Post-apocalyptic Shakespeare, a new show from Mindy Kaling, murders in an English back garden and a return to the rarefied world of Sex in the City...
Perlina Lau recommends the best streaming-TV options this month.
And Just Like That - NEON (available now)
Photo: WarnerMedia / HBO
Within the first week of release and the first episode, there’s already a shock death of one of the characters and particular product placement which led to a viral ad campaign.
HBO’s reboot of Sex and the City has been highly anticipated. I was a HUGE fan of the original series. So much so my first polyphonic ringtone on my Nokia 2210 was the theme song.
I was about 14 or 15 years old and I think the ringtone got a few side-eye glances from teachers/adults, which looking back - fair enough.
I was a bit apprehensive about these new episodes - particularly because the movies were slightly disappointing.
The first episode felt clunky and the explanations for Covid-19 and why the beloved Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is missing from the cast, are both a bit heavy-handed.
Some of the scripting felt uncharacteristic of the writers and the way some of the characters react in situations didn’t seem to match with the original characteristics.
But it does feel like they are trying to show the women, who would now be in their 50s/60s - haven’t necessarily caught up and stayed on top of trends and acknowledging some of their ideas from back in the 90s wouldn’t be appropriate anymore.
For that reason, I quite like it as parts of the original show haven’t aged well. It also appears the ex-wife Najinsky/Najinski? (IYKYK) is making a comeback.
But after the second episode, I feel like the show is getting back into its groove and I’m eagerly awaiting the rest of the series.
They’ve chosen to release it week by week - which is forcing me to exercise patience I happily haven’t had to use in a few years. But if you’re a fan of the show, you’ve already watched the first three episodes. Carrie’s penthouse and wardrobe are still apartment goals.
Station Eleven - NEON (available 17 December)
Post-apocalyptic pandemic series have been popular in the last couple of years - think Hulu’s Y the Last Man, NZ’s Creamerie (cough, cough) and now - Station Eleven.
People have been taking refuge from the real-life pandemic and delving into the small screen for escapism.
Station Eleven was adapted from an award-winning 2014 novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel.
In it, a killer flu becomes a pandemic and kills off most people in the world; beginning with an actor collapsing during a production of King Lear.
Fast-forward 20 years and you’re following a travelling theatre troupe that performs Shakespeare to surviving communities.
Their lives are simple but meaningful while trying to make sense of the world they now live in.
And there’s less pollution - portraying the idea if humans just stopped what we were doing, the planet could be saved.
The adaptation creates connections that didn’t exist in the book but they're done in a way to enhance the show.
The timing is interesting given the state of the world and many countries bringing back restrictions in light of Omicron so perhaps it’s exactly the kind of pandemic show that’s needed.
The Sex Lives of College Girls - NEON (available now)
This is Mindy Kaling’s (The Office, The Mindy Project) latest venture and going by her track record, it should be entertaining with a lot of laughs.
Kaling’s humour has always been self-deprecating while hopeful. As the show title suggests, it dives into the lives of four young women who become friends at the prestigious New England’s Essex College - echoing the style of Ivy League schools.
Upon the announcement of the show, it instantly gave me Sex and the City meets Gossip Girl in college vibes for the 2020 decade.
Free from their parents and launching themselves into the next stage of their lives, the four characters are Leighton, a wealthy girl who grew up attending private NYC schools, Whitney - the soccer star and daughter of a senator while Kimberley is the small-town girl paying her way through work, study and financial aid and lastly, Bela - who’s an aspiring comedian.
It puts the spotlight on the raunchy aspects of university life; drinking, parties, hookups, one-night stands, Tinder dates and of course, hangovers. All 10 episodes are available now on Neon.
Emily in Paris - Netflix (available 22 December)
This popular series is back for a second season. Audiences were divided last year but you can’t deny the show was popular.
Although I remember uttering the words “it’s so cringy!” to my friends, it did not stop me from devouring all the episodes in two days. And so did my friends. So they did something right.
Lily Collins plays Emily - a young marketing executive who’s been hired by a French company to give an American perspective.
She’s confident, outspoken and as far as her boss is concerned - out of her depth.
Season 1 was very much - an American in Paris pronouncing everything wrong and committing social faux pas - but it’s a light-hearted romantic comedy with plenty of fashion and colourful ensembles.
A highlight is Emily’s loveable and charming sidekick played by Ashley Park. It’ll be a great series to binge over the holidays; switch off your brain and switch on the show.
Looking ahead...
Landscapers - Sky Soho (available 12 January)
She’s the woman of the moment but not playing a royal this time. Olivia Coleman stars in this new series as one half of a seemingly ordinary couple in Nottingham.
But Susan and Christopher Edwards (David Thewlis) have been on the run for at least 15 years.
Two dead bodies are found in the back garden of a house and after a phone call to Christopher’s step-mother, their part in a horrific crime begins to come to light.
Suddenly, their relationship is the focal point of a police investigation and they’re separated for the first time in their marriage.
What emerges from the highly-stylised HBO mini-series is their reality is steeped in fantasy.
The couple is obsessed with old Westerns and cinema, casting themselves as the protagonists of their own invention.
Their world and imaginations provide a fortress and sanctuary from the real world and their own guilt - but it’s all starting to unravel.
