Star-studded second serving of critically acclaimed drama The Bear leads our top TV 10 picks this week
From Jamie-Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman to Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman, there’s a tonne of stars in Lisa Woolford’s top 10 TV picks this week.
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THE BEAR
Streaming, Disney +
After The Bear’s first season – deservedly – became a major critical and popular success, its casting directors started to receive a lot of unsolicited auditions. Everyone from amateur chefs to Hollywood A-listers desperately wanted to be part of the new season. So this second helping is a roll call of big names such as Oscar-winners Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bob Odenkirk, who are completely psyched to let it rip alongside the principal cast. Curtis is fabulous as ever as Donna Berzatto, the erratic, emotionally overwhelming mother of Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Natalie (Abby Elliott), and Michael (who Jon Bernthal plays in flashback scenes), who spends most of her episode freaking out about all the food she’s making, while swigging generous amounts of red wine. Casting director Jeanie Bacharach told Vulture in an interview that Curtis was just a “huge, huge fan of the show. I think she said ‘yes’ before she even looked at the scripts, just based on the character description and getting to be part of the show”. The only annoying thing is that we’ve had to wait a whole month for it to reach our shores.
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
Friday, 7.30pm, Ten
It’s been an inspired decision to have Mitch and Mark helm this reality series. Their expert knowledge of the market, mixed in with their absolutely gorgeous and caring nature, makes this property series a joyful watch, no matter the result. Plus we always want to see what Mitch is wearing. This episode sees the pair back in Melbourne. Mark is in the leafy eastern suburbs trying to help new parents Luke and Anna. Their search has become completely overwhelming as they are continually outbid and outpriced. Mitch, meanwhile, is with Aaron, 25, who wants to use his father’s inheritance to buy a home in Frankston.
THE HORROR OF DOLORES ROACH
Streaming, Prime Video
This is a rather “meaty” horror-comedy-thriller, based on a hit podcast of the same name, about Dolores Roach (Justina Machado), a New York woman who is released from prison after 16 years and returns to a gentrified Washington Heights and reunites with an old stoner friend Luis (Alejandro Hernandez). He lets her live and work as a masseuse in the basement under his empanada shop. All she has are her magic hands (she became a masseuse in prison), her survival instincts and a rather flexible moral code. Look out for Cyndi Lauper as an investigator hired to find out what happened to Dolores’ drug-dealing boyfriend.
SUPERPOWERED: THE DC STORY
Thursday, Binge
This three-part series, narrated by Rosario Dawson, takes a fairly unprecedented deep dive into the enduring legacy of DC. And it’s going to be a joy for fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origin sand its evolution. For nearly 90 years, DC has dominated the superhero game, spanning movies, TV shows, cartoons, computer games and, of course, comic books. I’m more of a Marvel girl, give me Iron Man over Superman most days (don’t @ me), but I found it fascinating.
MINX
Friday, Stan
Joyce Prigger (Ophelia Lovibond), an earnest young feminist whose lofty magazine ambitions found an unlikely home with softcore pornographer Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women, is back for a second series. Their winning on-screen chemistry returns in the sharp comedy, where Joyce gets to run her serious articles, and Doug adds a nude male centrefold. In this new season, the pair grapple with how to handle Minx’s
explosive success, which brings a whole heap of money, fame and temptation.
LIONESS
Sunday, Paramount+
It’s a star-studded cast for this espionage thriller from Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan, including series lead Zoe Saldana, Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman. The eight-part series is inspired by an actual US military program, and follows the life of Joe (Saldana) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as a CIA operative working to thwart the next 9/11. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn (Kidman) and Donald (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine raider named Cruz to operate undercover alongside Joe, among the powerbrokers of state terrorism in the CIA’s efforts.
FIFTEEN LOVE
Sunday, 8.30pm, BBC FIRST
Aidan Turner stars in this dark drama about the toxic relationship between tennis coach Glenn Lapthorn and his one-time protege Justine Pearce (Ella Lily Hyland). When she was 17, Lapthorn coached Pearce to the verge of French Open glory. But injury ended her career – although suspicion lingered that there was more to her premature departure than that. Five years on, it seems Justine has finally healed – physically and psychologically – until she makes an explosive allegation against her former coach.
JOHN FARNHAM: FINDING THE VOICE
Monday, 7.30PM, Seven
He is The Voice – and now we can truly understand it. If you missed it in cinemas, don’t make that mistake now. This deep-diving documentary charting the life, times and lasting legacy of Farnsey makes it crystal clear why he must be regarded as one of the most significant figures in Australian music history. It celebrates his journey from the suburbs of Melbourne to 1960s pop fame, through life’s highs and lows, ultimately to record-breaking success as “Australia’s Voice”. There’s chats with the man himself, the late Olivia Newton-John, Jimmy Barnes, Robbie Williams, his wife Jill and sons James and Robert.
WAR ON WASTE
Tuesday, 8.30pm, ABC and Iview
Six years on, Craig Reucassel is still waging his war on waste. First up is the vexed issue of plastic waste. Although we’ve made great strides forward with the banning of many single-use plastics, Aussies are still generating a mind-blowing 100kg of plastic waste a person every year. Reucassel meets the residents of Wood St who viewers will follow across the series. The first task is to find out what the families in this ‘burb are wasting, and just how much. And then he undergoes a scientific scan to find out just how much plastic ends up inside us.
HACK MY HOME
Streaming, Netflix
My girls and I inhaled all eight episodes of this new spin on a home reno show. It’s all about helping families who need more space but don’t want to leave their home and have absolutely no idea how to upgrade it on their own. The four experts – Mikel Welch, Brooks Atwood, Ati Williams and Jessica Banks – come up with mind-blowingly clever ideas, from hidden doors to under-stair nooks and walls that can be moved back and forth at the press of a button.
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