Shows we are waiting to see

https://youtu.be/DUlfCj60koc

With all the channels we now have across Free to Air, Pay TV & Streaming you would think Australia we were up to date with all of the buzz-worthy shows out there.

Not so. There are still a number of titles we are waiting to dive into.

Here’s a handful along with some review quotes via Rotten Tomatoes:

Killing Eve
If there is any series winning praise in the US it is BBC America’s 8 part series Killing Eve. With a 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, Sandra Oh stars as a desk-bound MI5 Officer who tracks down talented sociopathic assassin played by Jodie Comer. But both women become obsessed with each other. This was produced in the UK and debuted in the US in early April. No word on where this will land in Australia.

This seductive thriller with a murderous heart has a great cast and brutal antihero. What’s not to like?

Killing Eve is subversive at its most basic level, taking the classic good-guy-chases-villain template and placing two women in the primary roles.

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology instalment dramatises the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami, 1997. The cast includes Édgar Ramírez, Darren Criss, Ricky Martin and
Penélope Cruz. It premiered in the US in January and is one of the titles that moves to Foxtel after TEN’s end of the FOX deal. Update: 8:30pm May 24 on Showcase.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a formidable piece of work, brilliant in its characterizations and harrowing in its depictions of the amorality of American culture’s dark underside.

Featuring less star power than OJ but a few stellar performances of its own, Gianni Versace will be a tougher sell to casual viewers, but those who go along for this journey into the world of a sociopath will be dramatically rewarded.

Versace may not be quite on the level of the last American Crime Story installment, “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” but as true crime TV dramatizations go, it comes close.

https://youtu.be/qDNmCOzVZ_U

American Horror Story: Cult
Murphy’s other anthology series kicks off the terror on the night that Donald Trump won the Presidency. The cast again includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, plus Billie Lourd and Alison Pill. It debuted in the US in September and is another title moving from TEN to Foxtel. No airdate is available yet.

Creepy, over-the-top, and (yup) scary.

While it sometimes displays Murphy’s go-for-broke inconsistency of character and style, it also makes for very fascinating television.

Simply put, AHS: Cult is fun – a word I never thought I’d use to describe a show devoted to clowns, cults, and reacting to Donald Trump.

The Orville
Seth McFarlane’s sci-fi comedy was voted in January by TV Tonight readers as the International Show We Most Want to See, but there is no premiere in sight. It’s another FOX title, which debuted in the US in September. But with average reviews maybe it will remain absent.

While on the surface this may seem like a parody of a science fiction show but at its core, this is a legit science fiction show that uses humor to tackle engaging social and political concepts.

The Orville needs considerable work to accomplish whatever it wants to be — assuming that MacFarlane and company even have that answer.

Let’s just say that this is not a frontier we’re interested in exploring any further.

https://youtu.be/rOoLSRCmd1c

Station 19
Shonda Rhimes does for a fire station what she did for a hospital. Set in Seattle it centres on firefighters from the captain to the newest recruit. This premiered on ABC (US) in March but no word closer to home.

Soapy, sexy Grey’s-Anatomy-in-a-firehouse drama.

It’s all kind of convoluted, but convoluted is what Shondaland does best, so I wouldn’t bet against it.

Station is more a cheap facsimile of what made Grey’s tick than a successful spinoff. It tries to ignite something new for the Grey’s world, but just ends up flaming out.

Queers
Mark Gatiss directed these short films for BBC  which explore the last 100 years of the gay history in the United Kingdom for the 50th anniversary of the act that decriminalised homosexuality. The cast includes Alan Cumming, Russell Tovey and Gemma Whelan.

Of course, given that the show’s format is single-person monologues, the quality of acting is its most crucial element. Fortunately — and, given the level of talent involved, rather expectedly — Queers excels in that regard.

The performances quietly draw you in, indeed treating you as the only other soul in the pub for a friend’s confessional…

Colony
Carlton Cuse of Lost fame co-created this sci fi in which a family finds itself torn between appeasement and revolution when aliens settle in Los Angeles. With a cast including Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies, it premiered on USA Network two years ago, with 2 seasons done and a 3rd on the way.

USA should feel good about having made an investment in what seems, for the moment, like a work of real science-fiction, rather than science-fiction-flavored action or horror – a work of ideas and real emotion, with strong performances.

The premise is nothing new under the sun, which still exists. But it’s decently executed with enough periodic action and revelations to perhaps lure a decent-sized fan base.

The force of personality – and the proven storytelling ability of Carlton Cuse – may keep us around to find out.

Waco
Taylor Kitsch stars as David Koresh in the retelling of  the 1993 siege when the Branch Dividians sect was raided by the FBI and ATF. Produced for Paramount, it aired in the US in January.

Waco won’t be setting any new bars for true crime fiction, but it’s a solid and timely reminder of just how easily we can be swayed by loud and confident people, regardless of what’s coming out of their mouths.

A compelling, tragic tale that allows stars like Kitsch and Shannon to play different, surprising roles, just like the new cable channel that’s featuring the show.

The Waco series seems overly eager to vindicate Koresh. And that taints an otherwise well-told story.

https://youtu.be/OBnlC7oOxk4

Great News
Tina Fey is an executive producer of a comedy, which stars Briga Heelanan as an up-and-coming news producer who finds herself dealing with a new intern: her mother. There are lots of guest stars and 2 seasons which have screened on NBC.

Great News will not only make you laugh some, but will answer some important questions.

Over the first five episodes, Great News gets more sure-footed and funnier.

It can be a bit much at times, but there’s a great supporting cast – including John Michael Higgins and Nicole Richie as the news anchors – and there are enough laughs to keep it moving.