A history of surprises
10 shows to watch
HIGH DESERT Wednesdays, Apple TV+
There’s plenty of light to go with the shade as Patricia Arquette stars as Peggy – an addict and drug dealer – who decides to make a new start after the death of her mum. So why not become a private investigator? She joins forces with investigator Bruce (Brad Garrett), Matt Dillon is Peggy’s parolee ex, Denny, Rupert Friend is mystic personality Guru Bob and Christine Taylor is her sister. The first three episodes drop this week, with new instalments weekly.
WORKING: WHAT WE DO ALL DAY Wednesday, Netflix
Can we please just bring back the Obamas to the White House? This is Barack’s Netflix turn after Michelle’s fabulous The Light We Carry, in this four-part doco series exploring the meaning of work for modern Americans – for some it’s just a pay cheque, for others it’s a calling. Trying to answer universal questions such as whether AI is a threat to our livelihoods or an opportunity for rapid growth, Obama chats with workers in technology, hospitality and care. And it just reminds viewers what we’ve missed about him.
FAMILY STALLONE Thursday, Paramount +
After playing some of the most revered characters in film, three-time Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone is giving us a seat at his family table. His three daughters with wife Jennifer Flavin – Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet – share some interesting stories about their Dad, sometimes having them practise golf before breakfast. And heaven forbid you bring a boy home – think Rambo, with guns. “He’s quite intimidating. Most of the time, when they come over to meet the parents, they don’t necessarily return. Simply because he’s just so scary. He doesn’t say, ‘Hello’,” Sistine says.
XO, KITTY Thursday, Netflix
Kitty Song-Covey (Anna Cathcart) had a lot of success matchmaking her older sister Lara Jean – of the sweet To All the Boys film series – so obviously she knows everything about love. But when she moves to Korea on her own romantic journey to meet her penpal (or rather love of her life), it’s not quite the simple, happily-ever-after ending she had envisaged. Who’d have thunk that in a rom-com? It’s sweet and an easywatch spin-off, created by the series author Jenny Han, with a few familiar faces from the original series trilogy, including John Corbett as Dan Covey and Sarayu Blue as Trina Rothschild.
A SMALL LIGHT Streaming, Disney+
Bel Powley is quite a remarkable hero in this dramatisation about Miep Gies – the woman who hid Anne Frank and her family, as well as helping countless others around Amsterdam. While generations have read The Diary of Anne Frank and had our hearts broken by the tragic ending, most of us have no idea about the protector downstairs who harboured the fugitives for two years. Gies was also the one who found the diary, forever preserving Anne’s story. A genuine, affecting and life-affirming series.
THE WOMAN KING Binge
This movie was able to be made thanks to Black Panther’s phenomenal box office success, showing that a big movie with a black cast can be winner. This goes one step further, with a not only predominantly black cast, but also predominantly female. Viola Davis is fierce as Nanisca, the general of the Agojie, an army of woman warriors who fought for the West African kingdom of Dahomey – now Benin – between the late 1600s and the end of the 19th century. Davis undertook a two-month, intensive boot camp for the role, which involved weightlifting and weapons training – and it shows.
FOLAU Thursday, 8pm, ABC
This two-part doco, directed by Nel Minchin, has finally made it to our screens after an abrupt delay last year. Folau traces the rise and fall of the rugby union player who ignited a storm with homophobic tweets posted during the Marriage Equality campaign, ultimately leading to his sacking by Rugby Australia in 2019. While the man himself and prominent figures in the saga, including broadcaster Alan Jones and former Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle, refused to take part, there’s still insights from Salesi Tupou, the Folau family’s Mormon bishop, who explains the influence of Folau’s father, Eni, who started his own church. LGBTQI+ voices include Yes campaigner Magda Szubanski and former Wallaby Dan Palmer.
MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Sunday-Wednesday, 7.30pm, Ten
It’s been a poignant, but thankfully still joyous, watch these last few weeks as the late Jock Zonfrillo does what he does best – talk food and help a new batch of contestants rise to great heights in the MasterChef kitchen alongside fellow judges Melissa Leong and Andy Allen. This week sees cooking competition royalty return with Julie Goodwin setting an elimination challenge. The first round sees the contestants clad in their black aprons guessing the ingredients in her seafood stew.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD Mondays, Binge
After eight years on air, Fear the Walking Dead is about to end with this explosive eighth and final season. Fans can expect a time jump in this round of the zombie apocalypse spin-off show and – it’s not really a spoiler – the likely end of long-time character Morgan’s (Lennie James) storyline. Split into two six-episode parts, with the second instalment set to follow later in the year, this first six follow the immediate aftermath of the botched rescue mission to free Mo from P.A.D.R.E. in the Season 7 finale.