Easter weekend TV - let’s f**k around and find out!
It’s an Easter long weekend, which has an aura of “let’s f**k around and find out” mentality to programming. None of the new shows feel like a sure thing, but maybe if they’re released while folks have some time off, some might manage to spark.
Obviously in terms of returning shows, the huge title is HBO’s very successful The Last of Us which returned for its second season. Chances are if that’s something you are keen to see, you’ve seen it already.
Also back is Law & Order: Organized Crime which is now being made for streaming. The suggestion is that the show is now a bit more adult, which works well while trying to promote the show. But also, I’m sure this is a show sold into foreign territories where a radical shift in adult themes could be an issue. So, I’d expect any changes to be cosmetic.
If you are a regular viewer of the show, I’d be keen to hear from you about whether there’s a noticeable shift..
Against better judgement, I am sure most of you will press play on Netflix’s Ransom Canyon. It’s their Yellowstone-inspired effort that plays far more like a glossy soap. Expect lots of scenes filmed around horses, gorgeous people, and impeccable hair.
It’s not good. But it is very watchable. I’ve seen the first episode and while I’m not rushing to watch episode 2 at this point, part of me knows I’ll be at least midway through the season by Monday.
Just to set expectations… Josh Duhamel plays the grizzled character…
More promising is the new Ramy Youssef show No 1 Happy Family. It’s a show about a Muslim family assimilating into US culture. It’s either half a year too late in release, or it is a show completely of the moment.
Which leads me to this thought I just wanted to throw out to the world about America and Easter…
It’s lame enough that the US doesn’t celebrate easter with chocolate eggs like the rest of us. But now they’re painting eggs at inflated prices.
Returning TV
The Last of Us (s02), Godfather of Harlem (s04), Law & Order: Organized Crime (s05), Leverage: Redemption (s03), Jane (s03)
New TV
The Glass Dome - Netflix
Stars: Léonie Vincent, Johan Hedenberg, Johan Rheborg, Farzad Farzaneh
A criminologist and her former police chief partner investigate the vanishing of a local girl in the small Swedish town where she was once held captive.
Ransom Canyon - Netflix
Stars: Minka Kelly, Josh Duhamel
A romance-fueled family drama and contemporary western saga that charts the intersecting lives and loves of three ranching families set against the sweeping tundras and rolling rivers of Texas hill country.
No 1 Happy Family - Prime Video
Stars: Ramy Youssef, Whitmer Thomas, Salma Hindy
Follows a muslim-american family that must learn how to code-switch as they navigate the early 2000s.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Prime Video
Stars: Jacob Elordi, Odessa Young, Ciarán Hinds
The story of Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon whose short but forbidden affair with his uncle's wife sustains and haunts him through his darkest days in a Thai-Burmese prisoner of war camp in WWII.
The Stolen Girl - Disney+
Stars: Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger, Robyn Betteridge, Jim Sturgess
When her daughter Lucia asks to go to a sleepover at her new best friend Josie's house, Elisa agrees. But when she says goodnight to her daughter, she has no idea that she is about to be thrust into every parent's worst nightmare.
Istanbul Encyclopedia - Netflix
Stars: Canan Erguder, Helin Kandemir, Tolga Tekin, Kaan Miraç Sezen
A student travels to Istanbul and takes up lodging with her mother's estranged best friend, but they struggle to see eye-to-eye across cultural divides.
Government Cheese - Apple TV+
Stars: David Oyelowo, Simone Missick, Bokeem Woodbine, Adam Beach, and Sunita Mani
When Hampton Chambers is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn't go quite as he'd planned; during his absence, Hampton's wife and sons have formed an unconventional family unit and Hampton's return spins their world into chaos.
The Feud - Channel 5
Stars: Jill Halfpenny, Rupert Penry-Jones, Larry Lamb
Neighbours on an idyllic suburban street have a falling-out over one family's plan to build an extension to their house.
Sherlock & Daughter - The CW
Stars: David Thewlis, Blu Hunt
Sherlock Holmes is out of his comfort zone, mysteriously unable to investigate a sinister case without risking the lives of his closest friends. Then enters young American Amelia. After her mother's mysterious murder, she learns her missing father may be the legendary detective.
New Movies
iHostage - Netflix
Stars: Soufiane Moussouli, Admir Sehovic, Emmanuel Ohene Boafo
When a gunman enters an Apple Store in the heart of Amsterdam, the police face a delicate challenge to resolve the stand-off.
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
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