US Prime Video half-hour comedy horror The Horror of Dolores Roach. It is about a woman who tries returning to her life after a 16 year stint in prison, taking the rap for the crimes of her dealer boyfriend. Dolores gets out and goes straight back home only to find that the greatest horror of all has occurred in her Crown Heights neighborhood: gentrification.

Within the first two episodes it begins to be a very bloody affair. The show pairs well with Prime Video series Swam, which debuted earlier this year.

I also got around to watching the new Idris Elba Apple TV+ show Hijack, which actually debuted last week. I was just tardy. It’s not bad - it fills a 24-sized hole in my heart that Keifer Sutherland’s Rabbit Hole from a few months ago failed to adequately fill. Curious is the supporting role given to Archie Panjabi - it’s such a nothing role. Were there script revisions after she signed on that saw her character reduced dramatically? I don’t understand why a name actress like her is in that role… could this just be where her career is at right now?