Pick of the week
Frasier
Tossed salads and scrambled eggs all round as this reboot finally arrives. And it’s notable how little has changed – right down to the now jarring live laughter track. This version provides neat narrative surrogates for Martin and Niles: Frasier’s son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) is a salt-of-the-earth firefighter who is easily patronised but usually right, while David (Anders Keith) is very much the neurotic son of Niles. The plot involves Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) moving back to Boston to teach, hang out with old pal Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and reconnect with Freddy. It serves as a reminder that nostalgia is rarely as satisfying as it promises to be, but it improves once Grammer takes the director’s chair.
Paramount+, from Friday 13 October
***
Lessons in Chemistry
This stylish, 1950s-set series (adapted from the novel by Bonnie Garmus) explores the struggles of a brilliant woman in a world of dull men. Elizabeth Zott is a buttoned-up lab tech, doing lackey work for male scientists while conducting after-hours experiments. One day, colleague Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman) tastes her superlative lasagne (“This is my 78th attempt. My current focus is cheese”) and she comes clean. Her research – molecular gastronomy, basically – is at an advanced stage, and it will culminate in her becoming one of the first TV chefs. Brie Larson is a fine, relatable lead.
Apple TV+, from Friday 13 October
***
The Greatest Show Never Made
A documentary telling a bizarre story from the reality TV gold rush of 2002. Lured by the promise of a hefty cash prize of £100,000, a group of people left jobs, homes and partners to throw in their lot with a broadcast entrepreneur called Nik Russian. However, not only was no programme commissioned but Russian had no TV background – he worked in Waterstones. The “contenders” then decamped to a house to work out what was going on – and, with the idea of making their own show, filmed themselves. The result is revealing and darkly comic.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 11 October
***
The Fall of the House of Usher
In the throes of the opioid crisis, it makes sense that this series (very loosely) based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe should centre on the pharmaceutical industry. When the heirs of the Usher dynasty (who own the corrupt company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals) start dying, the surviving family members are initially unruffled. But the drama quickly morphs into a supernatural wish-fulfilment revenge parable, played out with lavishly gory relish as the weak spots of the Ushers (sometimes literally and physically) are mercilessly probed by a shadowy figure from their past.
Netflix, from Thursday 12 October
***
C*A*U*G*H*T
A muddled but intriguing comedy, produced by Sean Penn (who also has a cameo role) in which a quartet of Australian soldiers infiltrate the fictional nation of Behati-Prinsloo to retrieve a sensitive file. When they are mistaken for Americans and captured, a harrowing hostage video goes viral. But is the clip all that it seems, or are the Aussies working with their captors? The soldiers seem way too hapless to be an elite unit – which adds to the sense that something is amiss. A not especially subtle satire on the mediated nature of warfare in the social media age.
ITVX, from Thursday 12 October
***
Goosebumps
It has been several months since any major streaming platform offered us a series in which a group of teenagers get involved in a supernatural mystery, so this drama, inspired by RL Stine’s books (and dropping on Friday the 13th!), feels somewhat overdue. As we begin, new residents are moving into “the old Biddle house” – the attachment of a family name to the dwelling is a hint that something terrible once happened there. And so it proves, as the haunting begins and a new generation of high-schoolers are punished for the sins of their parents.
Disney+, from Friday 13 October
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Shining Vale
Sharon Horgan’s waspish comedy horror returns and Courteney Cox’s writer Patricia Phelps is picking up the pieces after the demonic events of season one. Her domestic life is in chaos – Patricia’s house is still extremely haunted, her marriage (to Greg Kinnear’s well meaning dullard Terry) is moribund and her kids don’t want her around any more. Strangely, however, her career is going pretty well – Patricia’s new novel is her most strikingly raunchy yet, and it seems that her creativity is being mysteriously fuelled by the mayhem surrounding her.
Lionsgate+, from Friday 13 October
