New to TVNZ OnDemand in July

The Silence of the Lambs spin-off Clarice will stream on TVNZ OnDemand from July 18.

The series was developed for a streaming platform but subsequently picked up by the CBS network — which then axed it after one season.

Negotiations to continue the series on Paramount + stalled and now the show seems doomed.

It’s set a year after the events of the 1992 movie, when FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) returns to the field. Reads the blurb:

Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice’s bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. However, her complex psychological makeup that comes from a challenging childhood empowers her to begin to find her voice while working in a man’s world, as well as escape the family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.

Reviews weren’t great, averaging 36/100 on Rotten Tomatoes and 55/100 on Metacritic. RT’s consensus was: “Effectively grim, but narratively bland, Clarice is a disturbingly safe procedural that lets down both its talented cast and source material.”

I expected Prime to secure Clarice through its ViacomCBS deal but turns out TVNZ was able to pick it up through global distributor MGM Television.

Also new will be:

• Paramount’s middling 2018 comedy series American Woman (July 15), which follows an unconventional mother (Alicia Silverstone) struggling to raise her two daughters after leaving her husband amid the rise of second-wave feminism in 1970s Los Angeles
• Zomboat! (July 28), a comedy-horror mash-up in which two sisters flee a zombie apocalypse in Birmingham on a canal boat (The Guardian thought the six-part 2020 series “surprisingly clever and refreshingly upbeat”)
• Young And… (July 8), a strand of documentaries about sexuality, culture, gender and social identity from a 20 something perspective in NZ.

Back for new seasons will be Batwoman S2 (July 3, full season), Roswell, New Mexico (July 27, weekly), Temptation Island (July 10, full season), Nashville S1-5 (July 1), Junior Bake Off (July 1, full season) and Tales of Nai Nai S2 (July 12, full season).

New to the branded channels will be: