Binging Season: Ten New Shows To Add To Your Obscenely Long Watchlist This Spring
You never need to leave your room again.
It’s that time again; when autumn falls over the United States and the sun re-emerges on our side of the globe. Of course, those of us who spend spring and summer avoiding the relentless glare of Ra know it better as the period in which our favourite TV shows come back to our screens (or, in some cases, to our third-choice search engine provider).
Along with addictive returning champs like Empire and The Last Man on Earth, the major TV networks and streaming services will soon unveil dozens of new series, each hoping to snatch even more minutes of our precious life away from us.
With 400 new series produced in 2015 – a record for the industry – there is literally no way to keep up with them and also maintain satisfying human relationships (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Let us help you wade through the muck by telling you which ten premiering shows might be worth your while (totally sight unseen). Binge on these. Purge the rest.
–
The Muppets
Remember the whimsy and childlike wonder you felt when grown babyman Jason Segel brought back his beloved Muppets for a 2011 feature film? Cling to that feeling with desperation as you read on about the new TV series starring Kermit and company, which debuted on American network ABC on September 22 (and is being readied for broadcast by Channel 7… someday).
Taking a cue from Parks and Recreation and The Office, The Muppets employs the mockumentary style of those other single-camera comedies and takes us behind the scenes of a new variety show. (So, basically, this.) There are a few red flags to be wary of, however; particularly the fact showrunner Bill Prady (of The Big Bang Theory) insists on spelunking into the Muppets’ inter-species/ inter-fabric sex lives.
We should also be concerned about The Muppets’ celeb-pulling power, considering the second cameo they trot out in their 11-minute pilot preview (above) is Topher Grace. I mean, look, I personally love the guy (In Good Company was the bomb, yo), but you can probably assume at least three other That ‘70s Show castmates turned down the opportunity before ol’ Toph’s phone started ringing.
Why Watch? If your threshold for nostalgia-fueled fan service is as low as mine, The Muppets should inspire at least a few laughs.
–
Scream Queens
There is nothing more frightening than Ryan Murphy when he thinks he’s being funny. Nonetheless there is something (masochistically) tempting about the Glee and American Horror Story impresario’s latest anthology series, Scream Queens, in which a bunch of mean girls get mowed down on campus by a mysterious murderer (probably Jamie Lee Curtis).
Starring Emma Roberts, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande, I fully expect this to be populated by exclusively unpleasant characters and painful stabs at self-aware “comedy”. Still, credit where it’s due: Scream Queens is only meant to live for one season before being rebooted, as with AHS before it, and Murphy at least knows how to leave a good-looking corpse.
Channel 10 will air the premiere episode this Wednesday, September 23, fast tracked from the United States.
Why Watch? Because your other options on Channels 7 and 9 on Wednesday night are Pets Make You Laugh Out Loud 2 and World’s Biggest Pets, respectively, and apparently you are bound to the selections made by the big three broadcast networks.
–
The Grinder
There’s nothing Rob Lowe loves more than pulling the parachute when he’s no longer “feeling it”; so explains his early, untimely exits from both The West Wing and Parks and Recreation. You have to trust the gut of a guy with such seemingly self-destructive confidence.
That’s my excuse for being somewhat excited for The Grinder, a very Suits-and-Psych-seeming sitcom in which he plays a conceited actor most famous for portraying a lawyer on television, and who decides to teach his real-life lawyer brother (Fred Savage) the tricks of the trade. Along for the ride – in the pilot at least – are Childrens Hospital’s Brian Huskey, Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, It’s Always Sunny’s Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Eastbound and Down’s Steve Little.
Channel 10 has pledged to air this later in the year. The Fox network in the States will drop episode one on September 29.
Why Watch? Eh, it kind of seems like the movie Trial and Error.
–
Con Man
It’s a bold new age, people! Not only is Vimeo getting into the TV-making game, they’re giving their first big marquee sitcom to Alan Tudyk, beloved Firefly shipmate, frequent voice over artist and, confoundingly, the romantic lead of Aussie kids movie Oddball.
In the supremely meta Con Man, he plays the supporting star of a cancelled sci-fi series struggling with his barely famous, fan convention-attending existence (particularly in the shadow of his successful former colleague, played by Nathan Fillion). Joss Whedon, Felicia Day and Seth Green appear throughout to provide Con Man with geek bona fides.
It launches internationally on Vimeo September 30.
Why Watch? Disrupt the broadcast stranglehold! Let the Vimeo revolution force Channel 10’s hand into airing The Grinder! You have our demands, old media!
–
Red Oaks
Steven Soderbergh must love Caddyshack– as well he should – because his new Amazon series Red Oaks looks to be following pretty closely in its footsteps. It follows a uni student (Submarine’s Craig Roberts) on his summer vacation, as he works at a prestigious country club and gets into all kinds of saucy situations. Shenanigans are presumably had.
Fans of One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead and Wet Hot American Summer should certainly take note of Red Oaks. Though Soderbergh is just a producer, he’s becoming a reliable shepherd of fascinating television (see also: The Knick). His protégé – and director of Magic Mike XXL – Gregory Jacobs is running Red Oaks, so if it’s anything like the last Mike movie, expect a goofy, raunchy, very entertaining hangout show.
Amazon will unfurl it on October 9.
Why Watch? It co-stars Paul Reiser and Richard Kind. Surprise Mad About You reunion!
–
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
The CW gave Rachel Bloom an entire series off the back of her amusing, sex-positive YouTube channel; a move that should inspire legions of aspiring bedroom comedians to publish infuriatingly awful vlogs in the hopes of being discovered.
They didn’t just give Bloom any series either; they gave her a gonzo TV musical in which she plays a seriously unstable woman who jettisons her successful career in New York to stalk her high school BF in Los Angeles. It left quite an impression on critics at the Television Critics Association press tour, so perhaps the 28-year-old Bloom could be our next Amy Schumer.
It premieres on The CW in America on October 12. Hopefully streaming provider Stan will pick it up for Aussie viewers, just as it did with The CW’s other recent success story, iZombie.
Why Watch? Any project that apparently pulls off the high-wire act of balancing a story about mental illness with big musical numbers deserves a viewing.
–
Wicked City
Trainwreck alert! Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick and Erika Christensen (of Swimfan!) play serial killers terrorising LA’s sunset strip in 1982. Watch the trailer. Behold the hair. This. Is. Happening.
Why Watch? Because secretly we all wanted Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf to go full Bonnie and Clyde and murder everyone else on Gossip Girl.
–
Ash vs. Evil Dead
For decades, Evil Dead fans prayed for a new instalment featuring Bruce Campbell as the iconic, chainsaw-armed Ash. Instead, they got a remake starring the girl from Suburgatory. Hollywood has finally come to its senses and delivered Ash vs. Evil Dead, a hugely gory series set to be unleashed on Starz this October 31. Yes, Halloween. Groovy.
As if the sight of Campbell as Ash wasn’t enough to get the blood pumping, he’ll be joined by television’s pre-eminent ass-kicker, Lucy Lawless. Equally as exhilarating: director Sam Raimi is back behind the scenes, making this his first horror effort since 2009’s masterpiece Drag Me To Hell.
Why Watch? Huh? Did you not read any of the above? It’s out via Stan on October 31. Spooky.
–
Master of None
There’s no trailer for this yet, but of all the contenders we’ve listed, Master of None is the one you definitely need to earmark. (Start repeating this mantra: it drops in full on Netflix November 6).
Comedian, author and spiritual advisor to selfish people everywhere Aziz Ansari plays a 30-year-old actor named Dev in this seemingly autobiographical new comedy series. He’s even cast his real life mum and dad as Dev’s parents.
Co-created by Alan Yang (of Ansari’s dearly departed Parks and Recreation, as well as South Park), Master of None also has the hilarious Joe Mande – recently in Australia – on its writing staff.
Why Watch? Go on. Treat yo self.
–
Marvel’s Jessica Jones
You could watch CBS’ Supergirl, in which Kal-El’s cousin ends up working for Calista Flockhart’s Anna Wintour-like magazine editor, or you could watch something probably not terrible.
Marvel’s latest series Jessica Jones arrives in totality on Netflix November 20 and features the sardonic Krysten Ritter as the title character, a retired superhero who runs her own detective agency. Ritter’s co-stars include David Tennant, Carrie-Anne Moss, Rachael Taylor and The Good Wife’s Mike Colter as Luke Cage (who will spin-off into his own series, so synergistic is the Marvel/Netflix marriage).
Why Watch? Netflix and Marvel’s last baby, Daredevil, was way better than anyone could have possibly anticipated. Because of that, Jessica Jones will actually have to battle raised expectations. There’s no reason to think it can’t match them.
–
Simon Miraudo is an AFCA award-winning writer and film critic for Student Edge, RTRFM and ABC Radio. He tweets here: @simonmiraudo.