TVNZ+’s From, Apple TV+’s Strange Planet among great shows available to stream this week

THE AFTERPARTY (APPLE TV+)

TV’s wild and wackiest crime-comedy is back. Known for its genre-bending approach to murder-solving, this 10-part second season keeps that conceit intact, while swapping the original run’s clifftop mansion for a country estate.

Solving pop-music icon and movie star Xavier’s murder has enabled Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) to retire. However, much to her book publicist’s frustration, work on X Marks The Murderer: A Detective True Life Mystery hasn’t progressed that quickly. Their showdown meeting though is interrupted by a blast from the past – escape room designer and former Xavier murder suspect Aniq (Sam Richardson) is in desperate need of her assistance.

Like the inaugural round, if the central mystery perhaps lacks the nuance, smarts or swagger of a Knives Out, Glass Onion or Poker Face,The Afterparty at least delivers plenty of laughs.

This is a show where you can see the seams, but some scenes and lines are side-splittingly funny.

THE BEAR (DISNEY+)

One of the hottest shows of last year is back for an extended 10-part second season.

Bringing in older sister Natalie (Abby Elliott) as a renovations project manager, chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) work on developing a menu for their new restaurant, The Bear. To help get them off the ground, Carmy also strikes a deal with his Uncle Cicero (Oliver Platt) for an 18-month loan.

“Tackles everything from menu development to renovation woes with an appealing mix of warmth, dark humour and chaos,” wrote Time magazine’s Judy Berman.

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FISK (NETFLIX)

First debuting across the Tasman in 2021, this six-part Australian dramedy focuses in on the misadventures of a high-end contracts lawyer.

Helen Tudor-Fisk (Kitty Flanagan) is forced to take a job at a shabby, suburban law firm as a result of a humiliating marriage breakdown and a professional fall from grace.

“If you long for the days when sitcoms were just plain funny, then this is the series for you,” wrote Screenhub Australia’s Anthony Morris, while The Guardian’s Luke Buckmaster thought that Flanagan “is a consistently entertaining, anchoring presence with down-to-earth, don’t mess with me charisma – deflated and slightly desperate at times, but always affable”.

FROM (TVNZ+)

Former Lost star Harrold Perrineau headlines this science-fiction horror (now in its second season) set in a nightmarish Middle American town that traps all those who enter.

He plays war veteran Boyd Stevens, the self-appointed sheriff and de-facto mayor of a place plagued by terrifying nocturnal creatures and whose unwilling residents are striving to stay alive and desperately searching for a way out.

“A captivating and nightmarish mystery box show that more than delivers on horror,” wrote Bloody Disgusting’s Meagan Navarro.

FUTURAMA (DISNEY+)

Picking up the action from the exact moment where we left things on this long-running, twice-cancelled animated sitcom almost a decade ago – the universe unfrozen after cryogenically preserved late-20th Century professional Philip J. Fry (Billy West) and his cyclops Planet Express co-worker/love interest Leela (Katy Segal) had decided to live their lives again – opening tale The Impossible Stream couldn’t really be more meta.

Whether Futurama will be able to maintain the quick quips and zeitgeist-reflecting sensibilities throughout this resurrection run remains to be seen, however, on the evidence of its first couple of episodes, it’s great to have it back.

Like The Simpsons, the delights are in the details, from pithy observations about the importance of TV show writers (never more timely than now) to the inspired titles on Fry’s EPG and Fulu homepage (who wouldn’t want to watch Say No to the Overalls, or Stanley Tucci: Searching for Alderaan?)

The Homer-esque robot Bender (John DiMaggio) is still the undoubted scene-stealer and series MVP, but it feels like he’s used a little more sparingly here giving the series a little more balance – and class – that it sometimes had towards the end of its last, Comedy Central-backed run.

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (DISNEY+)

The third season of this hilarious crime comedy sees Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) embroiled in another 10-episode murder mystery, this time involving a high-profile theatre production.

Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) was a Hollywood action star whose Broadway debut has been cut short by his untimely death. Aided by his co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), our trio embark on what’s billed as their toughest case yet.

On the evidence of its opening brace of instalments, third time is most definitely the charm for Murders. With the regular characters and their quirks now firmly set in place and this season’s opening gambit having already been established, there’s room for plenty of twists, turns and shocks right from the get-go.

Both Streep and Rudd are welcome additions to the line-up – riffing neatly on their own personal reputations – but of course, as with the previous series, the delights of Murders are in the interplay between the characters – and the details. Short and Martin’s chemistry and timing, as it has proved for many decades, is impeccable, but Murder’s secret sauce really is Gomez, who just continues to impress and intrigue the more we see and learn about Mabel Mora.

STRANGE PLANET (APPLE TV+)

Based on Nathan Pyle’s New York Times No. 1 best-selling graphic novel and social media phenomenon of the same name, this 10-episode animated series.

Co-created by the author and Rick & Morty and Community’s Dan Harmon, the shows focuses around a group of blue beings who find themselves exploring and trying to understand the complexities and nuances of human traits.

“Strange Planet is smart, witty and gentle. It might not be laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s likely to raise a smile from both fans of the comic and new audiences,” wrote Financial Times’ Lucinda Smyth, while The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan thought that “Strange Planet has charm in abundance; it has heart and celebrates kindness and sincerity in a way that invites nostalgia for a gentler time rather than nausea”.

TWISTED METAL (TVNZ+)

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s Anthony Mackie plays a talkative milkman with amnesia, John Doe, in this 10-part post-apocalyptic wasteland-set action-comedy inspired by the classic PlayStation game series.

Offered the chance to secure a better future, he now must deliver a mysterious package with the help of car thief Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz). In their way are a series of open road dangers, including savage marauders.

The eclectic cast also includes Scream’s Neve Campbell and Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Thomas Haden Church.

“Twisted Metal turns an insanely funny video game into an insanely funny show, with a story,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper, while AV Club’s William Hughes thought that “Mackie makes for exactly the lead this show needs, playing to its eschatological absurdities and its occasional feints towards deeper meaning”.