What’s Next — 29 January 2017
TV is not like film where there is a specific list of films that hardcore film fanatics should have made the effort to see. To go back and watch part of the must-watch TV canon, a viewer isn’t just making a 2-hour commitment — they’re expected to watch what can be hundreds of hours of viewing. But also, availability of most older TV shows is limited.
For younger viewers watching shows like 30 Rock, Sex & the City, or even Gilmore Girls, so much of what they love about these shows can be traced back to the trailblazing Mary Tyler Moore Show. But precious few viewers will have watched the series.
Unlike classic shows like Get Smart or I Dream of Jeannie, The Mary Tyler Moore Show hasn’t been a staple of syndicated shows on our TV’s every afternoon for the past 30+ years. Outside of a brief run on Foxtel in the mid-90s, I don’t recall ever seeing the show on the air here in Australia.
And it’s a shame.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a wonderfully sophisticated show that, in addition to still being very funny, remains prescient to today’s conversations about women’s professional careers and being a single woman in her 30s.
Mary Tyler Moore passed away earlier this week and for those of us who do know the show, the news hit hard. Moore was more than an actress on the show — it came from her production company and while the show may have been created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, Moore’s voice as an author of the show was incredibly strong. To love The Mary Tyler Moore Show was to love Moore herself.
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~ HUNTERS ~
APPLE TREE YARD — BBC (UK)
What starts out as a simple, reckless mid-life affair between a genetic scientist named Yvonne and a Westminster paper pusher takes an intriguing turn when she realizes he’s a spook — then suddenly gets very dark indeed. A provocative study of obsession, longing and just how far down a criminal path desire can take you.
Stars: Ben Chaplin, Emily Watson
RIVERDALE — The CW (US)
Set in the present, the series offers a bold, subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends, exploring the surreality of small-town life, the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade.
Stars: Camila Mendes, K.J. Apa, Cole Sprouse
Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING — Amazon (US)
Z is a biography series based on the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, the brilliant, beautiful and talented Southern Belle who becomes the original flapper and icon of the wild, flamboyant Jazz Age in the 20s.
Stars: Christina Ricci, David Hoflin, Kristine Nielsen
Returning:
Call The Midwife — Season 6
Mercy Street — Season 2
Voltron: Legendary Defender — Season 2
Outsiders — Season 2
The Path — Season 2
The Magicians — Season 2
Fortitude — Season 2
Scandal — Season 6
~ GATHERERS ~
LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (US)
After the loss of their parents in a mysterious fire, the three Baudelaire children face trials and tribulations attempting to uncover dark family secrets.
ATLANTA — FX (US)
Community star Donald Glover created and stars in this show about a directionless young man who tries to find stability and take life seriously by working as his rapper cousins manager.
SEARCH PARTY — TBS (US)
A dark comedy about four self-absorbed twenty-somethings who become entangled in an ominous mystery when a former college acquaintance suddenly disappears.
~ INTERESTING ~
The Mary Tyler Moore Show changed television | The Ringer
Mary Tyler Moore was one of the most important auteurs in television | Vulture
Satire website Cracked has launched an app for Apple TV | Broadcasting & Cable
The downside to the virtual reality boom — a VR-themed pilot for NBC | Deadline
Stephen Colbert to host the largest Emmys yet. Period. | Deadline
12 TV shows to look out for at Sundance 2017 | Yahoo
Sundance merges VR with real life through props, AR, and vibrating suits | TechCrunch
VR at Sundance 2017: Rise of the series, mixed reality experiments and VR for good | Wareable
