Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK
After last week’s disappointingly empty slate of acquisitions and premiere dates, this week’s a whole lot more promising. Coming as part of Syfy’s spring schedule are Freeform (US)’s Siren (which hasn’t aired yet) and Stitchers (which has), but we’ve not got precise airdates at the moment. I’ll let you know when we do. What’s that, though? Maybe five actual new TV programmes airing on Syfy now. Wowzers.
We have had a good few other acquisitions as well, but they came with proper premiere dates. Let’s chat about them after this nice subheading.
Premiere dates
Runaways – Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. What if you found out they actually were? Marvel’s Runaways is the story of six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other but who must unite against a common foe – their parents. The series stars Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, Allegra Acosta, Annie Wersching, Ryan Sands, Angel Parker, Ever Carradine, James Marsters, Kevin Weisman, Brigid Brannah, James Yaegashi, Brittany Ishibashi, and Kip Pardue. From left: Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer), Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano), Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz), Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin), Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) and Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta), shown. (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/Hulu)
“Teenagers discover their parents are supervillains” could go in a lot of directions, particularly once those teenagers start to acquire ‘powers’ of their own, but in the hands of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, we get something that’s only occasionally a superhero show but is mostly part Gossip Girl, part Breakfast Club, as our young heroes and heroines go on various emotional coming-of-age journeys, full of secrets, friendships and shades of grey (particularly the theme tune). A little slow in places and occasionally a bit daft, but a good cast, good plotting and Julian McMahon shows up halfway through, too.
Happy! (US: Syfy; UK: Netflix)
Premiere date: Thursday, April 26
When Happy! first started, it seemed a relatively obvious bit of Grant Morrison dadaism. “I know, let’s partner a gritty, hard-boiled killer and a cute little flying unicorn! Imagine the meta-fun and the explicit violence we can have!” But after eight episodes, the series is a shoo-in for this year’s list of TMINE’s Top Shows. How did this come to be?
The show’s has two strands. About 50% is Christopher Meloni staggering around as a Very Bad Detective, pulling faces and generally sending up the conventions of grimdark comics, all in a small-screen version of Crank – you know, the nice Jason Statham movie. Here the show is incredibly violent, profane and sexually edgy. I’m surprised it was allowed on basic cable, to be honest.
The other 50% of the show slowly evolves into Toy Story 3. It doesn’t start that way, with Happy the imaginary flying Unicorn-Donkey more irritating and Scrappy Doo-ish than genuinely cute. It doesn’t help that his CGI is a bit of a work in progress, either. But by about episode three, little Happy is a genuinely lovely character and a source of a very sweet form of humour. And better animated.
Combined, those strands give you a show that’ll have you wincing, laughing and even weeping buckets of tears for a sock (no, really). Give it a watch – give it at least three, maybe four episodes to hit its stride – and you’ll have a great time.
Monkey, Tripitaka, Sandy and Pigsy in The New Legends of Monkey
The New Legends of Monkey (Australia: ABC Me; UK: Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, April 27
Although ostensibly an adaptation of classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, it’s as much a modern homage to previous Journey to the West adaptation and 70s UK TV favourite Monkey! Not as silly as it should have been and a bit undermined by its relocation away from Asia to a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys-style “other world”, it’s still an enjoyable watch.
SUPERSTITION — Pictured: (l-r) Brad James as Calvin Hastings, Mario Van Peebles as Isaac Hastings — (Photo by: Mitchell Galin/Xlrator Media/Syfy)
Superstition (US: Syfy; UK: Netflix)
Premiere date: Sunday, April 29
Mario van Peebles directs, writes and stars in a black, Southern, male version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing the owner of a funeral home and one of a long line of monster slayers. It sounds bad and it is quite bad, but it is at least impressive in a few areas. Although it’s a new show, it feels like it’s already had a pilot movie and three seasons before it. It’s got a fully formed mythology that it doesn’t always feel the need to explain. There’s a touch of smartness in its references to the likes of Glycon the snake god and there’s also a nice Southern feel to the whole thing, too – it’s filmed in Georgia, so it looks the part as well.
But it was still too rubbish for me to watch more than one episode.
Cobra Kai (YouTube Red)
Premiere date: Wednesday, May 2
Sequel to The Karate Kid (the 80s version) that reunites at least two of the original cast. The now down-and-out Johnny (William Zabka), seeking redemption, reopens the infamous Cobra Kai dojo. This reignites his rivalry with a now-successful Daniel (Ralph Macchio), who has been struggling to maintain balance in his life without the guidance of his mentor, Mr Miyagi (the late Pat Morita). The half-hour show then follows the duo as they address demons from their past and present frustrations – through karate.
A word of warning – it’s a comedy. And treasured childhood memories might be crushed.
The Rain (Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, May 4
After a brutal virus wipes out most of the population, two young siblings embark on a perilous search for safety. It’s Danish but it’s also a dystopian young adults drama. It’s not for me. It might be for you.
Every month, TMINE lets you know what TV the BFI will be presenting at the South Bank in London
My God, it’s full of films. Yep, the BFI’s April schedule is basically a stream of films. Fortunately, fellow TV lovers, there are two TV events. The first is the rescheduled ‘Missing Believed Wiped’ special from January, which will feature a documentary about Rod Stewart made before he was famous. Guess what – Rod Stewart’ll be there to watch it with you.
The second is a preview of the first episode of the fourth (and final) season of no less a show than Bron/Broen (The Bridge), which is making the move from BBC Four to BBC Two later this year. Guess what – Sofia Helin’ll be there to watch it with you.
Haven’t seen this so let’s see what Google Translate makes of the spiel:
In an ideal world, justice and justice are synonyms. A criminal commits a crime against a victim and the justice system ensures that the scales are rebalanced. The criminal gets his deserved punishment and the victim is compensated as far as possible for the suffering suffered. Often the reality is different. Lady Justice is not wearing a blindfold for centuries. Large fraudsters are released while small shrimps are being dealt with. Perpetrators are released by procedural errors while victims remain in the cold. Sometimes the law can be very unjust.
‘Coppers’, the new crime series by VTM and the production house Menuet, in which Hilde De Baerdemaeker, in the role of Commissioner Liese Meerhout of the federal judicial police, is looking for justice. In thirteen stand-alone episodes, the audience is introduced to Liese Meerhout, a warm, driven flick, with a quirky side.
The television series is a combination of free adaptations of the crime novels by Toni Coppers and new stories in line with the work of the author.
Gidseltagningen (Below The Surface)
Gidseltagningen (Below The Surface) (Denmark: Kanal 5; UK: BBC Four)
Premiere date: Saturday, March 10, 9pm
Written and directed by Kasper Barfoed, Below The Surface focuses on an act of terrorism committed on the Copenhagen Metro, where fifteen people are taken hostage. Former soldier Philip Nørgaard (Johannes Lassen), who is head of the PET Terror Task Force, tries to save the hostages with help from members of his elite team.
Frankie Shaw (Mr Robot) writes and stars in this series based on a semi-autobiographical short film she directed a few years ago. Obviously, it all feels accurate and the fact Showtime has it paired with Shameless should tell you something about how it feels tonally. However, it’s a lot less funnier than Shameless, and is mostly a sad tale about someone losing out on life’s events. An interesting perspective, perhaps even important, but not really a journey I want to go on, I’m afraid.
The Resident (US: Fox; UK: Universal Channel)
Premiere date: Tuesday, April 10, 9pm
A medical procedural that gets better but duller over time as we learn the difference between medicine in theory and medicine in practice. The show starts off a “Battle of the Dicks”, with new arrival Manish Dayal learning that his teaching resident (Matt Czuchry) is a dick, but one who knows more than he does; meanwhile, Czuchry has to deal with fatally incompetent head of surgery Bruce Greenwood, who in turn knows more than he does and is willing to use it blackmail everyone into keeping quiet about his shaky hands.
Later episodes then downgrade the dickishness of the characters so that the show becomes more of a consideration of the financial and political issues involved in treating patients. It’s a more interesting, if more predictable show, but still not worth sticking around for.
Date My Dad (US: UP TV; UK: Movies 24) Premiere date: Sunday, April 29, 5pm
Former professional baseball player, Ricky Cooper had the perfect life until his world comes crashing down when his wife passes away, leaving him to raise his three daughters with the help of his live-in mother-in-law Rosa.
Sounds grim, but it’s supposed to be a comedy and it sees Raquel Welch playing Rosa. Huh.
