The summer period has long been known as the “off-season” when it comes to TV.
A time of reruns of cult classics, easy and cheesy movies and binge-able sitcoms you’ve seen a million times before, the weeks leading up to and out of Christmas can feel a little like Groundhog Day.
However, with a subscription to Paramount+, it’s safe to say you’ll be faced not with the issue of having nothing to watch, but deciding what to watch first.
What to watch on Paramount+ Australia
From gritty dramas to Aussie-led action series, here are three of the best shows streaming on Paramount+ right now.
Landman
STARRING: Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph
With its cast of acting legends and up-and-comers, this acclaimed drama, which has returned for a second season to Paramount+, will have you captivated as it tells its story of family, romance and corruption within the Texas oil industry.
Season 2 picks up where things left off, with Tommy Norris (Thornton), the abravise petroleum landman, having been promoted from a negotiator for the billion-dollar oil magnates to the president of M-Tex Oil, the company now owned by Cami Miller (Moore), following the death of her husband and Norris’ friend, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm).
While he’s still a negotiator of sorts, Norris’ new gig makes him a targeted man, both inside the boardroom and out, and a verbal punching bag for his free-spirited ex-wife, Angela (Larter).
Meanwhile, their son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), and daughter, Ainsley (Randolph), are navigating career and college respectively, with both their love lives and character arcs getting plenty of airtime this season.
“We got to know these characters in Season 1, and now we get to spend more time with them in Season 2. We get to raise the stakes,” Landman showrunner Christian Wallace told The Hollywood Reporter. “They are so fun to be around … This world is so rich – West Texas, oil and gas, Fort Worth, the upstairs downstairs of this whole thing. It’s such fertile soil for storytelling … Our cast has added so much depth to the characters. They know them so well now that they make it easy to tell an entertaining story.”
Season 2 also stars Andy Garcia, Paulina Chávez and Kayla Wallace, as well as the new addition of Guy Burnet as a love interest for Wallace’s Rebecca, the tough-as-nails but gorgeous lawyer on the rigs.
Recently renewed for a third season, you’ll want to catch up on all the action.
NCIS: Sydney
STARRING: Todd Lasance, Olivia Swann, Mavournee Hazel, Sean Sagar
From the Red Centre to the Far North and even Antarctica, there’s no place in the Indo-Pacific this team of Australian Federal Police and their US agent counterparts don’t cover in order to protect our borders.
Now in their third season, the team led by NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Swann) are busting baddies on the mainland and beyond, and in this current run, viewers will love the famous and familiar faces they’ve brought on board as guest stars.
Lincoln Lewis is one, reuniting with his former Home and Away co-star and real-life roommate Lasance, who plays Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey. Fellow Home and Away alum Stephen Peacocke also appears, as do Simone Kessell, Anthony Hayes and Doris Younane.
Mayor of Kingstown
STARRING: Jeremy Renner, Edie Falco, Laura Benanti, Emma Laird
Mike McLusky (Renner), Ian (Hugh Dillon), Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa), Robert (Hamish Allan-Headley), Kyle (Taylor Handley) and Evelyn (Necar Zadegan) all survived the Season 3 finale, and in Season 4, the war against the Russian mafia is coming to an end – but that doesn’t mean the drama is over. Mike’s reign over Kingstown is under threat as new players enter the fold and, as a result, those he loves are in danger more than ever before. That includes his brother, Kyle, who’s headed to prison.
Added to the new season is Emmy Award winner Falco as Anchor Bay’s new prison warden, Nina Hobbs, plus Benanti as new correctional officer Cindy Stephens. There’s also a new deputy warden called Torres (Clayton Cardenas), who might make things very difficult for the McLuskys. Will the new ladies help Mike protect Kyle from danger behind bars? And can Torres be trusted? Or is he corrupt, like most in Kingstown?
The series has earned a cult following internationally – and you can catch up on all four seasons to date on Paramount+ right now, with the Season 4 finale due to be released on December 28.
Sign up for Paramount+ here.
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