My TV Show Recommendations, Part 2

Though this teen supernatural series premiered to mixed reviews, it’s notable for continuing the career revival of Sarah Michelle Gellar. If Wolf Pack’s glossy thrills have yet to find their feet (or claws), 90s kids might still give a little cheer at seeing their Slayer, back and shaking off the legacy of one Joss Whedon.

If you’re still feeling nostalgic for the Buffyverse, or seeking some SMG performance deep cuts, we’ve got you, right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKq4SjCPzII

Helmed by master-plotter Rian Johnson (Knives Out and Glass Onion), this hotly anticipated mystery series stars the current, raspy-voiced Queen of Retro Cool, Natasha Lyonne. Not a professional, as her shambolic, shaggy-haired character points out, she stumbles into sleuthing by way of a finely honed bullshit detector and hard-won empathy. 

This timely adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel comes on the heels of renewed interest in the back catalogue of Fleetwood Mac and the recent death of Christine McVie. Though not a biographical novel, this fictional band’s meteoric rise and fall parallels that of the supergroup. It also promises a killer soundtrack from a stellar roster of writers.

Another entry in the crime genre returns for 2023, this time adapting the bestselling novels of Robert Galbraith (AKA JK Rowling, for anyone still unaware). Featuring the twisty cold case of a missing doctor and a rather bleak worldview, this BBC series is most compelling on the tentative friendship-maybe-more between its two leads, as well as the joy of seeing one half of the duo grow in confidence as a private detective.

The musical prequel series you didn’t know you needed: Rise of the Pink Ladies charts the beginnings of the infamous proto-Mean Girls, opening at Rydell High in 1954. Details are scant ahead of the series dropping later this year, though teasers suggest it might serve as a fun, candy-coloured corrective to the film’s more problematic gender politics.

Perhaps a missed opportunity to comment on the simultaneous commodification and suppression of female desire, this campy series follows the real-life story of Somen ‘Steve’ Bannerjee, founder of the Chippendales male stripping revue: https://ew.com/tv/welcome-to-chippendales-real-murders-fact-fiction/

Expect big hair, big money and baby-oil aplenty.

Cast aside the inevitable comparisons to one Midge Maisel, this 60s-set piece follows a woman breaking into stand-up comedy strikes a rather less technicolored tone. Barbara Parker (Gemma Arterton) journeys from Blackpool to London, in pursuit of her dreams. Inevitably, breaking into a male-dominated industry as an ex-beauty queen isn’t without its challenges, based on the novel by Nick Hornby.

A rare chance to see Harrison Ford flex some comedic muscle, as well as another open-hearted performance from Jason Segel, Shrinking’s premise intrigues: a burned-out, grieving therapist (Segel) begins sharing how he really feels with his patients, while Ford plays his dry, long-suffering mentor.

James Norton returns as the malevolent Tommy Lee Royce in this critically lauded Northern Noir, while Sarah Lancashire blazes with vitality, humour and righteous anger as police Sergeant Catherine Cawood. Fan theories abound on how the series’ gritty plot and character threads might tie up, as the third and final series gets underway. 

Season two of this irresistible teen romance (adapted from the graphic novels by Alice Oseman) sees our heroes Nick and Charlie navigate new challenges as an out couple in a British all-boys school: if true to the source material, it’ll find them facing questions of identity, body image and mental health.