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Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK

Fewer acquisitions this week, but no shortage of premiere dates. Premiere-less newbies are The Name of the Rose (Italy: Rai), which has been picked up the Beeb; When Heroes Fly (Israel: Keshet 12), which Netflix has got its mitts on; and My Brilliant Best Friend (US: HBO), which Sky Atlantic has naturally acquired, it having an exclusivity agreement with HBO.

The rest are as follows:

Premiere dates

The First (US: Hulu; UK: Channel 4)
Premiere date: Thursday, November 1, 9pm

Staggeringly dull drama in which Sean Penn plays the first person to lead a mission to Mars. At least, I assume he gets there, since the entire first season is about the training and engineering decisions involved in getting him there, once the first attempted mission blows up in the first episode.

As well as reading more like Andy Weir’s research notes for The Martian, The First is mainly an advert for producer Penn, since the show is also about his great topless physique and how he’s better than literally everyone else at literally everything else, particularly Brit CEO Natascha McElhone. Some slight sci-fi ‘futurology’ moderately lifts the show, but it’s a snooze for the most part.

Episode reviews: season 1

The Detail (Canada: CTV; UK: 5USA)
Premiere date: Friday, November 2, 9pm

Limp Canadian adaptation of ITV’s Scott & Bailey that’s about as generic as any male police procedural.

Episode reviews: 1

The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, November 16

CBS’s king of misanthropic comedy, Chuck Lorre, arrives on Netflix with The Kominsky Method, which follows Sandy Kominsky, an actor who years ago had a brief fling with success and is now a revered Hollywood acting coach. Michael Douglas plays Kominsky, while Alan Arkin plays his agent and best friend. There’s also a decent supporting cast, with Nancy Travis playing a recent divorcee who decides to take acting lessons from Douglas, Sarah Baker playing his daughter and Lisa Edelstein playing Arkin’s estranged daughter. Whether it’s funny is a different matter, though…