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AMERICAN AUTO (NEON)
From the creator of Superstore, comes this US sitcom that follows the misadventures of the employees of Detroit-based Payne Motors. Over two seasons, itexplores the company’s struggles after a new CEO, who knows little about cars, is hired from the pharmaceutical industry.
From the corporate offices to the factory floor, everyone is determined to pull out all the stops in order to make things work… if they can just get out of their own way.
“Funny and fast-paced, this single-camera comedy is worth a test drive,” wrote Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Owen, while TV Insider’s Matt Roush thought that, “I wouldn’t buy a used car from these people, but I’ll relish watching them dig their own graves in a future auto graveyard”.
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (TVNZ+)
Eight-part darkly comedic thriller that aims to take a stab at modern society’s obsession with true crime.
With a baby on the way, married couple Ava (The Flight Attendant’s Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Argo’s Chris Messina) devise a plan to create a potentially money-spinning podcast about their recently hired plumber Matt (Death on the Nile’s Tom Bateman), who they believe is actually an infamous serial killer.
Although the premise is obviously akin to the fabulous Only Murders in the Building (but with more of a broad, star-driven LA sensibility than the theatrical ensemble that series boasts), it feels closer to Lucky Hank (or perhaps even a sun-drenched Ozark, Justin Bateman is a producer after all) in style.
The dialogue has the same crispness, the less-than-quite desperation is palpable and the central marriage has a similar tension to that between Hank and Lily or Marty and Wendy.
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Black Snow is now available to stream on TVNZ+.
BLACK SNOW (TVNZ+)
Vikings and Danger Close actor Travis Fimmell headlines this six-part Australian crime-drama about a Queensland detective who suddenly finds himself investigating a 25-year-old cold case, when the opening of a time capsule from 1994 unearths an unexpected secret.
“This is a moody, well-made crime drama that forefronts a little-explored area of Australian culture and history,” wrote Flicks’ Travis Johnson, while Concrete Playground’s Sarah Ward encouraged viewers to “come for Australia’s latest must-stream crime drama, and the first of 2023, then, but stay for a show that embraces and interrogates much more than its recognisable basic set-up typically indicates”.
I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE (NETFLIX)
Former Saturday Night Live writer Tim Robinson is back with the third, six-part instalment of his sketch comedy series. In each segment, Robinson and his guests do whatever they can to try to drive someone to the point that they need – or desperately want – to depart. Among those set to feature are Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong and Fred Willard.
“The impressive thing about the series is how these now-familiar formulas in no way detract from the amusement of watching it. It remains one of TV’s best, and certainly most efficient, laugh machines,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall, while The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager believed that “trading in Robinson’s particular brand on taboo-smashing ridiculousness laced with crushing misery and frustration [and designed for instant meme-ification], it confirms that no one does unhinged better, or funnier”.
Season 3 of I Think You Should Leave is now available to stream on Netflix.
MANIFEST (NETFLIX)
Dead and buried (and here in New Zealand petering out in a graveyard slot on Saturday nights on TVNZ 1) in 2021, this supernatural drama gained a new lease of life after it unexpectedly topped the Netflix charts around the globe in the early days of 2022.
Cue a chance for the creators to finish the story of the passengers aboard Montego Air Flight 828, who (in a storyline predating the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Snap”) lost five-and-a-half years while travelling from Jamaica to New York, with a 20-episode fourth-season split into two-parts.
“Trust us. Manifest pulls out all the stops in its final batch of episodes to prove itself worthy of surviving its own Death Date back in 2021,” wrote Decider’s Nicole Gallucci, while Tell-Tale TV’s Lara Rosales believed that “Manifest ends in the most sci-fi way possible, defying every law of logic”.
PLATONIC (APPLE TV+)
Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen re-team with the director of their Bad Neighbours movies, Nicholas Stoller, for this 10-episode comedy about former childhood best mates who reconnect after a long rift.
The duo’s friendship becomes all consuming, threatening to destabilise the lives they’ve created.
“Clever, funny, insightful and immediately addictive,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper, while The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han thought “the series’ willingness to meet its messy characters where they are yields a fun, funny, surprisingly nuanced exploration of early middle age”.
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Platonic is now available to stream on Apple TV+.
A SMALL LIGHT (DISNEY+)
While featuring the story of the famous Frank family, immortalised in daughter Anne’s diary, this eight-part series is really all about the help they received from Amsterdam resident Miep Gies (Bel Powely) during the latter-half of World War II.
Former Grey’s Anatomy screenwriters – the husband and wife team of Tony Phelan and Joan Rater – have crafted an adroit and absorbing World War II drama that, despite the obvious tensions, lives up to its name thanks largely to Powley’s shining performance as the colourful Miep.
While the production design, costuming and Susanna Fogel’s (The Flight Attendant) direction are top-notch, it’s the emphasis on character that sets this apart from your standard World War II drama. Look out for Liev Schreiber, Joe Cole, Noah Taylor and Andy Nyman in key roles.
STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS (TVNZ+)
Set in the decade before Captain James T. Kirk and company’s five-year mission “to seek out new life forms and new civilisations”, this sci-fi series begins its second 10-episode season with Spock (Ethan Peck) disobeying orders when he receives a distress call from Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong).
By taking the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew into disputed space, he risks renewed hostilities with the Klingons.
“Fans get a wide range of compelling new stories, often in an adventure-of-the-week format, with lots of eye-popping special effects and cool nods to the history of these beloved characters,” wrote NPR’s Eric Deggans, while Empire magazine’s James White thought that “with a great balance of compelling characters and engaging, self-contained stories, this throwback series continues to prove itself the very best of the current live-action Trek shows”.
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