Best new shows: quick links
5 best new shows
Billion Dollar Playground Season 1 – Binge (13 May)
Series. From the creators of Big Miracles and Outback Ringer, this eight-part Australian docuseries dives into the world of ultra-wealthy guests who pay a premium for high-end holiday homes – and the elite concierge team that keeps things running.
Come for the visceral, revolution-prompting dislike of people who have more money than sense, stay for … well, probably for the same, but also for the inevitable feelings of sympathy and attachment for the poor schmucks who have to cater to their whims. Lobster for brekkie, a Lambo for driving around in the afternoon – no problem!
With sky-high expectations and 24/7 demands, this one has been billed as a ‘revealing look into the intense world of luxury hospitality’. Watch the trailer.
Bad Thoughts – Netflix (13 May)
Series. It’s comedy, and we like comedy – hell, we need it. Stand-up comedian and actor Tom Segura directs a series of twisted dark comedy vignettes that take a scathing look at society while following a country music star on the skids who resorts to kidnapping his fans and using them (and their trauma) as muses for what he hopes will be a return to form.
OK, on the face of it, that doesn’t sound too funny but this ‘unsettling series’, says Netflix, blends humour with horror and satire over six individual episodes and we’re willing to give it a go.
Starring Tom Segura, Daniella Pineda and Robert Iler. Watch the trailer.
Overcompensating – Prime Video (15 May)
Series. College-set ensemble comedies can be great. They can also be awful. We’re hoping this one is the former. It’s about the ‘wild, chaotic journey’ of Benny, a closeted former football player and homecoming king, as he becomes fast friends with Carmen, a high school outsider on a mission to fit in at all costs.
With guidance from Benny’s older sister and her campus-legend boyfriend, Benny and Carmen juggle horrible hookups, flavoured vodka and fake IDs. The trailer suggests this one could be one of the good ones … so we remain optimistic, for now.
Starring Benito Skinner, Wally Baram and Mary Beth Barone. Watch the trailer.
Murderbot – Apple TV+ (16 May)
Series. Based on Martha Wells’ best-selling, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries, this is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients.
Played by Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.
Starring Alexander Skarsgård, David Dastmalchian and Noma Dumezweni. Watch the trailer.
Duster – Max (16 May)
Series. Set in the 1970s south-west of the US, Duster – from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan – explores the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate that goes from dangerous to wildly, stupidly dangerous when a tenacious young agent comes into town hellbent on taking his crime family down.
It looks schmick, sounds schmick … we’re really hoping it’s schmick!
Starring Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson, Keith David and Sydney Elisabeth. Watch the trailer.
