There are two new TV shows that have been very much on my radar this year. There’s the upcoming Paramount+ show The Agency, a spy drama based on the well-regarded French show Le Bureau des Légendes, and an entirely new Netflix Australian drama Territory.
My interest in The Agency is a little more cut and dry. It is based on an excellent French show and the cast is filled with reputable, exciting big names (Michael Fassbender! Richard Gere! Jodi Turner-Smith! Jeffrey Wright!!!!).
But my interest in Territory has been based on an optimistic hope. It has been a few years since we have seen a truly outstanding Australian drama. And it has been even longer since we have seen one set in the outback. Territory had all the promise of a big, exciting outback drama. But, would it meet my… expectations probably isn’t the right term… my hope.
It debuted on Thursday with a six-episode run, so some of you have likely already pressed play on it. And if you had, you’d probably be well aware that the show really is rather good.
I don’t know that it is “outstanding Australian drama,” but it is very watchable, compelling TV. The focus of the show is on the shifting power, schemes, and allegiances between family members when it becomes clear that a next-generation head of what is said to be the world’s largest cattle station is about to be named.
There’s an obvious comparison to Succession with the idea of family members vying to lead the family dynasty, but tonally it is very different (Succession is a comedy, for starters…) and the approach to the thematic idea just feels different. Territory has as much in common with Succession as it does with, well, Dynasty.
Where the show falls down a bit is that it just isn’t quite soapy enough. I think director Greg Mclean is a great tradesman at crafting cinematic tension, but I don’t think he ever quite gets in close enough with the camera to really squeeze out the trashier elements that exist within this production. From the first episode, we should truly hate the weaselly Rich Petrakis, for example, but as viewers we never quite get close enough to properly hate that guys face.
Elsewhere…
Apple TV+ drama Before wastes wonderful cinematography and a really strong Billy Crystal performance on what is a seen-it-all-before mystery about a child psychiatrist who meets a strange kid bouncing from foster home to foster home. The kid sees a mysterious presence and speaks a long-forgotten, centuries-old language. Eh… it’s fine.
Poppas House is a pretty stock-standard generic sitcom from CBS and streaming in Australia on Paramount+. The gimmick of Damon Wayans performing opposite his son Damon Wayans Jr in this father/son two-header sitcom is the draw, but the show fails to give enough dimensionality to the two female leads on the show. As with all sitcoms, they deserve some time to settle in and find a comedic rhythm and this show does have some promise.
The premise has Damon Wayans Snr as a radio disc jockey dealing with being saddled with a new co-host. Meanwhile his son is struggling with putting his creative professional dreams aside as he now has a family to support. My understanding is that the show gets retooled a bit across the first few episodes, so who knows how much of that holds in the weeks to come.
There was also the season 7 (!!!!) return of sister CBS sitcom The Neighborhood, which counts among it’s lead cast Damon Wayans Jr’s New Girl co-star Max Greenfield. I last saw The Neighborhood about seven years ago and found it to be a pretty terrible, generic sitcom that was wasting some talented cast members. Nothing has really changed. It is both shocking that the show has lasted seven years, while also it is shocking that it has been over seven years since New Girl finished up.
The Equalizer (s05), Phoenix Rise (s04), What We Do In The Shadows (s06), The Neighborhood (s07), Star Trek: Lower Decks (s05), Hellbound (S02), Fisk (s03), Transformers: Earthspark (s03)
Territory - Netflix
Stars: Anna Torv, Robert Taylor
When the world's largest livestock farm is left without a successor, the most powerful factions in the Australian outback: miners, landowners, cowboys and gangsters, start preparing their weapons.
Poppas House - CBS [US] | Paramount+ [International]
Stars: Damon Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr, Tetona Jackson, Essence Atkins
Legendary talk radio host and happily divorced "Poppa" has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son, a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.
Before - Apple TV+
Stars: Billy Crystal, Judith Light, Maria Dizzia, Rosie Perez
Eli, a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, encounters a troubled young boy who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli's past; as Eli attempts to help the boy, their mysterious bond deepens.
Beauty In Black - Netflix
Stars: Taylor Polidore Williams
A stripper's fate takes a turn when she crosses paths with the wealthy, dysfunctional family behind a cosmetics dynasty and a devious trafficking scheme.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza - Prime Video
Stars: Ryoma Takeuchi
Set in 1995 and 2005, chronicles a Yakuza warrior's life, his childhood ties, and the consequences of his uncompromising sense of justice and duty.
Family Pack - Netflix
Stars: Franck Dubosc, Jean Reno, Suzanne Clément
When an old card game comes to life, a family travels back in time and lands in a medieval village where they must unmask werewolves in order to return to their own time.
The Last Night at Tremore Beach - Netflix
Stars: Javier Rey, Ana Polvorosa
Tormented by visions, a pianist secluded in a coastal village senses that danger looms over his loved ones.
Canary Black - Prime Video
Stars: Kate Beckinsale
A top CIA operative, Avery Graves, is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband.
Do Patti - Netflix
Stars: Kajol, Kriti Sanon, Shaheer Sheikh
Twin sisters harbor deep secrets and a determined police inspector seeks to uncover the truth in an attempted murder case.
Don’t Move - Netflix
Stars: Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock, Daniel Francis
When a killer injects her with a paralytic agent, a woman must run, fight and hide before her body completely shuts down.
Hijack 93 - Netflix
Stars: Bob Manuel, John Dumelo, Sharon Ooja, Nancy Isime, Jemima Osunde, Efa Iwara
In an effort to dismantle their military-backed government, four men hijack an airplane, leveraging passengers onboard in the name of social change.
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
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