New to View: February 21 – 27

A weekly guide to what’s new of note on air and online

Sunday

➢ Trial in the Outback: The Lindy Chamberlain Story TVNZ 1, 8.30

TVNZ 1 follows the season return of Sunday at 7.30 with this two-part re-examination of the “dingo took my baby” case narrated by Sam Neill (who played Chamberlain’s husband in Evil Angels). “Tells the story of a woman who fought against the frame she was given, and beat the frame until it represented her truth. It’s a painful tale, but one that’s worth watching, just to remind you of how damaging the power of the media can be in the wrong hands.” — The Spinoff.

Noen’s Showtime comedy about three astronauts simulating life in space in Arizona at last has its linear TV launch. “Despite a talent central trio and a few great moments, Moonbase 8‘s portrait of monotonous mediocrity may be too low-key for some viewers to achieve comedic lift off – though that may be exactly the point.” — Rotten Tomatoes.

➢ Allen v Farrow Neon

“The central theme of the series is child sex abuse. Woody Allen had been accused of molesting his adopted daughter, 7-year-old Dylan Farrow —an accusation Mr. Allen has consistently and emphatically denied … This docuseries, by filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, is a revisit of the case on the grounds that—as the filmmakers argued in a New York Times piece—the full story had never been told. And because, one of the show’s creators announces, it’s necessary to understand ‘the way we are all complicit to these crimes.’ A familiar pronouncement from the department of sociological claptrap.” — Wall Street Journal.

Tuesday

➢ Big Sky Disney+

Disney+’s Star channel launches with a slate of 155 TV series and 435 movies, including this David E Kelley drama about the kidnapping to two sisters in remote Montana “It’s far more visceral than cerebral. And for all its crisp, immersive cinematography and timely themes, it still feels more like a network potboiler than a groundbreaking work of art. All you can really ask of this kind of series is that it’s entertaining, and in that respect Big Sky delivers.” — Time.

➢ Love Victor Disney+

The Hulu series spun off the movie Love, Simon is a coming-of-age comedy about a teenager’s sexual orientation issues. “If it is less a slice of life than it is a TV show, a comedy of situations, it is closer to life as most people know it than, say, Riverdale. It is also — unrealistically or not — remarkably chaste: No one is going beyond first base here.” — Los Angeles Times.

➢ NCIS Three, 9.00

One of TV’s worst procedurals in terms of its HD specs marks its 400th episode by flashing back to when Gibbs and Ducky met. Expect more Vaseline than ever on the lens. The latest NCIS spin-off in the works will be set in Hawaii while the most recent, New Orleans, will wrap after seven seasons.

Wednesday

Thursday

➢ The Mum Who Got Tourette’s TVNZ 2, 9.05

“A moving yet also uplifting documentary. Elizabeth’s husband, Simon, an absolute diamond of a man, had decided, after Tourette’s struck his wife three years ago, to see the funny side of their predicament. I have rarely seen a documentary about a health disorder in which a family laughed so often and so genuinely.” — The Times.

Friday

➢ Snowfall Neon

“The first few episodes of season four feel a bit like the show is on autopilot. It’s still entertaining, but it’s also lost some of its edge. The season picks up in the midst of chaos; it’s 1985, Ronald Reagan has been re-elected, crack cocaine has taken hold of Franklin’s community in South Central, and every gang of every size is trying to get a piece of the action … Feels more focused on plot than ever, and while that’s not a bad thing because this show is great with plot, there’s definitely a hole where a sharper critique and thematic underpinning used to be.” — The AV Club.

➢ Miss Scarlett & the Duke Vibe, 8.30

Neon’s Victorian sleuths romp goes linear. “Miss Scarlett and the Duke mixes elements of Ripper Street, Sherlock Holmesand Peaky Blinders, but gives the whole package a distinctively feminine touch. Just when you thought producers had mined this rich seam in every possible way, this is crime drama reinvented. And as it’s a stylish costume drama with a hint of will-they-won’t-they romance thrown in too, it basically encompasses all things audiences across the world love about British television.” — Daily Mail.