The long-awaited second season of RFDS (Tuesday on Seven) arrives next week but in a new timeslot at 9.15pm. Who will have the stamina to keep watching it after The Voice has run beforehand for close to two hours?
It’s cheaper to churn out longer reality shows rather than making classy but more costly one-hour dramas like RFDS, the only TV series right now telling real stories about the bush.
The cast of RFDS
RFDS was one of the best series of 2021 and Seven should be celebrating its comeback. What’s not to love with a cast that includes Stephen Peacocke, Justine Clarke, Rob Collins, and Thomas Weatherall who just won a Logie for Heartbreak High.
Hot on the heels of the successful re-launch of Thank God You’re Here, another Aussie comedy is now screening in its wake. The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers (Wednesday on 10) is another hidden camera show but now with a bunch of mates taking the piss out of each other. Good to see more Aussie comedy on commercial TV, it made me laugh.
Only Murders In The Building (Tuesday on Disney+) is back for its third season and it has never been better. It’s still got whip-smart dialogue, but now has special guest star Paul Rudd playing an A-list wanker, and special, special guest star Meryl Streep who is just phenomenal as a failed actor. Huge thumbs up.
Telemarketers (Foxtel and Binge) is a new three-part HBO documentary from high school dropout turned filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern and his former drug addict workmate turned whistleblower Patrick Pepsas. They met at a dodgy telemarketing company working in some crazy conditions and now they are out to expose some serial scammers. Am rooting for them both to do well.
Kitchen Cabinet (Tuesday on ABC) is back for its seventh season, but a lot has gone on in Canberra while it was off-air. When it started in 2012, it featured scandal-free politicians but now the casting is kind of questionable, given some of this year’s pollies have been accused of corruption. Is Annabel Crabb now hosting a makeover show? Sorry Kitchen Cabinet, but you’ve made me lose my appetite.
Read more Mercado on TV here.
Welcome to TV Gold: Mediaweek’s weekly TV podcast
Our name is new and so is the email address asking for feedback and questions – [email protected].
Listen now on your favourite podcast platform for 30 minutes of TV reviews and recommendations every week from Mediaweek’s Andrew Mercado and James Manning.
Listen online here, on the LiSTNR app or on your favourite podcast platform.
Two new TV Gold episodes this week
The Lost Flower of Alice Hart: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Alyla Browne. Prime Video
Bonus episode: Inside The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
TV Gold takes you inside the biggest Australian drama of the year, Prime Video’s The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Join Sarah Christie (Prime Video) and Jodi Matterson (series executive producer) as they talk to Mediaweek’s Andrew Mercado and James Manning about adapting the bestseller and finding the key cast members – from Sigourney Weaver and Leah Purcell to Asher Keddie and Alycia Debnam-Carey. They reveal all the wonderful Australian places where the series was shot and talk about the special effects that created one of the iconic locations.
Listen here.
The Cast of Billions
Regular weekly episode: Reviews of RFDS, Billions, Only Murders in The Building, Telemarketers
What characteristic links the three returning dramas Andrew and James review this week? The shows are RFDS S1 (seven/7plus), Only Murders in the Building S3 (Disney+) and Billions S7 (Stan). A new documentary reviewed is HBO’s Telemarketers (Foxtel/Binge). We also discuss The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers (10) and the Catalyst special The Soundtrack of Australia. There are also a couple of series that make the Finished list with all episodes viewed.
Email the hosts and tell us what you have been watching. The good and the bad. Emails to: [email protected]