Season two of Only Murders in the Building is one of the shows and movies discussed in the latest episode of the Stuff to Watch podcast.
It’s a fast, windy listen – 10 minutes done – designed to help you make the most of your weekend.
You can listen by clicking on the player below – or find it wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify and the rest.
Follow the program on your podcast player and you will be alerted about new episodes. You can even download it to listen to later.
BACK WITH KATHERINE RYAN (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
Jimmy Carr, Nish Kumar, Sue Perkins, Judi Love, Rosie Jones, Jo Brand, Tom Allen, Frankie Boyle, Rob Beckett, Russell Kane and Nick Mohammed are just a few of the comedians joining the Canadian storyteller for this series of six parts looking behind the scenes of the British stand-up scene.
Each episode follows four comedians, before, during and after a set at London’s Roundhouse Theater.
“One can imagine a version of Backstage where the comedians are less gilded and the edges are a bit sharper. “Meanwhile, Ryan’s version is smooth, fun, and will definitely appeal to a TV audience that is always receptive, it seems, to new angles on the lives of stand-up comics,” Brian Logan of The Guardian wrote .
BORGEN: POWER AND GLORY (NETFLIX)
Nearly nine years after she last played her, Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen returns to play Birgitte Nyborg in a late eight-part, fourth season of the beloved Danish political drama.
Nyborg was recently appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and finds herself in the middle of an international battle for power in the Arctic after a drilling company suddenly discovered oil in Greenland.
“This new Borgen looks like other Scandi-noir dramas that have emerged since its inauguration, but it’s in a league of its own: sharp, intelligent and thrillingly addictive,” Vogue’s Taylor Antrim wrote.
WELL
Eight great shows to stream this weekend.
READ MORE:
* Question Team: Richard Ayoade and friends ‘rewrite the panel show’ hilarious
* Moon Knight: Disney +’s exciting adventure features the miraculous Oscar Issac
* The Chase USA: Bigger money, extra Jeopardy, but somehow not quite as much fun
* Bridgerton: No Duke, no problem, because Netflix’s hit skirt season 2 is just as enjoyable
Supply
Kiwi actor Antony Starr returns as Homelander in the new season of The Boys.
THE BOYS (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
Kiwis Karl Urban and Antony Starr return for the eight-part third season of this disrespectful, black comic superhero satire about a group of vigilantes tasked with holding superheroes accountable for abusing their powers.
After a year of relative calm, when The Boys find out about a mysterious anti-superhero weapon, it causes them to get stuck in “The Seven”, start a war and a chase for the legend of the first superhero ever: Soldier Boy.
“Through it all, the moral turmoil and messy consequences are never less than compelling in a season that blurs the line between the good guys and the bad guys more than ever before,” Empire magazine Amon Warmann wrote.
MURDER IN THE BUILDING ONLY (DISNEY +)
One of the breakout performances of 2021 is back – and as addictive as ever.
The disasters of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) continue as they try to investigate another death in their New York apartment complex – The Arconia.
As evidenced by his initial run, Murder in the building only is a witty, captivating, thoroughly entertaining triumph whose delight is in the details and character interactions.
And, as you’d expect from a Martin screenplay, it bursts at the seams with witty bonmots, physical comedy potential and biting aside, while our diverse trio sparkles, struggles and tries to solve more puzzles – with hilarious results.
The addition of Amy Shumer, Cara Delevingne and a riotous Shirley MacLaine to the mix adds a fair amount of extra spice, while there are plenty of twists, twists, setbacks and unexpected interconnections to keep you on your toes.
Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building begins on the night of June 28 on Disney + stream.
TURN (NEON)
Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin and Maggie Q star in this 10-part New York set comedy about three childhood friends who all take stock of their lives after the death of another member of their group.
When confronted with the reality that life is short, these women turn around and change their current paths through a series of impulsive, ill-considered and self-permissive decisions.
“The motherhood debacle, dad jokes, work annoyances and #epicfails the characters are experiencing will draw some laughs from viewers, especially those who are fans of dark comedy and single-camera sitcoms,” wrote Common Sense Media’s Stephanie Snyder .
THIS SUMMER I BECAME BEAUTIFUL (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
An adaptation of Jenny Han’s (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) 2009 novel, this eight-part multi-generational drama depends on the enduring power of strong female friendship and a love triangle between one girl and two brothers.
The program is considered “a story about first love, first sadness and the magic of that one perfect summer”, starring Rachel Blanchard, Tom Everett Scott and newcomer Lola Tung.
“As sweet, light and refreshing as a cool drink on ice by the pool, this book-based drama tackles the confusion and sweetness of an awkward coming of age,” wrote Joyce Slayton of Common Sense Media.
BBC
Ben Whishaw plays a junior doctor working in the maternity ward in comedy-drama series This Is Going To Hurt.
THIS GOES TIME (TVNZ +)
The BBC’s latest series of hospital series could not be further from the shining visions of Grey’s Anatomy.
If you’re looking for a smooth soap that is presented as a medical drama, then you’re in the wrong place. It’s a gloomy comic, raw and disturbing look at the lives of junior doctors working in an obstetrics and gynecology department at a London National Health Service hospital.
Series directors Lucy Forbes and Tom Kingsley do a wonderful job of balancing the humor with the disturbing, ensuring that the medical scenes have a visceral truth and the sometimes relentless drama is left only by the protagonists’ own gallows humor approach to keep themselves healthy.
At the heart of the show is a magnificent performance by Ben Whishaw, which once again demonstrates the unique ability to combine amazing comic timing with an extremely recognizable vulnerability he has previously shown in such as A Very English Scandal and Paddington.
WESTWORLD (NEON / SKY GO)
Oscar winner Ariana DeBose and The Lost Son’s Aurora Perrineau join the cast for the fourth season of this popular dystopian science fiction series based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 cult film of the same name.
The first episodes in more than two years, the eight contestant was described as “a dark odyssey about the fate of living life on earth” and features an amusement park modeled after a romanticized version of a Mafia-controlled 1930s America .
“Westworld may have shaken off some of its IQ points over the years, but it’s still a decent shoot-em-up that gives us women to fight back and win,” wrote Salon.com’s Melanie McFarland .