Season 2 of Marvel’s Runaways (US: Hulu; UK: Syfy)
How impressive is that? Feel free to peruse their wisdom at your leisure.
The actor Kevin Eldon
New shows
Both Canada and the US have started firing up their mid-season shows and offering previews of some forthcoming ones as well. As a result, between now and next WHYBW, I should be serving up reviews of:
Coroner (Canada: CBC; UK: Universal) – Serinda Swan and Roger Cross in a crime procedural adaptation of MR Hall’s novels
Cavendish (Canada: CBC) – comedy about two brothers who return to look after their ailing father, The Actor Kevin Eldon
Project Blue Book (US: History) – Aidan Gillen and Michael Malarkey investigate UFO sightings in the 50s. Not related to this show at all.
Deadly Class (US: Syfy) – adaptation of the graphic novel that sees Benedict Wong teach kids how to kill in the 80s
Black Monday (US: Showtime; UK: Sky Atlantic – probably) – Don Cheadle in a scathing satire of Wall Street in the 80s
And anything else that pops up, such as ABC (US)’s Schooled, which starts tonight (although that’s a spin-off from The Goldbergs so maybe not). Sex Education is on Netflix from Friday, so I might boxset it.
That’s a pretty full schedule, though, and as Deadly Class and Black Monday don’t air in the US for a couple of weeks, I might postpone them until nearer the time.
Plan Coeur
The regulars
After the jump, it’ll be just the usual regulars, as well as what I watched over Christmas: three full episodes of Counterpart, the remaining four episodes of Plan Cœur (The Hookup Plan), the penultimate episode of Happy Together and the season finale of Titans, as well as 2018’s A Ghost Story For Christmas. See you in a mo…
A semi-autobiographical piece written by and starring Pamela Adlon and co-written by Louis CK, there are good things in Better Things, although that’s more to do with some creative choices than the subject matter or anything especially interesting or funny that happens.
Ever wanted to know what life is like for a 50-something single mother with three daughters, who’s the daughter of a TV producer and who’s an actress living in LA who goes to a lot of auditions and has to deliver a lot of bad dialogue in a lot of bad TV shows? I can’t say I feel a desperate need to know myself, but maybe you’re different, in which case Better Things will be a big help bridging that empathy gap.
Maybe if you’re facing similar issues, you’ll find this funny in a gallows humour kind of way. Personally, I found it just a little bit too self-involved, a bit too much a female Californication but without much joy.
Les rivières pourpres (The Crimson Rivers) (France: France 2; UK: Channel 4)
Premiere date: Friday, January 11, 10.30pm
Based on the 2000 blockbuster of the same name, The Crimson Rivers follows conflicted cop duo Camille Delauney and Pierre Niémans. Niémans and Camille are called out all over rural France to solve complex cases which all involve a weird brutality far beyond the capacity of local police departments. The protagonists find themselves infiltrating folktale-like crimes with strong moral and mystic themes, dealing with cults, murder based on family tradition and human sacrifice. An unlikely match, Niémans is a reserved, pragmatic and pessimistic old school sleuth, whereas Camille is bold, brave and not afraid of over-stepping the mark, yet together they make a charismatic and driven duo who will stop at nothing to catch a killer.
The River (Elven) (Norway: TV3 ; UK: Channel 4)
Premiere date: Monday, January 14
Based on true events from the region bordering Russia, in northern Scandinavia, The River stars Espen Reboli Bjerke (Mammon), Ingeborg Raustøl and Dennis Storhøi (Mammon).
In the small village of Djupelv, which straddles the Norwegian/Russian border well within the Arctic Circle, the winters are long and dark. Everyone knows everyone and there are no secrets in this close-knit community, or so it seems. During one of NATO’S winter exercises a dismembered hand is discovered in the river by a local Sami girl.
Thomas, the local police officer starts investigating the grisly discovery, despite firm warnings from his superiors. When the girl disappears and is later found murdered by army officer Mia Holt he becomes even more suspicious that something sinister is afoot. Mia and Thomas continue together in their search for the truth and are forced to look at this small community in a new light. Why are the authorities passive? Why are the locals staying so tight-lipped? And what is hidden up there in the mountains?
Created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland, Russian Doll follows a young woman named Nadia (Lyonne) on her journey as the guest of honour at a seemingly inescapable party one night in New York City. Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, Rebecca Henderson and Charlie Barnett.
As usual at this time of year, TMINE is busily packing its bags to get ready for its annual Christmas break. We’re not there yet, though, as everything will continue until Friday.
But barring minor miracles, unless it turns out Chicago ILL, Dogs of Berlin or Tideland have been cruelly overlooked, there’ll be no shows that are both new and excellent for me to review this year, which means I can at last unveil this year’s TMINE’s Top N programmes, where N is a positive integer that I’ve more or less picked at random each year. This year, N=14, you’ll be excited to hear. Can you guess what they are?
There’s certainly been some interesting new arrivals, whose presence in the Top N you’ll probably have been able to predict in advance – I’ve certainly dropped a few hints throughout the year. But there’s a few surprises in there, I think.
As always, a caveat: I’ve not watched every TV programme broadcast or acquired in the UK this year and I barely watched any live TV, so there are almost certainly some good shows that that I’ve left off the list. There’s also a show or two that got made ages ago but which never made it to the UK or my viewing queue until this year, so it’s entirely possible some quite oldies have made it onto the 2018 list. And, of course, there are a few shows that started well but I’ve not finished yet, so aren’t eligible for the list (honourable mention to the likes of Plan Cœur, for example)
So best not to think of this as the definitive “Best new TV shows from around the world of 2018″, so much as just the top “TMINE would recommend to a friend shows of the ones I’ve watched in 2018”.
As always, too, feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments, on your own blog or on the TMINE Facebook page. Just for reference, here are previous years’ Top Ns:
