Pick of the week
Shrinking
When we meet Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel), it’s 3am and he’s enjoying a booze and adderall-fuelled pool party. Jimmy is a psychotherapist enduring a midlife crisis, but there’s a tragic reason for his unravelling. How will this impasse – involving grief and an alienated daughter – affect his job, which involves listening to people whose problems seem significantly less profound than his own? Jimmy goes rogue and breaks ethical codes, but in doing so he also breaks through his patients’ problems. From the makers of Ted Lasso, the tone of this comedy is more downbeat, with hard-won moments of redemption. The fine cast also includes Jessica Williams and a grouchy Harrison Ford.
Apple TV+, from Friday 27 January
***
Extraordinary
What if you were the only person in the world without a superpower? This is the fate of Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a scrappy twentysomething surrounded by people who discovered “their thing” on their 18th birthday. Superpowers, it turns out, can be a mixed blessing: pity Jen’s date whose speciality is inducing orgasm with a single touch and who realised this ability while enjoying a manly birthday handshake with his father. It’s a fun premise and Tyers is a sparky lead. There are dangerously wholesome undertones about self-acceptance underpinning the story but the cheerfully snarky irreverence undercuts them nicely.
Disney+, from Wednesday 25 January
***
Physical: 100
There is a real-life version of Squid Game in the works (albeit with less death, presumably) but in the meantime this series may satisfy your hunger for visceral Korean elimination contests. Gender, age and class all go by the wayside here: survival is the only imperative, as 100 contenders are taken through a variety of punishing running, dangling, lifting and fighting tasks. Connoisseurs of Korean Netflix might notice a familiar face – Hyunseung Cha from Single’s Inferno is among those signed up to take the challenge.
Netflix, from Tuesday 24 January
***
Deep Fake Neighbour Wars
A CGI comedy that is easy to imagine getting up the noses of more sensitive celebrities. Initially, it’s jaw-dropping: is that really Stormzy and Harry Kane having an argument about a cracked patio tile? The fakery is remarkable and the show demands to be seen on that basis alone. But, eventually, like all comedies it stands or falls on the strength of its script. On that score, Deep Fake sometimes feels slightly one-note: for all the technical wizardry, it is basically famous people in humdrum situations. That’s fun, but it only goes so far.
ITVX, from Thursday 26 January
***
Wolf Pack
This latest offering from Jeff “Teen Wolf” Davis is based on a novel series by Edo van Belkom in which a group of teenagers find themselves developing lycanthropic tendencies when a wildfire draws a terrifying creature into their neighbourhood. It’s decent fun and grounded by an allegorical subtext about teen mental health. But, if the premise can feel overfamiliar, Wolf Pack has a secret weapon in the shape of Sarah Michelle Gellar, who plays an arson investigator who finds herself on a collision course with the kids.
Paramount+, from Thursday 26 January
***
KSI: In Real Life
An exemplar name in the age of the influencer, 29-year-old KSI (which stands for Knowledge, Strength and Integrity, though his real name is Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji) started his career as a video game YouTuber. He’s now got more than 24 million subscribers on the platform, where he has broadened his output to include boxing and chart-topping music. It’s mind-blowing proof that anything is possible when you have enough digital likes. This documentary follows him as he prepares for a world tour and performs at Wembley. Hollie Richardson
Prime Video, from Thursday 26 January
***
Lockwood & Co.
“Agents required for unusual supernatural investigation.” Stranger Things has a lot to answer for – Lockwood & Co is yet another series in which plucky teens hurl themselves into combat with the supernatural. It’s set in a London riddled with both paranormal activity and agents tackling it. Our maverick team comprises two young lads, Anthony and George, and a girl, Lucy, with psychic abilities. Joe Cornish has adapted it from Jonathan Stroud’s book series and it benefits from his dry wit, even if the theme does feel a tad overplayed.
Netflix, from Friday 27 January
