SATC reboot finds its groove in this week’s top viewing
And Just Like That tops the 10 best TV shows to watch this week, but Lisa Woolford also suggests tuning into Warnie, Gruen, Smartless: On The Road and MCU’s Secret Invasion.
AND JUST LIKE THAT
Thursday, Binge
As the opening montage indicates, there’s a fair bit more sex in this second instalment of the Sex and the City reboot. Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker) is scheduling it in with her husband in very busy life, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is having “exit-out-of-grief sex” with her podcast producer (Ivan Hernandez), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is becoming more comfortable with her sexuality. And, yes, of course, there’s also all the sumptuous and almost fantastical fashion. Fantastical I say, because only Carrie could find the perfect gown – and shoes – in her closet after a costume crisis a mere hours out from the iconic Met Ball. But, as always, it’s truly about the main three negotiating life’s ups and downs. “If you’re lucky, no matter what life hands you, you can always count on your closest friends to be there,” Carrie says. And she can – even when Miranda is in LA, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) instead hilariously adopting the pragmatic lawyer’s blunt approach to relationship advice. And Just Like That … this reboot has truly found its groove.
GRUEN
Wednesday, 8.30pm, ABC
Given host Wil Anderson wasn’t sure the team would make it through its first series, 15 seasons seems somewhat of an overachievement. Fortunately – as the publicity material states – the algorithm still recommends Australia’s favourite (and only) show about advertising. Anderson and the panel of advertising know-it-alls (Russel Howcroft, Todd Sampson, Karen Ferry, Dee Madigan and Christina Aventi) are back to dissect marketing and ads and, possibly more importantly, to stop viewers from buying under the influence.
THE DEFENDERS
Friday, Prime Video
It’s been more than four years since soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi was freed from a Thai jail. He’s now an Australian citizen, works as a community and human rights advocate for Football Victoria, and has an almost three-year-old son. But he still fears the Bahraini government wants to punish him. And al-Araibi hopes this doco, which goes behind the scenes of the 2019 viral campaign, led by former Socceroo captain Craig Foster to free Araibi before he could be extradited to his home country, will keep him safe. And while we know the outcome to this gripping true story, The Defenders is still an incredibly nailbiting thriller.
SWAGGER
Friday, AppleTV+
The NBA season might have just wrapped up, but there’s still plenty of basketball on our screens with the second season of this acclaimed sports drama. It’s a loose interpretation of NBA player Kevin Durant’s (he’s an executive producer on the show) career, with O’ Shea Jackson Jr. as Ike “Icon” Edwards, a gifted basketball player who may just have what it takes to rise through the ranks of sports stardom. There’s a bit of a time jump with this new instalment so, in these new eps dropping weekly, we meet the “man-children” Jace, Phil, Nick, Musa, Drew and Royale as they are entering their senior year of high school at the elite Cedar Cove Prep.
SMARTLESS: ON THE ROAD
Friday, Binge
This six-part series is a pretty glorious peek behind the scenes of the tour that Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett took earlier this year, bringing their popular podcast – the Smartless of the title – to live theatres across the States. It’s a joy to watch the three close buddies essentially on a road trip. What’s also fun is to see the three veterans get super-excited – and nervous – by being in front of an audience. “You’re telling me there’s going to be someone in everyone of those seats,” Bateman says. “I’ve made a huge mistake,” Arnett adds. There’s also a surprising amount of food talk and room service orders, mixed in with a heap of celebrity surprise guests such as Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, Matt Damon and David Letterman.
FIVE BEDROOMS
Streaming, Paramount+
The final episode of the gorgeous fourth season – and please don’t tell me it’s the last ever — has just dropped. And what a ride it’s been – creators Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett are absolute masters at making you laugh out loud one moment, and then deliver a sucker punch filled with emotions the next. Quite apart from the delightful core cast of Kat Stewart, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Stephen Peacocke and Roy Joseph, it’s been such a treat having more of Kate Jenkinson’s Mel and her unflinchingly honest take on life and love. Please can we have some more.
WARNIE
Sunday, 7pm, Monday 7.30pm, Nine
Alex Williams is receiving early rave reviews for his spin on the titular character – the late, great Shane Warne. And rightly so, as the 33-year-old – whose first major screen role was playing a teenage Julian Assange – effortlessly transforms into the various iterations of Warnie over a 25-year period. Across two nights, Warnie unpacks a lot of the legend’s event-packed life, including some of the on-field triumphs, the off-field struggles and, of course, the tabloid headlines. It stops way short of his untimely death in Thailand last year.
SECRET INVASION
Streaming, Disney+
This latest addition to the MCU is set in the present day, as a rather bruised, battered and haggard-looking Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and the Skrull Talos (our very own Ben Mendlesohn), who has made a life for himself on Earth. Emilia Clarke joins the cast as Talos’ daughter Gaia.
FBOY ISLAND
Monday, Binge
After weeks of dates and all the drama, the Island’s leading ladies – 21-year-old model Ziara Rae, 26-year-old occupational therapist Molly O’Halloran, and 26-year-old professional DJ Sophie Blackley – have to choose one of their suitors. While we’re super keen to see who ends up together, and have our fingers crossed they won’t fall for an FBoy and his lies, it’s probably host Abbie Chatfield’s zingers we will miss most.
BREAK POINT: PART 2
Streaming, Netflix
These last five episodes of the extremely popular series pick back up where Part 1 left off, as the professional tennis calendar moves from Roland Garros on to Wimbledon – with cameras following all of the action, drama, tears and quiet moments behind the scenes at the grass-court Grand Slam. Good old Nick Kyrgios, as you’d imagine, is as huge part of the opening two episodes. Understandably, most of the focus is on what was arguably the biggest moment of the 2022 season: 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams’ last dance at US Open.
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Originally published as SATC reboot finds its groove in this week’s top viewing
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