Pick of the week
The Studio
Does the head of a Hollywood studio need to care about films? This cringe comedy stars Seth Rogen as Matt Remick, a movie obsessive whose rise to the helm of the fictional Continental Studios suggests it might be the worst quality to possess. Matt wants to make great films – but his boss Griffin Mill (a superbly villainous Bryan Cranston) sees things differently. Before he knows it, Matt is greenlighting a Kool-Aid movie, doing the dirty on his mentor Patty (Catherine O’Hara) and breaking Martin Scorsese’s heart. The sheer quality of the Hollywood cameos (Steve Buscemi, Charlize Theron and more) suggests something about the satirical message at the show’s core rings uncomfortably true.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 26 March
***
David Blaine Do Not Attempt
The magician and stuntman returns with a series that, mercifully, isn’t all about him. He travels to fascinating corners of the world (India, the Arctic Circle, Japan) and meets daredevils, street performers and other edge-walkers in a bid to understand the urge to explore the limits of human possibility. He begins in Brazil where he encounters a man whose act involves an angle grinder sparking into his face and learns to stick knives up his nose. Then it’s off to the jungle to search for anacondas. It’s a more modest, less ego-driven affair than some of Blaine’s previous adventures – and none the worse for it.
Disney+, from Monday 24 March
***
Chelsea Handler: The Feeling
A third Netflix special for the acerbic and occasionally controversial comic whose various political pronouncements have ruffled feathers on both the right and left. However, this latest set hints at a certain mellowing as she ponders the additional wisdom that comes with hitting 50 and realising life hasn’t ended. She can still sharpen her tone – whether it’s discussing Bill Cosby, remembering ruining a family Thanksgiving or voicing her outsize sense of irritation at the growing sport of pickleball – but there’s a more thoughtful aspect to Handler now.
Netflix, from Tuesday 25 March
***
Caught
Another adaptation from Netflix’s favourite purveyor of thrillers, Harlan Coben. This Argentina-based one initially explores a very current obsession – what our children get up to online. It centres on journalist Ema Garay (Soledad Villamil) who specialises in catching digital criminals. As she explores the disappearance of a teenage girl (who she suspects has been groomed by an older man), her investigations lead her in a direction that is uncomfortably close to home. As ever with Coben tales, it’s rarely subtle but carries a certain blunt narrative force.
Netflix, from Wednesday 26 March
***
Million Dollar Secret
It was only a matter of time before the influence of The Traitors was felt in the world of streaming – after all, it is one of the few truly perfect competition TV formats. Million Dollar Secret feels shamelessly derivative; arguably without the charm but with a lot more dosh to compensate. Peter Serafinowicz hosts with comic relish, as a sharkish bunch of Americans (most of whom look like models) are locked in a beautiful country pile and forced to play various fiendish games to deduce which of their rivals has a stash of $1m locked in their room.
Netflix, from Wednesday 26 March
***
Deception
Expect class war, Finnish style in this intriguing drama from Channel 4’s Walter Presents strand. When charismatic and enterprising young criminal Riku plots to infiltrate the elite of society, he has robbery and revenge in mind. However, his methods are slightly too successful and, before long, he’s fallen in love with an heiress, started to enjoy the trappings of wealth and privilege, and generally got a taste for the high life. However, Riku isn’t working alone and soon his underworld associates are pressuring him to stick to the original plan.
Channel 4, from Friday 28 March
***
Number One on the Call Sheet
The rise of Black actors in Hollywood has been a series of victories won over generations. This two-part documentary (one episode devoted to men, the other to women) explores their experiences, hearing from wise elders such as Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg and Denzel Washington but entering the present via the likes of Michael B Jordan, Cynthia Erivo, Angela Bassett and Ruth Negga. It tends towards the glossy rather than the gritty but it is a celebration of achievement, full of interesting stories along a trajectory of undeniable progress.
Apple TV+, from Friday 28 March
