What to stream this week: Great News, The Great, Kimmy Schmidt, Rectify and more

With a strong commitment to making you laugh as much as possible, this clever and charming comedy really went under the radar.

By now, you probably have a lot of shows on your watchlist, but here are a few more for your consideration.

From an underrated TV comedy gem to a slow-burn character study, there’s plenty of choices for every taste profile.

SOMETHING FUNNY

No time like the present to make up for missing out

Great News: Created by Tracey Wigfield, a 30 Rock writer, and produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Great News is a clever and appealing comedic gem that really went under the radar before being unfairly cancelled after two seasons. Boo. It’s set in a wacky fictional TV newsroom in New Jersey, filled with some very strange characters played by the likes of Nicole Ritchie and John Michael Higgins. An underrated gem. Watch it: Netflix

The Great: Created by Tony McNamara, the Australian half of the Oscar-nominated screenwriting team of The Favourite, this wildly historically inaccurate series about Russian Empress Catherine the Great’s youth is wickedly funny. It’s not as biting and satirical as The Favourite, but it really lets Nicholas Hoult go full entitled, petulant manchild as Emperor Peter, which is an absolute joy to watch. Watch it: Stan, from Saturday, May 16

SOMETHING NEW

Up to no good

Bad Education: Technically it’s a “TV movie” but when the cast includes Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Geraldine Viswanathan, you know this isn’t some midday movie. Based on a real-life scandal, Jackman plays a charismatic school district official caught in a massive embezzlement scheme. Watch it: Foxtel/Foxtel Now from Sunday, May 17 at 8.30pm

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend: Apologies if you end up losing your whole weekend to the Kimmy Schmidt interactive special because this is a choose-your-own-adventure story that really rewards obsessive digging for more hidden gags and easter eggs. This is a better use of the tech introduced by Bandersnatch, not really changing the story, but giving a supercharged dose of Kimmy and her friends. Watch it: Netflix

SOMETHING THRILLING

Jack Ryan 6.0

Jack Ryan: The Jack Ryan TV reboot is very, well, very American, but if you’re in the mood for some really good action sequences and watching things blow up, then this will satisfy. Plus, it’s not the most nauseatingly flag-waving thing Michael Bay, who serves as a producer here, has been involved in. Ryan, as played by the uber-likeable John Krasinski, starts the series as CIA desk analysts who uncovers a terrorist money trail. Watch it: Amazon Prime Video

ZeroZeroZero: When it comes to drugs and crime dramas, it’s a betrothal made many times before, but there’s still something fresh about ZeroZeroZero which is told in Italian, Spanish and English. It’s three globe-spanning and interweaving stories of the parties involved in a huge cocaine deal – the buyers, sellers and brokers. With great performances including from Andrea Riseborough, the suspenseful series will grip you. Watch it: SBS On Demand from Thursday, 9.30pm

SOMETHING DRAMATIC

Ms Wilson playing Mrs Wilson

Mrs Wilson: Based on a true story, this three-part British drama is set in the 1960s following the death of Alec Wilson, a former MI6 officer. After his death, his wife Alison discovers not only did her husband of 22 years keep many secrets, he also had another family. In one of those strange twists, Alison’s real-life granddaughter, Ruth Wilson (The Affair, Luther) plays her in the series. Watch it: Stan

Rectify: Something of a slow-burn, the uncomfortably tense Rectify explores the fallout in a town after the return of Daniel (Aden Young), who is released after 19 years on death row the murder of his then-16-year-old girlfriend when DNA evidence clears him of the crime. Daniel’s release becomes the inciting event for a lot of questions and confrontations. Watch it: iTunes/Google Play

SOMETHING LONG

Style queen

The Mindy Project: Clocking in at 117 episodes, Mindy Kaling’s sitcom could be another young woman tried to balance work and love in the big city, if not for the fact that it’s super sharp and the jokes are generous – and it got better as time went on. Kaling’s voice and personality are really strong and they’re infused in every aspect of this charming series that also stars Chris Messina, Ike Barinholtz and Xosha Roquemore. Watch it: 9Now

Eureka: This American TV series fits nicely into that Monk/Psych/Warehouse 13 mould of episodic, easy-watching dramedies that you can binge on for weeks. Eureka is set in a secret town in the US which is teeming with super-genius scientists who work on mind-bending projects which often go haywire, like a purple haze that puts the whole town to sleep. Watch: iTunes/Google Play

SOMETHING WITH THE KIDS

Baaaaaaah

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon: This Shaun the Sheep big-screen action adventure is a fun Claymation family movie for everyone to enjoy – you may be surprised by how much you enjoy it. Shaun and his flock have to help an alien return home by evading capture by the Ministry for Alien Detective. Watch it: iTunes/Google Play

The Incredibles: Sometimes we forget Pixar’s The Incredibles is actually a superhero movie given its strength as a story about a family. The Parrs have special powers but the government has forced them and other superheroes to give up their save-the-world ways and live humdrum lives. But when Mr Incredible is enticed out of retirement, hijinks ensue and it’s up to the whole clan to work together and save him and the world. Watch it: Disney+

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