HD Heads-Up: September 7

Quarry rock solid … Where’s Atlanta? … Employable Me pink slipped …

The early reviews of SoHo’s newest drama series, Quarry, which premieres today week, suggest it’s not to be missed. TV Guide hailed it as a “compellingly extreme thriller” while Entertainment Weekly said “shows like this only click when you’re having some nasty fun, and fortunately we get some from Peter Mullan as a gentlemanly baddie and The Leftovers’ great Ann Dowd as a gay gangster’s mama”. Deadline Hollywood described it as “a barnacles-off-the-boat tale of desperation that will send you back into an America throbbing with the hangover of the Vietnam War – in the best way … Starting with a killing and a nation at battle with itself over a war and a Presidential election, the eight-episode first season … is based on Road To Perdition co-creator Max Allan Collins’ crime novels from the Me Decade” …

According to Rolling Stone, “Every episode of Cinemax’s action-packed crime drama Quarry is directed by Greg Yaitanes, an Emmy winner who’s previously worked on House, Lost and the network’s own cult hit, Banshee. Yaitanes’ expertise with shadowy characters and intense situations is put to good use in this story of a troubled Vietnam vet (played by Logan Marshall-Green), forced by circumstance to work with a cabal of hired killers” …

Another new series earning good press is the comedy, Atlanta, which has averaged a 93/100 aggregated critics’ score. “A finished, cinematic, and beautiful production that may be one of the best new shows of the fall,” Variety said of the FX comedy about a homeless Princeton drop-out while the New York Times thought it “dry and offbeat, with an immediate, original voice”. No sign of it debuting here yet, with the most likely broadcaster, Sky, confirming it’s not on its radar …

If you wondered what had happened to SoHo’s Ray Donovan this week, it was “on hiatus” because of a long weekend in the US. That’s also why Ballers and Vice Principals won’t screen tomorrow night — they’re being replaced by the feature-length finale for Looking …

TV3 has pulled Employable Me from 7.30 Thursdays. The BBC2 series, which The Guardian dubbed “moving telly that destigmatises disability“, was meant to premiere tomorrow. It’s been bumped by re-runs of Road Cops and Territory Cops. No word yet on when Employable Me will resurface …

Fair Go screens 7.30 Wednesday for the last time tonight on TV One — from September 19 it will switch to 7.30 Mondays on a double-bill with new episodes of Life Flight …

Guesting this week on Prime’s Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon are Clint Eastwood, Molly Shannon and Mike Posner (11.30 tonight) and Michael Strahan, James Cameron and Vince Staples (10.45 tomorrow) …