Abel Tesfaye, better known as the pop star the Weeknd, is a creator and star of the new series, The Idol. Photo / Supplied
Abel Tesfaye, better known as the pop star the Weeknd, is a creator and star of the new series, The Idol. Photo / Supplied
This winter, there’s nothing so new on television as something old. Series are emerging two years (The Witcher), four (Black Mirror) after you last had to think about them.
On the other hand, it’s also a bountiful time for newer favourites, full of the second or third or fourth seasonsof popular or praiseworthy (sometimes both) recent shows such as The Bear, Heartstopper, Never Have I Ever and Only Murders in the Building
One final thing to say about the new normal on TV: More than a few of those buzzy shows will be ending. The minimum bench mark for long-term success used to be 100 episodes; now you can take a bow at 18 or 24. At least it looks as if we’ll always have It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Lily-Rose Depp as the titular idol and The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) as her Svengali in the series already established as the newest hate watch, clearly to the delight of its creators (who include Sam Levinson of Euphoria) and its network. (Neon, June 5)
The Lazarus Project
Joe Barton, creator of the wildly entertaining yakuza-in-London series Giri/Haji, created and wrote this time-jumping blend of science fiction and international crime drama. Paapa Essiedu plays a London app developer who seems to be the only person who notices that time keeps resetting, until he’s recruited by the shadowy international agency that’s resetting it. (Neon)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It takes a certain sort of genius to milk 16 seasons (with two more already committed) out of the premise that Philadelphians are stupid. (Disney+ currently streaming seasons 1 - 15)
Somewhere Boy
Scottish actor Lewis Gribben has won acclaim for his performance in this bittersweet British drama about a teenager venturing into the world after being kept in loving captivity by his father for most of his life. (TVNZ+)
Netflix’s crowd-pleasing comedy about an Indian American high schooler heads toward graduation; its fourth season has been announced as its last, so Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) won’t be repeating senior year. (Netflix, June 8)
Never Have I Ever returns for its fourth and final season. Photo / Supplied
Based on a True Story
Chris Messina stars as a struggling tennis pro and Kaley Cuoco as a struggling, pregnant real estate agent (and true-crime buff) whose marriage is drifting; when she decides that someone close to them is a serial killer, they suddenly find themselves with a new business opportunity. It’s a sendup of true-crime obsession in the vein of Only Murders in the Building but relocated to Southern California and more aggressively morbid in its humour. (TVNZ+, June 8)
The Crowded Room
The simple act of naming the book on which this series is based would violate the stringent spoiler rules set up by Apple and the show’s creator, Akiva Goldsman. So while you Google it, we’ll just say that the series co-stars Amanda Seyfried, and you should never miss a chance to watch her. (Apple TV+, June 9)
Father Brown
The coziest of cozy British mysteries, based on G.K. Chesterton’s stories about a crime-solving priest in the Cotswolds in the 1950s, reaches its 10th season, with an 11th on the way. (Sky TV’s BBC UKTV)
Black Mirror
Back for a sixth season of cultural hegemony, obtained via mildly weirding us out while reassuring us that we’re very up-to-date. Performers to look forward to in the new season include Anjana Vasan of Killing Eve, Monica Dolan and Zazie Beetz. (Netflix, June 15)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
It’s the second season of Star Trek: original formula, so strap in for more cosmic do-goodery and agonized parsing of the Prime Directive. If your dream has always been to see Carol Kane play an officer on the Enterprise, you’re in luck; we can hope she’ll be given more to do than Amanda Plummer was given on Star Trek: Picard. (TVNZ+, June 15)
Anson Mount in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Photo / Supplied
Secret Invasion
Samuel L. Jackson makes his first non-drive-by live-action appearance as Nick Fury since Captain Marvel in 2019, starring in the latest Marvel series for Disney+ (No. 9 and counting). Jackson told Entertainment Weekly that the story about alien Skrulls infiltrating Earth gave him “an opportunity to explore something other than the badassery of who Nick Fury is,” which sounds like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation. (Disney+, June 21)
The Bear
Last year’s breakout drama, about a chef working through his personal issues while taking over the kitchen of his family’s Chicago sandwich shop, returns for a second season and adds Bob Odenkirk to its cast. (Disney+ currently streaming season 1)
Rapper, filmmaker, satirist and provocateur Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) created this high-concept comedy starring Jharrel Jerome as a 13-foot Oakland, California, teenager. (Amazon Prime Video, June 23)
Hijack
A flight to London’s Heathrow airport is commandeered by a desperate crew with mysterious motives. Idris Elba plays the passenger who has unsuspected skills in a thriller from directors, writers and producers associated with Criminal: U.K., Lupin and Slow Horses. (Apple TV+, June 28)
Idris Elba in Hijack. Photo / Supplied
Ten Year Old Tom
Steve Dildarian’s low-fi animated comedy about an improbably mature but still painfully naive 10-year-old whose life is an obstacle course of inappropriate and unhelpful adults returns. That it’s getting a second season is pretty improbable in itself. (Season 1, TVNZ+)
The Witcher
As stars of cheesily entertaining sword-and-sex-and-sorcery shows go, Henry Cavill — with his ability to seem very serious while not taking himself too seriously — remains the most enjoyable to watch. This easygoing medieval-ish adventure’s third season will be Cavill’s last as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia; he will be replaced for Season Four by Liam Hemsworth. (Netflix, June 29)
D.I. Ray
Two decades on from Bend It Like Beckham, Parminder Nagra gets to headline her own British mystery, playing a detective inspector in a series filmed in Birmingham. Jed Mercurio is an executive producer, and the show was created by Maya Sondhi, who played the problematic Constable Maneet Bindra in Mercurio’s Line of Duty. (AcornTV)
Survival of the Thickest
Comedian and actress Michelle Buteau (First Wives Club) stars in this newly-single-in-the-city comedy, playing a talented stylist who breaks up with her photographer boyfriend when she catches him in bed with a model several sizes smaller than herself. (Netflix, July 13)
Reservation Dogs
Having had their California moment, the young heroes of this dreamlike yet astringent comedy come home to Oklahoma for Season Three. Yet another distinguished Indigenous actor, Graham Greene, joins the cast. (Disney+ currently streaming season 1 - 2)
Painkiller
The sordid story of the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic, already dealt with in productions such as the miniseries “Dopesick” and the documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” will receive perhaps its most direct treatment yet in a miniseries starring Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler. (Netflix, August 10)
