Victoria’s culture vultures reveal the best shows to binge watch
THEY’RE the programmers who decide who and what hits on our stages, screens and festival line-ups across Victoria. But what are these tastemakers bingeing on in their own homes?
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THEY’RE the programmers who decide who and what hits on our stages, screens and festival line-ups statewide. But what are these tastemakers bingeing on in their own homes?
From zombies to culinary creations and madcap adventures to a terrifying dystopian future, this is what Victoria’s culture vultures are streaming right now.
Scroll down to see if your favourites made the experts’ lists.
WORST MOVIES LEIGH PAATSCH HAS EVER SEEN
TV SHOWS YOU’RE NOT WATCHING, BUT SHOULD BE
BENJAMIN ZECCOLA
Palace Cinemas Chief Executive
Cromo (SBS On Demand)
Astonishing Argentine eco-crime thriller about a love triangle set in Buenos Aires and the marshlands of Corrientes.
The mystery unfolds when an attractive and idealistic scientist meets deadly consequences for an investigation into water quality, and her husband and lover are forced to work together to search for the killer.
The Young Pope (SBS On Demand)
Starring Jude Law as the first American Pope, this veers from expectation as the young yet conservative Pope is divinely inspired to break all the rules, including the seal of confession, in order to right the church.
He’s terrifying yet somehow comforting as he destroys in order to rebuild. You’ll be praying for season two.
Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal (Netflix)
The series that inspired Narcos, this is a more detailed and equally fascinating look at the life and misdeeds of the world’s most infamous drug trafficker.
JANE BROOK
Food and Wine Victoria executive director
Ugly Delicious (Netflix)
Momofuku’s David Chang is an incredible chef and a fascinating character, and his new show explores both a love of traditional time-honoured dishes like pizza, and his creative and rebellious genius such as Viet-Cajun crawfish.
Shane Delia’s Recipe for Life (SBS On Demand)
Shane has always made delicious food and quality television, but his new show is particularly good, showing a side to him that he hasn’t shown before, and how important his work in the community is.
Insecure (Foxtel Now)
My daughter lives in LA and has been on my case to watch this for over a year now, so I’ll be using the colder weather to finally get to it. Looks very funny.
PAOLA DI TROCCHIO
NGV acting senior fashion and textiles curator
Riverdale (Netflix)
Always a fan of Archie and Veronica comics when I was a kid, this presents a darker side of the cheesy series we all loved so much. Beautifully shot with a dark twist.
Girlboss (Netflix)
Who doesn’t love a lady who loves vintage? Fun, sassy and hilarious. Adulthood — where dreams go to die.
Jessica Jones (Netflix)
Tough girl who does nothing by the book. Good to see on the small screen. Jessica is strong, she is female and she is definitely in charge, of some things at least.
Tabula Rasa (Netflix)
Kind of spooky, kind of familiar, and based on what is a beautiful loving relationship in series one. I love the dynamic between the gorgeous married couple, the caring nature, the need for patience, with a deep mystery that needs to be resolved.
SPIRO ECONOMOPOULOS
Melbourne Queer Film Festival program director
Will & Grace (Stan)
This show broke ground when it first aired (in 1998) and went a long way towards celebrating gay culture and pushing it into the mainstream. The reboot takes us back to the height of the show’s comedic brilliance and celebrates all that was great about the characters while kicking them firmly into contemporary culture.
RuPaul’s Drag Race (and All-Stars) (Stan)
This is high-octane glamour: backstage intrigue, acerbic wit and a chance for the most fierce would-be drag stars to strut their stuff for a shot at the big time. But it’s also a moving reminder it’s possible for us to love ourselves and find love for others despite all the crap life throws our way, especially when you’ve been born a square peg in a culture of round holes.
The Walking Dead (Foxtel)
I love the way this show gives a scarily (I suspect) accurate prediction of how people would react if mankind was suddenly at risk of being wiped out by a major disaster. In survival mode, people reveal their true selves. Each episode keeps you on edge and, like Game of Thrones, it doesn’t do to become attached to major characters as they can be killed off at any time. I’m totally addicted.
Love (Netflix)
Everyday life is often composed of the minutiae, so I like that Love focuses on trivial moments — even when on the cusp of a major event. The characters aren’t perfect, but it’s their frailties that make the show so relatable. It brilliantly portrays a generation of people who, despite having so much freedom, are scared to commit and, in this age of social media, spend too much time analysing every personal interaction to the nth degree.
HELEN WITHYCOMBE
Wheeler Centre head of programming
The Good Place (Netflix)
Who would have thought that a show exploring moral philosophy would not only be funny, but addictive? Excellent characters, intelligence-boosting storylines hidden behind sharp, funny writing, and Kristen Bell at the helm make for a winning trifecta.
Black Mirror (Netflix)
Binge probably is the wrong word for how I watch this series. While immensely watchable — high production values, famous faces, biting dialogue and controversial narratives — the often-dismal portrayal of where our addiction to technology could take us means that this show is best consumed in smaller bites, with time for serious consideration of how much time you are spending in front of a screen.
Mindhunter (Netflix)
Produced, and sporadically directed, by David Fincher, this gripping series traces the origins of criminal profiling by the FBI and, as a side note, the discovery of the concept of serial killers. Set in the late ’70s and based on the book of the same name, and the true history of serial killer profiling, it’s a slick production that will satisfy true-crime buffs and David Fincher fans alike.
Search Party (SBS On Demand)
I love everything about this series. I love the deeply flawed, easily hateable, yet endearing millennial characters, I love the bizarre cameos (hi Parker Posey), I love the fashion, the unbearably cool New York lifestyle, and the relationship between Elliott and Portia. But most of all I love the core story: a group of self-absorbed 20-somethings hear via social media that an acquaintance has gone missing and decide to solve the mystery. I was gripped.
The Leftovers (iTunes and Foxtel Now)
The series, based on a book by Tom Perrotta and created by the maker of Lost, Damon Lindelof, centres on a group of people dealing with the repercussions of 2 per cent of the world’s population simultaneously disappearing. Despite this premise, it is occasionally laugh-out-loud funny and the mystery is delightfully impenetrable.
KRISTY MATHESON
ACMI Senior film curator
Safe Harbour (SBS On Demand)
A chance encounter for a group of friends on holiday has lasting consequences. This fantastic set-up had me hooked from the start. Glendyn Ivin (Puberty Blues, Gallipoli) directs a cast of exceptional local talent including Ewen Leslie and Jacqueline McKenzie. Really great drama.
She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix)
Spike Lee (Malcolm X) takes the main characters of his 1986 feature film of the same name and updates them to modern-day Brooklyn. Full of pop-culture references and politics, this is fast paced and hugely bingeable.
Nailed It! (Netflix)
The only thing more delicious than watching amazing culinary creations is seeing baking trainwrecks on an epic scale. I love Nailed It! because it takes the competitive cooking show and gives it a huge comedy spin, as home cooks struggle to recreate baking challenges that would make anyone run from the kitchen.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Netflix and SBS On Demand)
I have no excuses or explanations for this — it’s just really great TV. I love all the madcap adventures, running gags and goofy, good-hearted comedy the 99th Precinct has to offer.
MICHELLE CAREY
Melbourne International Film Festival artistic director
Twin Peaks: The Return (Stan)
It’s difficult to push the envelope these days — one can feel like everything has been done — but this one really goes out on a limb. In his 70s, David Lynch has made his best work, one that satirises contemporary “quality TV” and blows it up to the psychedelic universe.
Mad Men (Netflix and SBS On Demand)
I am so, so, so late to this one, but I can see why it’s one of the iconic TV shows of the noughties. I watched the final season on a long-haul flight, and am now working my way through from the beginning. All the characters are brilliantly drawn, but watch it for the rise of Peggy Olsen, played by the always-excellent Elisabeth Moss.
Broad City (Stan)
Each episode is colourful, short and snappy and contains some of the most effervescent comedy of today. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are geniuses, poking not-so-subtle fun at millennial culture, while exemplifying the best it has to offer.
CARO LLEWELLYN
Museums Victoria director of experience and engagement
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu and SBS On Demand)
Based on the 1985 dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, this is set in the fictional US town of Gilead. In a freakish piece of timing, the show screened in the US in April 2017, just months after the inauguration of Donald Trump.
The series, and Elisabeth Moss’s acceptance speech for Best Performance by an Actress at the 75th Golden Globe Awards, are a reminder that the kind of nightmare the show depicts is closer than we might like to think.
The Crown (Netflix)
The lavish production values of this historical drama, coupled with the extraordinary performances of Claire Foy as Elizabeth, Vanessa Kirby as a magnificent, off-centred Margaret and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, make an irresistible combination.
Billions (Stan)
This fast-paced show pits old New York money against the new in an exhilarating battle of corruption and greed that blurs the lines between good and evil. US Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr (Paul Giamatti) has a proclivity for S & M and a hunger for power to match, while the show’s antihero, hedge-fund billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), lives the American dream of private jets, fast cars and mansions, yet remains a faithful husband with a not-always-straight moral compass, but a compass nonetheless.
O.J.: Made in America (SBS on Demand)
If you want to understand race in America, this 7½-hour documentary is unmissable. The 1995 trial of football legend O.J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman shook America’s understanding of itself. This goes beyond the legend to cast a wider lens on race relations, the history of LA and American sports late last century.
Suits (Netflix)
As a recent arrival from New York, Suits is my guilty pleasure. Not only for its superb New York streetscapes, but also for the delight in watching the latest royal-to-be before she quits acting to take up “humanitarian work”.
MARY HARVEY
Arts Centre Melbourne creative producer (families and young people)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
I’m not a sci-fi fan so it took some persuading to get me to watch this, but now I can’t wait to see the next series. Even though Winona Ryder is amazing, it’s the young actors in the show who make it so fascinating.
Little J and Big Cuz (NITV)
With this job, I dabble in watching the odd children’s TV program, and this is one of the best cartoons on Australian TV. It’s a great show for young people to learn about indigenous culture, community and country.
The show has a dedicated website with resources for educators, providing ideas on how to include Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander knowledge and understanding in the classroom.
Please Like Me (iTunes and Netflix)
How can you not love a series where each episode title refers to either food or drink? Throughout every season I felt like I was watching a deeply personal encounter of a young LGBTQI+ person’s life as they navigated adulthood in Australia. Each series is candid and sensitive, but there are moments of humour that cut through a lot of sadness.
SUSAN PROVAN
Melbourne International Comedy Festival director
Silicon Valley (Foxtel Now)
Features some of my favourite comedy performers. I’m a big fan of Kumail Nanjiani and TJ Miller, and their crazy characters in this series about the hi-tech gold rush in Silicon Valley are hilarious.
A show about millions being made and huge success achieved by people who are the least capable of handling it is somehow perfect for this ensemble of comics.
Berlin Station (SBS On Demand)
An American espionage drama with all the right ingredients for hours on the couch. I can never watch enough crime procedurals.
NICOLETTE FRAILLON
The Australian Ballet music director and chief conductor
Grace and Frankie (Netflix)
Entertaining show with wonderful actors (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) playing excellent, strong female characters. Deals with issues with humour, insight and charm.
Utopia (iTunes)
Great scripts and cast. This makes me laugh out loud though, disconcertingly, it often feels like I never left work.
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