September and October were the traditional months when broadcast networks premiered their new shows. This week we discuss some of those new entries, but never fear, there are many more to come in November.
“Chef’s Table” has released a new season, and it fits right into the Courier’s latest Wine + Dine magazine. This season’s four episodes celebrate noodles and lead off with a profile of Evan Funke and his restaurants. Following Funke to Italy and the female chefs who taught him everything he knows about pasta, you’ll be dying to scare up a reservation to his Beverly Hills namesake. We learned a great deal about him from the Wine + Dine cover profile; this episode fills in the cooking blanks. There is nothing mechanical about this profile as it emphasizes the painstaking ways he uses and teaches hand-rolled and cut pasta. His ability to twirl a piece of dough into a tiny spiral is nothing short of stunning. The follow-up episodes are equally enchanting. Chinese noodles are made by chef Guong Wei for her London restaurants serving the cuisine of Xi’an; Peppe Guida, the Pope of Pasta, creates amazing dishes centered around dried pasta that he serves in his restaurants on the Sorrento coast; and finally, Nite Yun, inspired by her heritage, serves amazing noodle-centric meals from Cambodia. So loosen your belts and dig in. “Chef’s Table” has some delights in store for you.
Now streaming on Netflix.
“Rivals” is a pure, nasty delight. Set in the 1980s, “Rivals” is a battle of the titans as billionaire Tony Baddingham launches his new commercial television network. His first move is to poach the BBC’s leading talk show host, Declan O’Hara, with the promise of editorial freedom and oodles of cash. His purchase of a mansion in the countryside is a plus and a minus. On the plus side, it’s a mansion. On the minus side, it’s in the countryside. Everyone but his wife Maud, who is easily bored and takes her marriage vows with a grain of salt and a lot of vodka, is thrilled with the new digs. Not satisfied with what he has achieved, Baddingham strives for more, jealously eyeing his neighbor Rupert Campbell-Black, an aristocrat, wealthy and a former Olympian to boot. A rogue of the first order, Campbell-Black has bedded almost every woman in the surrounding area. His refusal to join Baddingham’s Board of Directors and disdain of Baddingham has only heightened their animosity. “Rivals” is a wonderfully skewed look at wealth, both nouveau and ancient, fidelity, and the news, especially the “get” and the “getting.” Everything is personal and vicious and hilarious.
The cast is superb, led by the infinitely versatile David Tenant (“Dr. Who,” “Broadchurch”) as Tony Baddingham. Aidan Turner (“Poldark”) is a very sympathetic and darkly ambitious Declan O’Hara, and Alex Hassell (“Violent Night”) is the unbelievably sexy bad boy Campbell-Black. Peppering the outskirts are Katherine Parkinson (“IT”), Claire Rushback (“A Very Royal Scandal”), Oliver Chris (“My Lady Jane”) and Victoria Smurfit, perfect as the restless wife (although in one way or another all the wives are restless). This is an absolute must-see. I was devastated that only four of the eight episodes were released because I wanted the immediate satisfaction that only the end (which I hope is not the end) would bring. I suspect that all the bad guys and dolls (and almost all of them are) will get a comeuppance of one sort or another. Can’t wait.
Streaming Oct. 18 on Hulu.
“La Máquina” (“The Machine”) is a genuinely compelling Spanish language series about a boxer at a crossroads. Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna is nearing 40, having spent almost his entire life in the ring. He has always relied heavily, probably too heavily, on his childhood best friend and manager, Andy. He’s won all the championships available to him but he’s old, battling sobriety and he has one more critical fight against a new and much younger rival. When he loses in a quick knockout, that’s it. Sponsors are abandoning ship, a rematch is out of reach and his old cravings are returning. He loves his kids and his ex-wife, but he’s lost. Andy pulls a rabbit out of a hat and gets Osuna that rematch; but there are conditions, ones he doesn’t disclose to his friend. Unknown to Osuna, his career has been controlled by unseen forces since the beginning and they are now demanding payback. His ex, a journalist, is on to something even though no one is talking, and her investigation is endangering Osuna, her children and almost everyone around them. When Osuna finds out the extent of Andy’s machinations, he knows that only he can fix things. But can he? These are the complications explored in this fabulous series full of twists and brimming with character development.
The casting is outstanding, reuniting Gael Garcia Bernal (Osuna) with his actual childhood best friend Diego Luna (Andy). Both of them shot to fame in Alfonso Cuarón’s “Y Tu Mamá También” and have gone on to star in many English-language films and series. Luna is the star of “Andor” and Bernal was “Mozart in the Jungle.” “La Máquina” is a nail-biter and moves at the speed of light. Having only released 5 of the 6 episodes, I’ll have to wait to find out what happens just like you.
Now streaming on Hulu. In Spanish with English subtitles.
“The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” showed some initial promise. The Pradeeps, a family recently emigrated from India, have arrived in their new home outside Pittsburgh where father Mahesh has a contract to build rocket components. None too pleased are his wife Sudha, a physician awaiting her license to practice in the U.S., and children Kamal, a teen so on the spectrum that his issues have issues, Vinod, who wants to grow up to be a garbage man, and Bhanu, a hot high schooler who likes bad boys. The overall framework is a police investigation into the feud between the Pradeeps, primarily started by Sudha, against their very Christian and cluelessly but benignly (it’s still wincing) racist neighbors Jimbo and Janice Mills, when daughter Bhanu hooked up with their idiot son Stu. Somewhere along the way a crime has occurred involving both families, and it is up to two not-so-intrepid police detectives to solve the case by interviewing (repeatedly) every member of each family and unrelated neighbors and school officials. The series, of which eight out of the 11 episodes were released for review, rolled out much like a Bell curve. Starting slowly, it peaked with the middle three episodes and then proceeded to crash and burn when plausibility went off the rails.
The cast is outstanding so it’s a pity that the tone and premise didn’t sustain. Led by International British star Naveen Andrews (“The Dropout”) as Mahesh, with talented Broadway actress Megan Hilty (“Smash”) playing Janice Mills with a great deal of wide-eyed faux innocence and Ethan Suplee as Jimbo, nice as can be and dumb as a bag of hammers. Pete Holmes and Romy Rosemont ground (and grind) the series as the two detectives. There is definitely a series in there, but somehow the writers lost sight of how to keep it real enough so that the “fish-out-of-water drowns in middle America semi-good intentions” scenario stayed the course.
Streaming now on Amazon Freevee.
Photo courtesy of Sonya Flemming/CBS
“Matlock” is only a titular remake of the 1980s favorite starring Andy Griffith as a sharp attorney disguised as a cornpone lawyer prone to solving mysteries. This “Matlock” stars Kathy Bates as a sharp attorney disguising herself as an “aw shucks” rusty lawyer returning to the fold after a bad marriage. In this case, all is not as it seems. She has wormed her way into the firm that represented an opioid pharma company that produced the drugs on which her daughter OD’d and she’s determined to find the evidence they hid. Mattie Matlock, no relation to Andy’s character, promotes lies, including her nom de plume, subterfuge and enlists her grandson to hack into the firm’s files all in the name of righteous indignation and Machiavellian “the end justifies the means.” While she is on the path to uncover dirty deeds and wrong doers, she also ingratiates herself to her co-workers and helps them win cases. There is only one reason to watch this show, and it is Kathy Bates, but even she has a hard time selling the old lady undone by a cheating husband whose real husband is a sweetie. Still, it’s a pleasure to see her at work, so take a look. One look will probably suffice.
On CBS.
Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomato-approved critic.
