What’s on TV: Degrassi Jr High, Rake, Filthy Rich & Homeless and more

BE HONEST. Sometimes there’s nothing better than revisiting an old favourite. Even better, an old favourite you haven’t seen in years, if not decades.

THERE’S something so voyeuristic about discovering what your friends and families are watching, especially when they don’t know you’re looking.

I share a Fetch account with a former workmate, which means I can see exactly which movies and TV shows he’s been watching. It seems like every time I log on, there’s a new Steven Segal or Gerard Butler flick in the library.

Now, he makes no apologies for his love of C-grade movies but I sometimes find myself pausing before I press the button on that rom-com that I know will go down well on a windy Friday night, knowing that someone is going to know that I watched About Time though he doesn’t know that I cried myself silly at its ending.

I know quite a few people who share Netflix or Stan accounts with their family or friends and it’s got me thinking about what can be gleaned about the people in our lives if we look at their watch history — maybe they’re secretly fans of Harcore Pawn. Would that make you respect them less? Probably, and you won’t ever be able to tell them why.

With few privacy boundaries left, maybe it’s going too far to be digital peeping Toms, taking a peak at our friends and families’ non-X-rated dirty viewing secrets.

Hopefully you won’t have to hide any of this week’s highlights.

DEGRASSI JR HIGH

(Stan — now)

Actor Pat Mastroianni with Stacie Mistysyn from TV program "Degrassi Junior High".

“I’m in grade eight so I’m important, you’re in grade seven so you’re totally embarrassing,” Stephanie Kaye says to her little brother Arthur outside Degrassi Jr. High in that very first episode. Degrassi Jr High wasn’t the first series in a franchise that spans from 1979 to today (Kids of Degrassi Street started it all) but for many, it’s the most memorable.

There’s no denying that line of dialogue takes you back to those afternoons rushing home from school and planting yourself in front of the ABC. Whether it’s jamming with The Zit Remedy or watching Steph juggle her different fashion personas, the exploits of suburban Canadian teens seemed oddly glamorous. And now you can relive every moment of it.

FILTHY RICH AND HOMELESS

(SBS — from Tuesday, August 14 at 8.30pm)

Cameron Daddo stars in Filthy Rich and Homeless. Picture: SBS

With 116,000 rough-sleepers in Australia, SBS series Filthy Rich & Homeless returns this week for a second series. Designed to spark conversations about a national homelessness crisis, the premise of the show takes five high-profile Australians and convinces them to swap out their comfortable beds and fancy sheets for 10 days on the street with nothing more than some second-hand clothes and a sleeping bag.

What follows is a rude awakening as Cameron Daddo, Skye Leckie, Benjamin Law, Alex Greenwich and Ali Simpson find out exactly what it’s like to be one of the most marginalised people in a country as rich as Australia. It’s a transformative experience for the participants and an eye-opener for viewers, an exercise in empathy and compassion. The show will air on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a live discussion show on Thursday.

DISENCHANTMENT

(Netflix — Friday, August 17 from 5pm AEST)

Snow White she is not.

You could hardly accuse The Simpsons creator Matt Groening of resting on his laurels (or living off his syndication money) but it has been 19 years since he’s put something new-new to air. Free of the bounds and censors of network television, Groening is able to take his irreverent sense of humour a bit further and indulge his more violent proclivities — so, so many gruesome deaths.

Closer in tone to Futurama than The Simpsons, anti-fairytale Disenchantment is set in the fantasy world of Dreamland, where there’s magic, orc-like creatures and a distempered king. Bean is a teen princess who thinks having to pick between being married off and death should be an easier choice, she’s accompanied by magical elf Elfo and her personal demon Luci on her adventures in rebellion and trying to take control of her own destiny.

RAKE

(ABC — Sunday, August 19 at 8.30pm)

No more absurd than many of the jokers in our Parliament Picture: ABC

Richard Roxburgh’s cheeky rogue is back. Cleaver Greene, the barrister who loves nothing more than to prove how narcissistic he is, is now in Canberra as an independent senator stalking the corridors of power — it kind of fits in our age of political disarray. Can you imagine a better place for someone with Cleaver’s gigantic ego — what could possibly go wrong?

Joining Roxburgh will be Anthony LaPaglia who will play the American Secretary of Defense whose visit will coincide with a suspected gas attack on Parliament, Jane Turner as a conservative pollie and William McInnes as a high-profile minister. There will be scandals, assassination attempts and a rotating door of PMs. Chaos will ensue. The fifth season of Rake is being sold as Rake 2.0 after a sort-of-refresh. But don’t get too used to it because it’s the ABC series’ last season.

A PLACE TO CALL HOME

(Showcase on Foxtel — Sunday, August 19 at 8.30pm)

All good things must come to an end. The opulent 1950s-set drama almost called it quits years ago when its original broadcaster Channel 7 opted to let it go, before its devoted fanbase convinced Foxtel to give it a second life. That second life is now almost done — and you’re advised to have the tissue box within reach.

Closing time.

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD S4B

(Showcase on Foxtel — Monday, August 13 at 1.30pm and 7.30pm)

A soft reboot has changed Fear the Walking Dead into an almost different series altogether — new tone, new cast members, a new purpose. With the series back for the second half of season four and the death of its main character, it’s ready to take that refreshed identity and give the viewers what they want — something more akin to the show that spawned it, The Walking Dead.

New life — impressive for something that’s about dead things.

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