Pick of the week
Nobody Wants This
This odd couple comedy partly mirrors the experience of its creator, Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism when she married her husband. Joanne (Kristen Bell) is an outspoken sex and dating podcaster, while Noah (Adam Brody) is a progressive rabbi, rebounding from a failed relationship and surrounded by an overbearing family. Their counterintuitive romance has echoes of the trashy-meets-nerdy central relationship in Bell’s hit show The Good Place. Each 30-minute episode is slick and bingeable, full of snappy, sassy dialogue, mild cultural confusion and a sense that for all of its breeziness, something gently serious might lurk beneath the surface.
Netflix, from Thursday 26 September
***
Grotesquerie
An air of theatrically gruesome violence surrounds this horror thriller series (executive produced by Ryan Murphy), which stars Niecy Nash as detective Lois Tryon, sent to investigate a series of brutal crimes in a small community. Tryon has problems: she’s overly fond of a drink and has a tendency to imagine the worst of humanity. Struggling with the case, she accepts the assistance of journalist nun Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond). But who can she really trust? Almost certainly not Lesley Manville’s Nurse Redd, for a start.
Disney+, from Thursday 26 September
***
After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun
It was aware of its own ridiculousness and yet shamelessly eager to have its cake and eat it. As such, Baywatch was a phenomenon that could only have happened in the 90s. This series speaks to most of the main players and gets close to the heart of the show’s appeal, which was essentially moral simplicity; life and death situations that usefully didn’t involve the protagonists wearing many clothes. The story isn’t entirely without a dark side – it touches on the show’s absurd beauty standards and how white and straight it was. But it’s as cheerfully escapist as Baywatch itself – and look out for an amazing casting near miss.
Disney+, out now
***
Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval
DeGeneres’s second Netflix special is also reportedly to be her last ever hour of standup comedy – and possibly even her final showbiz salvo. Her turbulent career took a further turn in 2020 when allegations emerged of a toxic on-set working environment (including suggestions of bullying and racism) on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Those controversies are robustly addressed here alongside revelations about what she’s been up to since being, as she sees it, “kicked out of show business” and some more thoughtful reflections on her career in general.
Netflix, from Tuesday 24 September
***
Midnight Family
This drama, based on a documentary, explores the life of a woman who funds her medical studies by moonlighting as, well, a medic. It’s an intriguing situation with a disturbing subtext: Mexico City has just over 45 state-provided ambulances serving a population of 9 million, which leaves a gap in the market that is partly filled by private enterprise. Marigaby Tamayo (Renata Vaca) is the deeply overworked main character – when she finds a moment between dramatic medical interventions, she has a fairly lively private life, too. Stressful.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 25 September
***
Ayla & the Mirrors
There seems to be a sizeable percentage of TV commissioning taken up with conceiving new angles on YA stories – and here is another. This glossy Spanish drama introduces Ayla, a rich, slightly spoilt teenager whose father dies suddenly, leaving her alone in the world. Furthermore, she finds she’s left without memories. Ayla is a girl without a past, but she soon builds a new identity via the medium of dance thanks to the Mirrors, a group she meets at a shelter for lost teens. However, problems start when her aunt Esmerelda arrives on the scene.
Disney+, from Friday 27 September
***
Visions
An intriguing supernatural crime drama from France. When 11-year-old Lily disappears, the police’s only viable lead is spooky eight-year-old Diego who appears to be having visions related to the case. But should police captain Romain take Diego at face value? There seem many good reasons not to, particularly when it emerges that his lieutenant Gérald has failed to disclose certain information about the case. But then, Diego’s proclamations do tend to be uncannily accurate. Soufiane Guerrab and Jean-Hugues Anglade star.
Channel 4, from Friday 27 September
