We’ve all reached ‘peak TV’, with too much programing cluttering up our schedules! Here is our guide to what to watch over the coming week – and we’ve chosen something to please everyone.
WHO’s Binge List TV podcast team have done plenty of viewing for you, and here’s what’s hot…
Option 1: UnReal, Season 4
The fourth season of UnReal has been dropped with little notice on Stan – in fact quite a lot has happened with little notice this week, including this show’s unceremonious axing!
Yes, this new season is definitely the last, so start streaming, fans! We in Australia only watched UnReal season three a couple of months ago – but now we have all eight episodes at once.
This time the plot has Everlasting – which is the fictional reality show at the centre of this drama – enduring an All Stars season. And that means we get quite a few blasts from the past.
There are plenty of Love Island-esque vibes here, for people who are missing that show, and who might want to speculate about what goes on behind the scenes. Indeed, there’s plenty of backstage drama this season as bitchiness and toxic behavior go through the roof.
Fans note: this week on WHO’s TV podcast, Binge List, we talk to Australian star Adam Demos, who plays hapless returnee August.
Option 2: Tab Hunter Confidential
With the passing last week of former 1950s and 60s movie and TV heartthrob Tab Hunter, it’s a great time to check out Tab Hunter Confidential, an excellent doco on Netflix.
It’s a must watch even if you only have the vaguest notion of who he was, as it’s a great study of the creation and demolition of a star – but also a first-hand account of the complicated relationship between stars and the celebrity media.
Tab was thrown under the bus by Hollywood power brokers when a tabloid came after then-megastar Rock Hudson over his sexuality. With Tab more disposable to the studio, his pre-fame bust at a gay party was fed to the papers in a deal to snuff out the Rock story.
But stars also manipulate the media and their public to their benefit.
This doco contains fascinating first-hand accounts of how Tab’s dates with starlets were fixed and faked, and his image as a boy next door was crafted.
Things went south eventually, and Tab ended up in dinner theatre – but his career was later revived by cult director John Waters and drag legend Divine!
He ended up happy after a very tough run, rejecting his fame and declining to even watch his old movies on TV.
This is a great examination of fame and the media, and a good introduction to Tab for modern audiences who may not know him well.
Option 3: The Big Bang Theory wedding
The biggest show on broadcast TV is featuring the world’s dorkiest – and perhaps most loved – couple getting hitched. And a bunch of big screen icons making gratuitous guest appearances.
Who would’ve thought that as show about a bunch of nerds would take the TV world by storm? We’ve had 11 seasons of Big Bang Theory, and the biggest nerd of all, Sheldon Cooper is walking down the aisle.
Yes, his wedding to Amy Farrah Fowler is taking place on July 23 on the Nine network, and the Binge List team have seen it! There are quite a few laughs and plenty of charm – it’s great to see these two have a happy ending. Even if we don’t really believe that Sheldon suddenly enjoys sex, or wants a life spent compromising with another human being.
Option 4: Who Is America?
Probably no show has grabbed more headlines this week than the debut of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy series, Who Is America?, which is available on Stan.
If you enjoyed Borat and Bruno, you’ll know what to expect, but this time he’s focusing on the political divisions in America in the Trump era.
Is it out-of-date comedy or can SBC still cause a stir? Depends on your tastes, but there’s plenty of awkwardness, humiliation and some big laughs.
New episodes will be dropping every Sunday afternoon, and there are some big names coming up who will be humiliated for your enjoyment.
Matthew Denby is host of WHO’s TV podcast, Binge List. This week we talk about the above shows and a lot more – including a heated debate about the Handmaid’s Tale finale. You can subscribe on iTunes http://po.st/syE3JF, OMNY http://po.st/hxjAhm or listen below:
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