What it Frickin means to be Kiwi
A Kiwi comedy trio head for our small towns, while Alan Tudyk is Earth’s latest Resident Alien, writes Alex Behan.
O
ccasionally, one of the members of comedy trio Frickin Dangerous Bro …
On The Road (debuting on Thursday on TVNZ OnDemand) will break and get the giggles and, if you weren’t already, you can’t help but laugh along.
Unerringly funny with an important social undercurrent of what it really means to be a Kiwi, this series takes their sketch show to small-town New Zealand to see how their unique brand of humour goes down.
It worked well for Mork &
Mindy and 3rd Rock From The Sun, now Resident Alien (Thursday, TVNZ OnDemand) takes the classic extra terrestrial-pretending-to-behuman routine and gives it a reboot. With episodes premiering weekly and starring the brilliant, underrated Alan Tudyk, it bills itself as the mystery sci-fi small-town doctor dramedy the world needs right now. Which, now that you mention it, is probably exactly the remedy we didn’t know we needed.
Roman J Israel Esq
(Friday, 8.30pm, Ma¯ ori TV) is a rare film, a Denzel Washington picture that bombed at the box office, but it’s also one of his most interesting performances. Odd, awkward and oldfashioned, Washington plays a brilliant lawyer whose firm falls apart after the death of his more sociable, public-facing partner. Financial trouble forces him into questionable moral territory and this drama confronts challenging ethical issues endemic in the American legal system.
With ethical consumption an increasingly important consideration in every facet of our lives, even the world of recreational drugs is coming clean. What is the real cost of racking up that gram of coke? Taking place over three consecutive nights, Cocaine: Living With The Cartels (starts Monday, February 1, 9.30pm on Three) takes four British cocaine users into the Colombian jungle to come face-to-face with the death, destruction and havoc caused by the drug trade.
When they met at Kent State University in 1970 the Lewis and Mothersbaugh brothers thought the world was de-evolving in front of their eyes.
To fight the injustice, war and inequality around them, they created an art-pop movement that had a message in the music.
Devolution – A Devo
Theory (Thursday, 8.30pm, Sky Arts) brings the band together to look back at their legacy, reflect on their fears and discuss how their predictions played out 40 years after they taught us to Whip It.
Unravelling the truth behind who Wrinkles The
Clown (Thursday, 8.30pm, Rialto) really is has more twists than a balloon animal. After videos of a frightening clown go viral, Wrinkles finds himself with more work than he can handle with parents from all across America paying him to phone up and scare their kids. Was this a genuine internet phenomenon, or just a clever creep? Finally, looking back now,
This Is The End (Saturday, 9pm, Three) probably represents a peak of Hollywood self-indulgence we are unlikely to see again.
The pinnacle of metamoviemaking, Seth Rogen and friends play themselves in a crass, ridiculous end-of-theworld disaster film. It is as silly as it sounds, but there are more stars than you can shake an Oscar at and plenty of lewd laughs in this shock comedy.