Five shows to watch this week
HBO’s The Penguin delivers a gritty Gotham tale, sans the DC nonsense, while NFL star Travis Kelce makes his acting debut in Ryan Murphy’s new gorefest.
The Penguin
Binge
There is one great crime committed in The Penguin, HBO’s otherwise thoroughly entertaining spin-off from the 2022 film The Batman: it meddles with its star Colin Farrell’s exquisitely expressive eyebrows. Here he is, battling 10 tons of latex and looking like a melted waxwork of Tony Soprano, playing the villain most of us associate with Danny DeVito. But this Oswald Cobblepot is not the waddling weirdo you remember; he is a thuggish charmer, the type of guy who will smash your teeth in, then offer to pay for your cab ride home. Like Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster trilogy or Todd Phillips’s The Joker, this spin through Gotham City is very dark indeed. It also sidelines Batman and all other DC nonsense in favour of pulling off what is essentially a mob drama about a guy trying to become the Capo dei Capi of the crime world.
Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos
Binge
Speaking of … Tony Soprano famously once said, “Remember when is the lowest form of conversation.” Well, Tony, don’t shoot the messenger, but this year marks the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos, and director Alex Gibney has made a cracking documentary all about rememberings. This two-part series invites us to perch up on Dr Melfi’s psychiatrist chair for an inside look at the myths and machinations behind television’s greatest mob saga, as told through the show’s mastermind, David Chase, and interviews with stars Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Drea de Matteo, and Steven Van Zandt. Yes, it’s cosy and nostalgic, but it’s also a compelling look at television’s evolution and the groundbreaking impact of The Sopranos. It explores the show’s debut back in 1999, when HBO was considered the “bargain basement” of TV, star James Gandolfini’s off-set troubles, and even offers some closure for that divisive ending.
Grotesquerie
Disney+
The first thing you need to know about Ryan Murphy’s new drama Grotesquerie is that it stars Kansas City Chiefs tight end footballer — and Taylor Swift’s current beau — Travis Kelce. Drenched in giallo hues that scream Suspiria, this 10-episode horror show takes us into a small community reeling from a spree of brutal crimes. Niecy Nash — who you may recognise from her sensational performance in her last outing with Murphy, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story — leads as the hard-drinking Detective Lois Tryon. With her personal life in shambles and zero leads, she accepts the help of Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond), a nun-turned-journalist with a dark past of her own. Also starring is Lesley Manville as a creepy nurse, it’s schlocky, camp, and perfectly timed for Halloween.
Fisk
Season 3 premieres on ABC iView
October 20
Next month, an Australian spin-off of the hit Ricky Gervais comedy The Office will premiere. However, there’s already an Australian workplace comedy that borrows liberally from its offbeat tone: Fisk. Kitty Flanagan, who co-created the series, stars as Helen Tudor-Fisk, a recently divorced contract lawyer — always dressed in an awful mud-brown suit — who has moved from Sydney to a rinky-dink firm in suburban Melbourne. Much of the comedy arises from situations where the perpetually deadpan Helen encounters her loopy colleagues. There’s something delightfully antiquated about the gentle nature of this humour; it’s sharply written and crammed with jokes that won’t exactly send you into fits of laughter but will certainly make you snort in appreciation. The series, which was a hit worldwide, will return for a third season on October 20.
Last Days of the Space Age
Disney+ from October 2
Last Days of the Space Age, a new Australian drama on Disney+, whirls us back to July 1979 when two unrelated spectacles unfold in Western Australia: the Miss Universe pageant and the fiery descent of Skylab, the US’s first space station. The series follows the lives of three families in a tight-knit Perth community: the working-class Bissetts, who are torn apart by a strike at the telecommunications plant — husband (played by Jesse Spencer of Chicago Fire) actively participates in the strike, while his wife (Radha Mitchell), in a managerial position, finds herself crossing the picket line. Meanwhile, a First Nations family, led by matriarch Deborah Mailman, grapples with the weight of their past, and a Vietnamese family, who have fled the war, struggles to adapt to life in Australia while concealing their secret pain. Written by David Chidlow, a former mentee of the great television writer Jimmy McGovern (Cracker, Time), the series is warm and nostalgic, but that only takes it so far. Ultimately, it’s too tawdry and meandering to hold your interest through to the end.